The Ethics of Weeping in Islam

Literature on weeping in Islam and emotions in general, although on the rise, is still limited. This article, focusing on Islam’s heritage of lament for sin, seeks to contribute to the study of religiously informed emotions by highlighting the interests in heavenly purposefulness that depictions of...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Heck, Paul L. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2024
In: Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Year: 2024, Volume: 92, Issue: 2, Pages: 333-353
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Summary:Literature on weeping in Islam and emotions in general, although on the rise, is still limited. This article, focusing on Islam’s heritage of lament for sin, seeks to contribute to the study of religiously informed emotions by highlighting the interests in heavenly purposefulness that depictions of weeping seek to convey. Such purposefulness, the data suggests, is not only penitential but also redemptive and bears ethical fruits for the community as a whole. Weeping in Islam is, then, not mere emotional expression; attention must therefore be paid to the spirit or ethical tone accompanying depictions of pious weeping, illustrated here by two works on weeping, one by Ibn Qudāma al-Maqdisī (d. 1223) and the other by Ibn Abī al-Dunyā (d. 894). The study of emotionality in Islam, as illustrated in this article with the example of weeping, can enrich our appreciation of religious subjectivity in Islam and its place in Islam’s overall heritage of ethics.
ISSN:1477-4585
Contains:Enthalten in: American Academy of Religion, Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfae072