ISP
Place Cardinal Mercier 14/L3.06.01
1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
Gregory Vandamme
Chargé de recherche FNRS
Gregory Vandamme holds a PhD in Religious Studies (UCLouvain), and specializes in classical Sufi thought, particularly the work of Ibn ʿArabī and his commentators. He is currently a research fellow at the F.R.S.-FNRS/UCLouvain, Belgium, and has been a guest lecturer at SciencesPo Paris.
His doctoral thesis (dir. C. Bonmariage) focused on the notion of ḥayra (or "perplexity") in the thought of Ibn ʿArabī and his predecessors, and its use in the fields of epistemology, metaphysics and Qur'anic hermeneutics.
He is the author of several scientific articles, co-organizer of international academic meetings, and editor for the Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society.
His research focuses on the doctrines of speculative mysticism, Qur'anic hermeneutics and spiritual education in Sufism.
Selected publications (available on https://uclouvain.academia.edu/GregoryVandamme):“Some Notes on Ibn ʻArabī's Correlative Prophetology”, dans Islamic thought and the art of translation: texts and studiesin honor of William C. Chittick and Sachiko Murata, ed. M. Rustom. Brill, 2023, p. 97-116.
“The 'Veil of Glory': Perplexity (ḥayra) and Revelation in the Qur’ānic Hermeneutics of Ibn ʿArabī”, dans PhilosophicalHermeneutics and Islamic Thought, ed. S. Camilleri & S. Varlik. Springer, 2022, p. 79-94.
“L’ontologie correlative d’Ibn ʿArabī : Métaphysique de l’être et de ses relations”, dans La non- dualité : Perspectives philosophiques, scientifiques, spirituelles, dir. J.-M. Counet. Peeters, 2021.
To be published:
“Panorama de la littérature francophone sur le soufisme : Aperçus sur les auteurs et les démarches éditoriales”, dans La foi musulmane par les livres. Dynamiques, stratégies et évolution religieuse des publications islamiques en langue française, ed. Anne-Laure Zwilling. Le Cerf, 2023.
Traductions dans “Anthologie de la philosophie en islam”, ed. M. Terrier et F. Gillon. Éditions Diacritiques, 2024.
“L’éducation spirituelle et le « maître imaginaire » selon Ibn ʿArabī dans son K. al- Ajwiba al-ʿarabiyya fī sharḥ al-naṣāʾiḥ al-yusūfiyya”. Dans [Hommage à Michel Chdkiewicz]”, ed. D. Gril. 2024.
- Diploma
Year Label Educational Organization 2016 Master en sciences des religions, à finalité approfondie Université catholique de Louvain 2023 Doctorat en sciences des religions Université catholique de Louvain
Ibn ʿArabī and the Governance of the Caliphate: Theology and Politics in Akbarī Thought
This research aims to reconstruct the political thought of Ibn ʿArabī (560-638/1165-1240) and the so-called"Akbarī" tradition of his commentators. Sufism exerted a major role in the developments of political thought in Islam, as a vehicle for legitimisation and subversion. Although the influence of Ibn ʿArabī and his commentators on Islamic thought in general is notorious, and research has shown the multiple politicalappropriations of Akbarī doctrines throughout history, yet their political thought has never been studied in a systematic way.
The research proposed here aims to fill this gap by focusing on the notion of Caliphate developed by Ibn ʿArabī and his commentators, as well as on their way of conceiving the governance of the world and the articulation of different sources of spiritual and temporal authority. This will include determining whether thisAkbarī thought is original, or corresponds to the dominant political representations, and whether it is rathermarked in this by a form of legitimisation, or on the contrary of subversion of the powers that be.
The analysis will focus primarily on the corpus of Ibn ʿArabī himself. In a second step, it will address the way in which the notion of Caliphate was used by some of the most influential commentators of the Akbarī tradition, each of whom was involved in a particular political context. This second stage will allow us to determine whatare the invariant aspects of Akbarī political thought and what are the particular adaptations of some of its authors.
The study proposed here will help deepen our knowledge of Akbarī thought by addressing one of its leaststudied aspects. It will also contribute to shedding light on the role of Sufism in political thought in Islam, by showing how some of the most influential thinkers of this tradition have thought about politics from a spiritual perspective.
2022
Vandamme, Gregory. Develación (kašf) y desprendimiento (taǧrīd): La función educativa del maestro (šayẖ) en el proceso de realización espiritual sufi. In: El Azufre Rojo. Revista de estudios sobre Ibn Arabi, Vol. 10, no.10, p. 28-34 (2022). doi:10.6018/azufre.533981.
2021
Vandamme, Gregory. [Book review] Ibn ʿArabī. Les chatons des sagesses et les demeures des paroles. Fusus al-Hikam. Translation and presentation by Paul Ballanfat. Combas: L’éclat, 2020. 317 pp.. In: Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society, Vol. 1, no. 69, p. 115-118 (2021).
2018
Vandamme, Gregory. [Compte rendu] ʿUMAR B. AL-FĀRIḌ, Al-tāʾiyya al-kubrā. La grande Tāʾiyya, traduction et commentaire par Jean-Yves L’HOPITAL (Études arabes, médiévales et modernes, PIFD 289), Beyrouth-Damas, Presses de l’Ifpo, 2016. In: Museon, Vol. 3-4, no.131, p. 490-493 (2018). doi:10.2143/MUS.131.3.3285657.
2023
Vandamme, Gregory. Panorama de la littérature francophone sur le soufisme : Aperçus sur les auteurs et les démarches éditoriales. In: Anne-Laure Zwilling (éd.), La foi musulmane par les livres : Dynamiques, stratégies et évolution religieuse des publications en langue française (Cerf Patrimoines), Édtitions du Cerf: Paris, 2023, p. 145-180. 9782204158121.
2023
Vandamme, Gregory. Some Notes on Ibn ʻArabī's Correlative Prophetology. In: Mohamed Rustom (ed.), Islamic thought and the art of translation: texts and studies in honor of William C. Chittick and Sachiko Murata (Islamic History and Civilization; 202), Brill: Boston-Leiden, 2023, p. 97-116. 978-90-04-52902-1.
2022
Vandamme, Gregory. The “Veil of Glory”: Perplexity (ḥayra) and Revelation in the Qur’ānic Hermeneutics of Ibn ʿArabī. In: Sylvain Camilleri & Selami Varlik (ed.), Philosophical Hermeneutics and Islamic Thought (Contributions to Hermeneutics; 10), Springer: Cham, 2022, p. 79-94. 978-3-030-92753-0. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-92754-7_5.
2021
Vandamme, Gregory. L’ontologie corrélative d’Ibn ̔Arabî : métaphysique de l’être et de ses relations. In: J.-M. Counet (éd.), La non-dualité. Perspectives philosophiques, scientifiques, spirituelles (Bibliothèque philosophique de Louvain; 112), Peeters: Leuven, 2021, p. 89-102. 9789042946040.
2021
Vandamme, Gregory. Voorwoord ["Heilige verbeelding. Ibn Al-Arabi over religieuze diversiteit"]. In: Chittick, William C. (trad. Colpaert, Marc), Heilige verbeelding. Ibn Al-Arabi over religieuze diversiteit, Synthese-Milinda: Geraardsbergen, 2021, p. 9-14. 9789062711666.
2017
Vandamme, Gregory. "De praktijk van Dhikr en Waẓîfa in het soefisme van de Tarîqa Qâdiriyya Bûdchîchiyya". In: Johan Leman & Ann Trappers ed., Spirituele en grootstedelijke zachte trance, Garant: Antwerpen, 2017, p. 17-28. 9789044135398.
2022
Vandamme, Gregory. La résurrection dans les commentaires coraniques soufis (IXème—XIXème siècles). Insaniyyat - Forum international des sciences humaines et sociales (Table ronde "Penser la résurrection en islam") (Tunis, Tunisia, du 20/09/2022 au 24/09/2022).
2022
Vandamme, Gregory. Spiritual Education and the “Imaginary Master” in Ibn ʿArabī’s K. al-Ajwiba al-ʿarabiyya. Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series, dir. Fârès Gillon (The Institue of Ismaili Studies, London (Online), 27/10/2022).
2022
Vandamme, Gregory. Une lecture symbolique et littéraliste des règles d’ablution : la purification selon les Futūḥāt makkiyya d’Ibn ʿArabī. Insaniyyat - Forum international des sciences humaines et sociales (Table ronde "Enjeux de la ritualité en Islam") (Tunis, Tunisia, du 20/09/2022 au 24/09/2022).
2021
Vandamme, Gregory. La perplexité (ḥayra) comme voie de connaissance dans le soufisme classique : de Sarrāj à Ibn ʿArabī. Journées d’études ‘Courants anti-intellectuels en islam’ (IREMAM-Université d'Aix-Marseille, MMSH, Aix-en-Provence, du 01/12/2021 au 02/12/2021).
2021
Vandamme, Gregory. L’influence de la pensée d’Ibn ‘Arabî dans les débats contemporains en islam : de l’inspiration à l’appropriation. Universalisation et patrimonalisations du soufisme, dir. N. Chabloz & F. Piraino (EHESS, Paris (Online), 19/03/2021).
2019
Vandamme, Gregory. A Mystical Reading of the Paradoxical Quranic Metaphors: Ibn ʿArabī’s Hermeneutics of ‘Perplexity’ (Ḥayra). Mystical Theology Network Annual conference (Boston College, Boston, du 29/02/2019 au 03/03/2019).
2019
Vandamme, Gregory. Qu’est-ce que la “tradition” ? Transmission et formulation de l’expérience islamique. Journée d'étude : Pratiques nouvelles en islam et engagements citoyens. Comment dépasser les clôtures dogmatiques ? (Académie royale de Belgique, Bruxelles, 07/12/2019).
2019
Vandamme, Gregory. Towards a Correlative Ontology: A New Approach to the Notions of “Being” (wujūd) and “Fixity” (thubūt) in Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240), through his Epistemology of “Perplexity” (ḥayra). Sufism and Philosophy: Historical Interactions and Crosspollinations (University of Birmingham, du 26/04/2019 au 27/04/2019).
2018
Vandamme, Gregory. Adam in Ibn ʿArabī and Bernard of Clairvaux: Contrasting Views on a Universal Figure. Engaging Particularities (16th ed.) (Boston College, Boston, 08/04/2018).
2018
Vandamme, Gregory. Bewilderment (ḥayra) as the Heart of Revelation in the Quranic Hermeneutics of Ibn ʿArabī. Philosophical Hermeneutics in the Islamicate Context (UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, du 09/05/2018 au 11/05/2018).
2018
Vandamme, Gregory. Ādam and Muḥammad in the Correlative Prophetology of Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240). 5th Annual Conference of the British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS) (University of Exeter, du 09/04/2018 au 11/04/2018).
2017
Vandamme, Gregory. Perplexité et intelligence du cœur chez Ibn ʿArabī. GIS Moyen-Orient et Mondes Musulmans (CNRS) - Atelier 71, "L'Irrationnel au Moyen-Orient et en Islām" (INALCO, Paris, du 05/07/2017 au 08/07/2017).
2023
Vandamme, Gregory. Ḥayra : la perplexité chez Ibn ʿArabī (épistémologie, métaphysique, herméneutique coranique), prom. : Bonmariage, Cécile, 28/04/2023.