The position of Shia spirituality in the dialogue between Islam and Christianity in Henry Corbin's thought

Abstract

The present paper holds that dialogue between Islam and Christianity is an inevitable necessity, but it will be fruitful if the interior and spiritual aspects of Islam are taken into consideration. In this regard, it first proves why mysticism and spirituality of Islam should be taken into consideration in the dialogue and at the same time they are not distanced from their authentic sources and documents, because otherwise it would be difficult to recognize an essential and strong relationship between them and Islam. Trying to correct some misunderstandings about Shia, the paper seeks to explain its unique spiritual sources, particularly those related to mystical esoteric exegesis of temple and worship. Therefore, spiritual exegesis of church is specifically compared and contrasted with esoteric exegesis of stations and sacred rites of Hajj, particularly al-Hajar al-Aswad "Heavenly Black Stone", from Ghazi Sa'eed Qomi's view. The paper proves that Islamic spirituality is not only superior in these issues, but also provides a proper ground for correct understanding of Christian spirituality.

Keywords

• temple
• church
• shia spirituality
• ka'ba
• al-hajar al-aswad