Ilmi Islam, what is it exactly?

[Sgtwolf00]

So the one thing I absolutely love about Lux Invicta is all the religions found throughout the world! Sure it can get messy at times, but I still like it nonetheless, reading all the descriptions of the faiths and trying to imagine how that faith would actually function.

However I have found that Ilmi Islam, which is a 'major branch' of Islam in this world (so to speak) is lacking an informative description, and it is a tradition I haven't really seen in other historical fiction worlds. As a result I don't have much to work off, I have had difficulties trting to find other info about it.

So what is Ilmi Islam exactly? How does it differ from say Sunni or Shia Islam? I get what it's going for, and I can imagine how it may function. But what are the specific details of the faith, what is again, the differing opinion/topic that seperates this tradition from other Islamic traditions? Thanks for answering.

 

[Numahr]

I agree that Ilm Islam could be fleshed out, as it stands out among the Islamic faiths of LI.

Many religions in LI do not have a strong, codified theology such as what is associated with Orthodox Sunnism or duadecimal Shia. Ilm Islma, in particular, is a very fluid concept. I would focus it on the concepts of scholastic inquiry related to the principle of Tawhid (see the principle of Wahdat al-wujud), Under the mixed influence of:
- in the western world, Ibn Arabi's mysticism and esoterism and Averroes's philosophy
- in the eastern world, Al-Ghazali's mysticism and Ibn Sina's philosophy.

As for différences from mainstream faiths, well the above-mentioned characters, their mysticisms and thought systems have been very much criticized by thinkers of orthodox islam. In the world of LI this would go one step further.

As you can guess, Ilm Islam has strong neoplatonic trends. The main challenge, from a theological point of view, would be to adequately distinguish it from Platonic Islam. I would focus the latter is a more radical venture into metaphysical spéculations, making the like of Ibn Arabi and Al Ghazali look like narrow-minded orthodox in comparaison.

This is just scratching the surface but hopefully will inspire you for the time being...

 

[Sgtwolf00]

I agree that Ilm Islam could be fleshed out, as it stands out among the Islamic faiths of LI.

Many religions in LI do not have a strong, codified theology such as what is associated with Orthodox Sunnism or duadecimal Shia. Ilm Islma, in particular, is a very fluid concept. I would focus it on the concepts of scholastic inquiry related to the principle of Tawhid (see the principle of Wahdat al-wujud), Under the mixed influence of:
- in the western world, Ibn Arabi's mysticism and esoterism and Averroes's philosophy
- in the eastern world, Al-Ghazali's mysticism and Ibn Sina's philosophy.

As for différences from mainstream faiths, well the above-mentioned characters, their mysticisms and thought systems have been very much criticized by thinkers of orthodox islam. In the world of LI this would go one step further.

As you can guess, Ilm Islam has strong neoplatonic trends. The main challenge, from a theological point of view, would be to adequately distinguish it from Platonic Islam. I would focus the latter is a more radical venture into metaphysical spéculations, making the like of Ibn Arabi and Al Ghazali look like narrow-minded orthodox in comparaison.

This is just scratching the surface but hopefully will inspire you for the time being...

Oh darn, Ilmi Islam is all about that stuff, the whole Islamic metaphysics and other philosophical interpretations of Islam. Does that mean stuff Logos (within an Islamic context) could also be found within Ilmi Islam?

I imagine Neoplatonic Islam would have stronger Greek influences, while Ilmi Islam would be more of it's own entity, with stronger Sufi influences rather then Greek philosophical influences. I could imagine new scholarly positions could exist within Ilmi Islam that don't exist within Sunni or Shia Islam, but the main differences would most likely come from interpretations of the universe, or of Al-Ghayb in particular.

I mean I still have many more questions/speculations about this faith and the other faiths of Lux Invicta, but yeah this will satisfy me in the time being. Thanks for answering and helping in create an awesome setting!