In the view of the Islamic intellectual tradition, any solution to the crises of our times can only be found in the recovery of our true human nature. By “intellectual tradition” I mean the more sophisticated expositions of Islamic teachings found in the books of Muslim scholars known to modern historians as “philosophers” and “mystics.” This nature, however, cannot be grasped with the tools at the disposal of the modern sciences and academic disciplines, but rather by way of a process self-discovery within the context of an overarching anthropocosmic vision. Perhaps a review of the specifically Islamic reading of the significance of human embodiment can throw some light on our contemporary predicament.

Form comes into existence from the Formless,