In his article 'Pourquoi j'ai converti à l'Islam?' (published in
Éléments, Spring 1985, n.53), Mutti writes about the process of his
conversion:
'I rejected the absurd chimera of an adherence to the obsolete
traditional forms of pre-Christian Europe; I excluded a number of
traditional paths which, like Buddhism, are practically destined to an
oriental humanity (sic), despite their proclaimed universality, some
of their forms (Zen) and the exceptional cases of Europeans adhering
to them. Thus remained Christianity and Islam.'
So Mutti excluded a number of paths because they are 'practically
destined to an oriental humanity' (he cites Buddhism. Had he read the
second chapter of 'The Doctrine of Awakening'?) yet he is willing to
accept Islam 'provided one turns to the Islamic world and the East.'
Can someone explain that?
Since Christianity was excluded, Islam seemed to him 'an obligatory
choice.'
Indeed, he 'thus rebuilt, bit by bit, a mosaic of an unsuspected
European Islam which had one of its eponymous heroes in the figure of
one of two of the Prophet's Indo-European companions, the Byzantime
Suhayb ar-Rumi. I discovered an Islamic European which did not stop at
the borders of Spain and meridional France and Sicily, but which had
also expanded to Corsica, Sardinia and other Italian territories. Etc.'
After listing the names of a number of Europeans who adopted Islam
(Guénon, Valsan, Burckhardt, L.F. Clauss, etc.), he writes about his
conversion: 'this adhesion, far from making me lose my European
quality, made me reclaim, to the fullest extent, a heritage which I
would not have been able to recuperate otherwise.'
'By passing from the theory of Tradition to the effective practice of
what appeared to me as the only yet accessible complete traditional
path, I also replied to an inner exigency for coherence. In seeking to
integrate myself as much as possible to an existential rhythm formed
by the daily rites of Islam, I began to withdraw a part of my life
from profane practice.'
In one of the last articles in 'Reflections of the Heart', Burckhardt
writes that it is impossible to have an authentic spiritual connection
outside of the major revealed religions in the world. Like Mutti, he
arrives by 'elimination' at Islam. But, as already pointed out, "there
are so many sects and sub-sects in Islam [and other traditions] that
it can cater for anybody attracted to it and give any 'truth seeker'
the impression that he or she is right."
The question imposes itself: to what extent is an initiatic connection
necessary? And to what other extent can Islam be a choice for Europeans?
--- In evola_as_he_is@yahoogroups.com, "evola_as_he_is"
<evola_as_he_is@...> wrote:
>
> Ok, it's a criticism, but a most reverent, a most prudent
> ("probably"), almost embarrassed one. Mutti, as a Muslim, as an
> insider, as a scholar, is expected, on fundamental points such as that
> one, to offer more : clarification.
>
> How can someone reach the conclusion that "Nonetheless, that is of
> [no] importance here. What matters, rather, is that according to Evola
> an initiatic connection in the present epoch is still possible,
> provided one turns "to the Islamic world and the East.", when, as
> recalled by T. Ciopa, Evola stated that "(...) to people who do not
> want to turn themselves into Muslims and Orientals, Gu�non's personal
> path has very little to offer."
>
> --- In evola_as_he_is@yahoogroups.com, Rowan Berkeley
> <rowan.berkeley@> wrote:
> >
> > right near the end, Mutti says:
> >
> > "We take this opportunity to note that Evola probably mistook the
> Twelver-Imam
> > Shi'a movement as a particular branch of the Ismaeli movement, and
> such an
> > oversight would be truly excessive, especially coming from an
> "insider". In the
> > same way, Evola seems to think that the Imam is "the supreme chief
> of the Order"
> > as much in the Ismaeli perspective as in that of the "so-called
> Twelver-Imam";
> > and this would also be a significant inaccuracy, since for the
> Twelver-Imam Shi'a,
> > the Imam, as a successor of the Prophet, is not only the supreme
> chief of an
> > Order, but of the entire community.
> >
> > Nonetheless, that is of importance here. What matters, rather, is
> that according
> > to Evola an initiatic connection in the present epoch is still
> possible,
> > provided one turns "to the Islamic world and the East."
> >
> > -- they didn't even bother to proof-read this translation - he
> means "of NO
> > importance here."
> >
>