Annemarie Schimmel

Annemarie Schimmel

Schimmel at a glance

Annemarie Schimmel was born on the 7th April 1922 in the Erfurt city of Germany and expired on 26th January 2003. At the age of nineteen, she entered the university and after the acquisition of doctorate in Islamic civilization – when she was twenty four years old – along with teaching at the University carried out education of the students’ that had an eagerness to the eastern and religious learning. This European lady played a significant role in the defense of Islam and made it memorable in a manner that she stated: `` Islam is a religion that is realized very bad in the west and even via a number of inexperienced individuals has been accused as a kind of primitivism’’. Annemarie Schimmel initiated teaching and research in several universities of the country; but more than anywhere else she focused her activities in Turkey.
In the year 1965, she was proposed to take over the responsibility and chair the Islamic Culture and Art at Harvard University, and after the conclusion of the contract with this university, at Harvard she implemented the teaching of Islamic mysticism, calligraphy and poetry. Schimmel is among the few dignitaries of the world that for the appraisal of her scientific activities has so far gained around 20 insignia medals from the different points of the globe. Even from the universities of the Sind, Islamabad and Peshawar in Pakistan, Uppsala in Sweden, Konya in Turkey, Tehran and Al-Zahra (peace be upon her) the honorary doctorate degree was dedicated to her. The President of The World Religious Sciences Association, awarded her membership in the Netherlands Royal Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Sciences and Arts besides, she was offered to edit a publication or Journal in the Arabic language ``Concept and Technique’’ in the years 1963 – 1973. This is a part of the responsibilities that she successfully carried out.

Schimmel and the prophet of the Islam (peace be upon him)

Anne Schimmel with the frankness of the speech that is only expected from a researcher who is much informed and without the need of any praise and laud of the west, announced that: Quran is the only divine book that as it was vision upon the holy prophet (peace be upon him) is preserved. She after the sober and reasoned explanation about the causes of the exceptional respect of Muslims to the great prophet of the Islam stated that: the Muslims consider any kind of the curse of the holy prophet very expensive and considers it as the heaviest sins and their reaction against the slanders and insults of Salman Rushdie, is against the companions of the prophets of this order.
In the disturbed condition and the poisoned advertisements that the global arrogance had implemented in the defense of this apostate writer, Schimmel talked about the rightfulness of the Muslims position and condemnation and this irreverent writer talked and explicitly announced that: ``Islam possesses such an eminent position and rank that should be considered more distinct and more clearer. I had seen the aged men with my own eyes that when they heard about what is written in the book of The Satanic Verses wept very hard. I also believe that ``To bruise the feeling of a large mass of believers is a very bad method, it is a thing that I cannot accept.’’

Schimmel and the Sajadieh scriptures

Schimmel in a souvenir mentioned that: I have translated a part of the holy book of the Sajadieh scriptures to the German language and published it. When I was busy translating these prayers, my mother was hospitalized and I used to visit her - after she was asleep – I used to sit in a corner of the room and occupy myself with the fair copies of the translations. There were two beds in my mother’s room. In the other bed a lady who was the inhabitant of learned and fanatical to the Catholicism was hospitalized. When she came to know that I am translating the Islamic prayers, she became pokey and said whether in the Christianity and in the scriptures of our holy book we have shortage that you are inclined to the Islamic prayers?! When my book was published, I sent her a copy of it. After a month she contacted me and said: Sincerely I am thankful for gifting me this book; because every day instead of the prayers of the holy book of ours I read that! Yes, really the translation of the prayers of the innocent imams (peace be upon them) especially the page of the holiness Zeyn al-Abedin (peace be upon him) is instrumental for many people of the western world.

Schimmel and beliefs

One of the causes of regret is that we in the west have lost a huge part of our Christianity character and many of the people have gone remote from the God and the religion, and cannot understand that the strength of Islam is in the belief in the Almighty God and the person who does not accept the Almighty God is unable to understand the religion of Islam. For many of the people, the nature and the economy have replaced the God and I see a fundamental issue in the said affair.
For me it is a matter of regret that the general judgment of the western media about the Islam has a negative aspect. For them the Islam is an alien religion that is not acquainted with it and they look at it with a negative viewpoint. No one is also able to discover the main reason for the creation of this negative image of Islam. Whoever has a little acquaintance with the Islam, knows that this doctrine condemns the terrorism. The superficial reports have drawn an incorrect image of Islam and the people believe it.
The translations that today is used in the western land and is obtained from the word holy Islamic Jihad or revolution, is a non-Islamic mistake. Besides, the claim to develop the Islam with bold and swords is not more than an unsubstantial indictment and Islam mainly has inclined the heart of the masses towards itself and is the religion of peace, solace and justice.