ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The author of these pages is Dr Abdu' Razzaq Blackhirst.

Born in 1960 he converted to Islam in 1989 and was given the name 'Abdu' Razzaq' by the Mevlevi Sheikh Abdul Aziz.

He has a PhD in ancient Greek philosophy - his doctoral dissertation was on the cosmology and natural science of Plato.

He works as a lecturer, researcher and writer in Philosophy and Religious Studies.

He currently lives and teaches in southern Australia far from the mainstream and remote from the ethnic and ideological turf wars that have characterised organised Islam in Australia.

It has been his great privilege to live in multicultural Australia and to meet a wide range of Muslim students from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan, Maldive Islands, Borneo, Somalia, Turkey, Iraq, Albania, Egypt, Iran and many other places. He has a practical acquaintance with Islam in Pakistan and Indonesia.

He has been influenced by Muslim perennialist writers such as Rene Guenon (Abd al-Wahid Yahya), Frithjof Schuon (`Isa Nur al-Din), S. H. Nasr, Gai Eaton (Hassan Abdul Hakeem), Martin Lings (Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din) and Titus (Ibrahim) Burkhardt.

He is happy to be called a Muslim Platonist.

His life and work traverses two cultures. His embrace of Islam in no way compromises the fact that he is a Western man. He believes that Islam is neither of the east nor of the west.

These webpages reflect his views on and approach to Islamic spirituality. His deepest conviction is that Islam is the answer to the spiritual vacuum of post-modernity.

He is married and is father of four children.

He keeps chickens and grows vegetables.

 

www.blackhirst.com

Dr Blackhirst's home pages.

 

It is reported - and Allah knows best - that Jalaluddin al-Rumi, a friend of God - may Allah be pleased with him - said, "Even though you tie a hundred knots - the string remains one. "

 

Your comments and emails are very welcome. To contact the author:

abdurazzaq@religioperennis.org

 

 

 

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