There is no need to try to "reconcile" Evola with Islam, for the
simple reason that he never parted from Islam, and he never parted
from Islam for the simple reason that he never adhered to it. He tried
to describe it as objectively and as accurately as he could, and, as
showed by Mutti's article, his judgment on it was rather positive. In
perfect harmony with the early Buddhist precept according to which
what is positive for some people can turn out to be negative for
others and what is negative for some people can turn out to be
negative for others, however, he wisely and discriminatingly did not
recommend it to Westerners.
It has always been our understanding that, to be able to become a
Sufi, conversion to Islam is a prerequisite, and René Guénon, or
rather Abdel Wahęd Yahia, is no different in this respect, no matter
when his conversion took place, whether it was before he was initiated
to Sufism (1912) or in 1934, when he married F. Hanem, one of the
daughters of sheikh Mohammed Ibrahim.
--- In evola_as_he_is@yahoogroups.com, "Toni Ciopa" <hyperborean@...>
wrote:
>
> --Would it be too much to describe Mutti's article as a half-failed
> --attempt to reconcile Evola and Islam?
>
> Evola's immense learning ranged over the religions and mythologies
of the
> world, which he often used to make specific points. For example, it
could be
> possible to "reconcile" Evola and Zoroastrianism with some
justification,
> but he never called for mass conversions. In other cases, his
judgment seems
> somewhat odd if his thought is carried beyond the limits he
intended. For
> example, he thought highly of some aspects of the Aztecs (probably the
> result of never having met one), but does that reconcile Evola with
human
> sacrifice?
>
> The case of Guénon is somewhat complex in that he never "converted"
to Islam
> as that act is commonly understood. In fact, he was initiated into a
Sufi
> order years before his move to Egypt and his overt life as a Muslim.
Thus
> anyone today who approaches matters in the opposite sequence, that is by
> first converting to Islam and then hoping to locate an initiatory
centre, is
> likely to be disappointed.
>
> As for "European" Muslims … my ancestral home is named "Salemi",
clearly a
> word of Arabic origin. However, in an age dominated by clear
thinking men,
> it never took root. So even if Evola does find some things to admire in
> Islam, which may even be suitable to the Oriental and African, for the
> European, it nevertheless involves a betrayal of the Western "spirit".
>