Introduction to Islamicate Occult Sciences

This is the first in a series of episodes exploring the world of Occult Sciences in the Islamicate World, including such topics as Alchemy, Astrology, Talismanic Magic & the Science of Letters.

Sources/Suggested Reading:

Melvin-Koushki, Matthew & Noah Gardner (2017). "Islamicate Occultism: New Perspectives". Brill.

Saif, Liana (2015). "The Arabic Influences on Early Modern Occult Philosophy". Palgrave Macmillan.

Saif, Liana; Francesca Leoni; Matthew Melvin-Koushki & Farouk Yahya (2021). "Islamicate Occult Sciences in Theory and Practice". Brill.

Savage-Smith, Emily (ed.) (2004). "Magic & Divination in Early Islam". Ashgate Publishing.

Van Bladel, Kevin (2009). "The Arabic Hermes: From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science". Oxford University Press.

"The Openings Revealed in Makka", al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya by Ibn 'Arabi. Translated by Eric Shu'ayb Winkel. Vol. 1. Pir Press.

#Occultism #Religion #Esotericism

[MsXXCrazy]

Can we all agree that his arabic pronunciation is really good?! Good job on the video!

[ezra]

talking about these topics are usually avoided in the arabic world and its surrounded by mystery. i am very happy to have finally found someone talk about them in an unbiased way. this channel is really a Treasure.

[wissama]

Your Arabic pronunciation, your unbiased narration, your in-depth research, as an Arab, i extend my respect and appreciation, u r doing a great job, keep spreading beautiful science, my friend ❤️

[boneysouthwest]

I'm a Muslim Arab and I will tell you that the occult(sihr) is VERY prevalent in our society. My momma would always talk about the eyn(the "evil eye"), sihr, & dream translation. There is also a practice of "translating" or fortune telling the remnants of Arabic coffee that remains in Arab style cups.

[zerguioussamaabdallah]

Magic being forbidden in Islam is not controversial, *the Qur'an literally states that it's forbidden*

[kedo]

Dude, Nobody asked but As an Arab, I would like to assure you that your Arabic pronunciation (names and titles) is spot on, so good. Very informative and fascinating vid. Keep spreading the good knowledge.

*Miramiah(salvia) cheers

[megelizabeth]

The very modern separation between science, philosophy, magic, and religion, is something that Esoterica talks about a lot.

[Infinite_voyager]

I would love to see a video about the relationship between Tarot and ancient mysticism someday

[eshaseeks]

This was heavily informative and eye-opening video especially to someone who is a Muslim!
I've grown up with very limited knowledge about this part of Islam as it's often looked down upon from the mainstream Muslim community as backward, illiterate and Shirk. Which actually ends up closing all conversations and topics around some of these practices.
Some of these practices linked to Sufism are still found in South Asian regions as well. But I've never had the chance to know the background/history of how these practices originated. Honestly very excited and intrigued to watch more of your videos!

[camellkachour]

When I was very young my grandfather told me that there was some hidden science in Islam. When my grandfather died, his wife (who was his second wife, not my grandmother) gave me a manuscript written by the father of my grandfather written, in 1923, probably near Tlemcen (west of Algeria). I don't read arabic, thus I am not able to say what it contains (and I didn't share it with no one). This manuscript is full of strange tables which contains arabic letters, and some other geometrical drawing. When I listen to you, I wonder what kind of things interested him ! I cannot imagine that this was occultism ! My grandfather was close to Tariqas related to the work of Ibn Arabi (Seydina Mohiedin).

[salmanrana]

The magic lies in your narration. So well reasearched and articulated!

[jaobyeden]

I love this channel, delving into the obscure and mysterious beliefs and practices of our ancestors is just wonderful.

[uxoriousss]

Note: "Magic" involving God isn’t considered magic, it’s simply called "dua" aka supplication, magic is far more dark than that

[blackwolf]

as a muslim, thanks for this informative non biased presentation.

[HurairaHerbals]

Thanks so much for bringing up this topic! I'm an Islamic Herbalist and i've come across some things in my practice which I had to ask my sheikh about.. He wasnt too sure of the answer whether it was permissable or not and had to ask a few other people. I decided I needed to know more myself and make my own decisions but I don't have the patience to go through the arabic sources (I can read/write/speak arabic fluently, although slowly) so the sources you provided are just gold. Also, I want to thank you for the respect you've shown on how you dealt with the haram/halal aspect of this. Magic is haram, but there is definitely nuance and you've explained that well. Thank you!

[iwakura_]

This channel is awesome, i'm roman catholic and after watching your videos about Christianity i can say that i have never seen someone who was able to talk about religion respectfully and unbiased like you. Keep up the good work! 👍

[ibrahimchowdhury]

I really appreciate you going out of your way to not only name the title of the video appropriately (i.e. Islamicate instead of Islamic) and explaining the rationale for doing so. Great video and great content. 👍🏽

[سلطانالسويدي-هث]

Thank you for this amazing work your presenting in this channel. Arab scholars classified (Elm Al Falak) into (Elm Al Nojoom) which is used for navigation, season determination plantation and fishing timings, (Elm Al Tanjeem) which is the power of the planets and stars, predicting the future and some aspects of magic. So the first one is allowed and the second is forbidden.

[DreamBelief]

My husband and much of his (now our) family are from Saudi. You can still find loads of people practising invocation etc using djinn.
When I lived in Malaysia it was common to find a similar kind of belief in rural areas (with differences from different folklore etc)

[othmansonkeir]

اشكرك على لفظ الحروف العربية كما ينبغي لها ان تلفظ، لأنه من النادر جدا ان تجد شخص من خلفية غربية وهو ينطقها بطريقة صحيحة.