Expansion or Contraction of the Prophetic Experience? An Analysis of the Prophetic Dream Theory of ʿAbd al-Karīm Surūsh

Abstract

This paper analyzes the theory that ʿAbd al-Karīm Surūsh proposes through an article series called The Prophet Muhammad: The Messenger of Prophetic Dreams, in light of previous approaches about revelation (waḥy) with regard to dreams and imagination. For this purpose, the first chapter of this paper centers on the distinction between the word “dream” (ruʾyā), as in Surūsh’s theory, and traditional approaches to revelation to determine differences in terms of content. The second chapter associates the explanation of revelation with dreams in order to compare alternative “imagination” (خيال، متخيلة) based approaches in Islamic philosophy and Sufism, in turn clarifying how Surūsh distinguishes them and resolves the relevant problematics.