The Poetry of Abu Muslim al-Bahlani

This article presents themes and techniques of the religious discourse of Abu Muslim al-Bahlani. Al-Bahlani was an Omani poet, born in Oman in 1860 who spent most of his life in Zanzibar where he died in 1920. His poetry is a good example of a strong link between art and politics. While the themes are centred around criticizing society and aiming to instigate revolution against people who do not follow Islamic laws, the techniques create harmony in the structure of this discourse. The author argues that this poetry is based on Ibadi suluk, which itself can be considered as an extension of the Kharijite trend. Although, suluk is linked with zuhd as a way of giving less value to this life, suluk has some other implications which do not exist with zuhd. Hence, suluk is not only a way of worshipping God, it is also a set of ideas which aim to change society and establish an Ibadi imamate. This attitude can be found with some suluk leaders such as Ja'id al-Kharusi and Sa’id al-Khalili.

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