【Date】
July 9 (Thu), 5:00-6:00 p.m.

【Venue】
Ground Floor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo

【Speaker】
Makoto SAWAI (JSPS fellow)

【Title】
Living with the Divine Names: The Diversities of the Interpretation of the Qurʾan

【Commentator】
Norihisa BABA (Associate Professor, IASA, The University of Tokyo)

【Language】 Japanese

【Abstract】
In their prayers performed five times a day, Muslims recite the names of God repeatedly. Therefore, one can say that they commit by themselves to God at any occasion in their daily lives. Each time when they chant the divine names, they may feel that God is close to them. Mystics, called Ṣūfī, also have interpreted the divine names in their attempt to deepen their faiths and to understand the hidden meanings of the Qurʼan. In my presentation, beginning with my question of “what is the name?” as a clue to my discussion, I would like to argue how the divine names are interpreted by Ibn ʿArabī (d. 1240), known as a prominent mystical thinker.