A world in the shadow

The importance of this book in your hands: "A Scholar in the Shadow" lies in it being the broadest attempt to present Ibn al-Qayyim in a systematic way, through diverse papers by a group of researchers specialized in their fields, papers that examine the Qayyimian mentality, his scientific characteristics, and his methodology in the fields of jurisprudence and its roots, creed, and behavior. All the papers are, in my opinion, important, but a study on Ibn al-Qayyim's Sufi perceptions through "The Stations of the Wayfarer," on the soul in his well-known book of the same name, on the dialectical and refutative mechanisms of the theological rules in "Al-Sawa’iq al-Mursala," and on the pragmatic dimensions of the linguistic system in Ibn al-Qayyim's view through a critique of the concept of metaphor; all these studies are of high importance, and they have not yet been addressed with in-depth research in our Arab context. These are important scientific and intellectual additions presented by this book, opening doors for benefit, reflection, adoption, and debate.