Sacred Footsteps

Sacred Footsteps Online publication devoted to alternative & spiritual travel, history and culture� • Check out our website for articles & guides!

Join us on Tuesday 11th August for a live recitation of the poetry of Imam al-Haddad. ⭐ Register for the online gatherin...
09/08/2026

Join us on Tuesday 11th August for a live recitation of the poetry of Imam al-Haddad.

⭐ Register for the online gathering via the link in our bio or bit.ly/aneveningintarim ✨

📖 READ: CALLIGRAPHY AS A PATH TO KNOWLEDGE by Mohamed A. El-Gendy at sacredfootsteps.com or via the link in our bio ✨For...
08/08/2026

📖 READ: CALLIGRAPHY AS A PATH TO KNOWLEDGE by Mohamed A. El-Gendy at sacredfootsteps.com or via the link in our bio ✨

For centuries, traditional craftsmanship in the Islamic world was understood and practiced primarily as a spiritual discipline. The technical practice of a craft was inseparable from the cultivation of the artisan himself. To master a craft was also to master one’s character.

31/07/2026

In 1851 a German professor called Arabic wordplay a disease.

Heinrich Leberecht Fleischer, professor of Arabic at Leipzig, presenting the Lebanese poet Nāṣīf al-Yāzijī to a German audience, called his delight in ambiguity “sterile artistic play” then “an old, tenacious, intricate malady inflicting the Orient,” one that “must be remedied” by “the humane and reasonable men of the West.”

He was not alone. The Austrian Arabist Alfred von Kremer wrote al-Yāzijī’s obituary a few years later: Arabic poetry rested on “vain pomp” and “word play,” and the modern Arab needed rescuing from “old Arabic fake learning” into “the halls of modern European civilization.” His closing line about a man the newspapers called a great poet: by European cultural standards, he was not that.

Thomas Bauer’s point is that these weren’t outliers, the same can be found across French and English Oriental scholarship for a century. A people’s love of double meanings was read as proof of their immaturity, and turned into an argument for ruling them.

And it worked. Local elites adopted the foreign yardstick to be taken seriously as “modern.” The verdict stuck: a flowering to the tenth century, then eight hundred years of decay, with the most ambiguity-rich works as the evidence. The tell? Works from those centuries without ambiguity were simply ignored. The verdict came first.

Bauer notes it still takes courage in the Near East to study the Arabic literature of the Mamluk and Ottoman eras.

TRUTH AND TOLERANCE | Part two of five with | 📖 A Culture of Ambiguity by Thomas Bauer ✨

Introducing THE KASSAHAN CHRONICLES | هبة الله بن سعيد🐺 A series of dramatised narrative history that brings selected mo...
19/07/2026

Introducing THE KASSAHAN CHRONICLES | هبة الله بن سعيد🐺

A series of dramatised narrative history that brings selected moments from the Muslim past to life through researched accounts and restrained imaginative reconstruction.

📖 READ the first in the series: The Ottoman Queen Who Fed Jerusalem via LINK IN BIO or at SACREDFOOTSTEPS.COM ✨

Join us for a three-part seminar series with Dr Hatem Al-Bazian ✨This series takes up a central Muslim question of our ...
18/07/2026

Join us for a three-part seminar series with Dr Hatem Al-Bazian ✨

This series takes up a central Muslim question of our moment, what does it mean to think, know, and produce knowledge outside the frameworks bequeathed to us by the Western colonial empire?

⭐ Sundays starting August 2nd | 6-8pm UK / 10am-12pm CA | on Zoom | SIGN UP LINK IN BIO

Recordings will be made available to those who cannot attend the live sessions. We aim to make our programs as accessible as possible. If cost is a barrier, please email [email protected] to discuss available options.

17/07/2026

Did you know some of Istanbul’s historic mosques preserve beautiful poetic inscriptions carved into their pillars and architectural elements 🕌

Each inscription offers a small glimpse into the people who left it behind.

These verses weren’t just decoration—some reflected faith and wisdom, while others had a more personal touch.

“Even the pigeons travel in pairs. I, however, remain unmatched”

and

“Peace be upon you… [may you receive glad tidings]… through His Messenger”

Safar is the second month of the Hijri calendar. It was during this month that the Prophet ﷺ left his home in Makkah to ...
17/07/2026

Safar is the second month of the Hijri calendar. It was during this month that the Prophet ﷺ left his home in Makkah to migrate to Madina.

WEDNESDAY 22nd JULY ✨Join us for a monthly gathering via Zoom, reciting the Ratib of Imam al-Haddad, with reciters live ...
16/07/2026

WEDNESDAY 22nd JULY ✨

Join us for a monthly gathering via Zoom, reciting the Ratib of Imam al-Haddad, with reciters live from Tareem and various locations around the world.

The recitation will be accompanied by commentary in English by Malaysian scholar Sayyid Muhiyuddin al-Attas, based on the book by Habib Alawi b. Ahmad b. Hassan b. Imam Abdullah al-Haddad.

⭐️ To participate, use the QR code on the post to join the Whatsapp group, or click on the link in our bio✨

In collaboration with Peace Meal, Nur Sa’aadah, Ahlaha, Amanah HAK, Majelis Rasulullah Amsterdam and al-Fath.

Live from Ahlaha Studio in Tarim | ᗩᗷᑘ ᗩISᕼᗩ

13/07/2026

TRUTH AND TOLERANCE | Part one of five with | 📖 A Culture of Ambiguity by Thomas Bauer ✨

Address

Istanbul

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Sacred Footsteps posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Sacred Footsteps:

Shortcuts

Share

Category