According to the Public Relations Department of IICT, a symposium on the “Nature and Instances of Ahl al-Bayt’s Mysticism” was held by the Institute’s Mysticism and Spirituality group on Thursday, July 13 of this year in the Institute’s Culture Hall.
This scientific symposium was attended by researchers in mysticism and Sufism from Iran and Tunisia (including Sheikh Ibrahim Mukhtar bin Mahmoud, Sheikh Mohammad Bashir Nabfar, Sheikh Zein Sharif Kalbousi, Sheikh Mohammad Imran, Sheikh Tawfiq bin Amer, Sheikh Mohammad Aziz bin Zakour, Sheikh Mohammad Javad Roodgar, Sheikh Mustafa Farhoudi, and Sheikh Mohammad Ali Asadi-Nasab, Sheikh Ali Fazli).
Hojat al-Islam Mohammad Javad Roodgar, a member of the Institute’s Mysticism and Spirituality group, stated that the mysticism of Ahl al-Bayt (AS) comprises teachings derived from the Holy Quran, the sayings of the Imams (AS), and supplications. He emphasized that this type of mysticism is transmitted rather than discovered through the insights of mystics. Therefore, this form of mysticism is based on revealed texts and its methodology is an inclusive jurisprudential mysticism that requires three types of religious knowledge and understanding.
Roodgar added that these three types of knowledge include the science of study(علم الدراسه), the science of intuition (علم الفراسه), and the science of inheritance(علم الوراثه), which are needed in mysticism. In other words, these are worldly sciences that, through spiritual proximity to the Prophet (PBUH) and the Imams (AS), and with purification and piety, are attained. The two understandings that follow from these two types of knowledge are mystical understanding and spiritual wayfaring, which are devoted to practical mysticism. Without these two understandings and the three types of knowledge, jurisprudential encounters with Quran and tradition will face numerous gaps and errors.
A member of the Institute’s Mysticism and Spirituality group continued, stating that one of the fundamental characteristics of Ahl al-Bayt’s mysticism (AS) is that it is comprehensive across various fields, dimensions, and domains. It is not merely a mysticism of seclusion and reclusiveness, but rather a civilizational, heroic, jihad-oriented, rational, intellectual, political, and at the same time, just and expansive mysticism.
He further elaborated that this type of mysticism is inferred from verses and traditions in existential and intuitive domains. As an example in existential mysticism, he referred to a hadith from Imam Ali (AS) during the Battle of Badr, where he said, “O Ali! You have been taught the Greatest Name,” ( یا عَلِی عُلِّمتَ الاِسمَ الأَعظَمَ. فَکانَ عَلی لِسانی یومَ بَدرٍ )which was narrated by Sadooq. The content of this narration is as follows: Imam Hussain (AS) narrates, “[My father] Ali (AS) said: ‘One night before Badr, I saw Khidr (AS) in a dream. I said to him: Teach me something through which I will be victorious over the enemies. He said: Say, O You! O He who is none but He! In the morning, I recounted my dream to the Prophet of God. He said: O Ali! The Greatest Name has been taught to you. So in the Battle of Badr, this phrase was constantly on my tongue.'”
Amir al-Mu’minin recited ” قُلْ هُوَ اللّهُ أَحَدٌ ” and when he finished, he said, “O You! O He who is none but He! Forgive me and grant me victory over this group of disbelievers.” In the Battle of Siffin, while pursuing the enemy, he said the same phrase. Ammar ibn Yasir asked the Imam (AS), “O Commander of the Faithful! What are these references and allusions?” He replied, “The Greatest Name of God, and the pillar of the unity of God is the phrase ‘La ilaha illallah.’ ( لا إله إلّا هو) Then he recited the verse ” شَهِدَ اللَّهُ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ” and the last verse of Surah Hashr. He then walked and recited four rak’ahs of prayer before noon (Zuhr).
This researcher stated: “In the existential unity, I refer to the hadith of Sheikh Sadooq, which is the same question of Imran Sabeii from Imam Reza (AS); his question is about the relationship between truth and creation and creation and creator from fundamental issues in theoretical mysticism or the unity of existence. Imam Reza (AS) in this tradition said: ‘No one has been with God since eternity, and there was no creation and God created them,’ in other words, the Imam said the degree and rank of eternity are specific to divine nature, not creatures, because the degree of creatures is possible and contingent not necessary and eternal. Thus, nothing is eternal in the eternity of God and nothing is obligatory in his nature. Based on this, nothing accompanies God in eternity, and in essential necessity, God does not have a necessary nature.
Verses about Monotheism
He added that in existential mysticism, we have abundant evidence in Nahj al-Balagha and the gatherings of Hadith. He further stated: “There are numerous verses in the Quranic evidence in this regard, including verse 9 of Surah Al-Muzzammil: ‘Lord of the East and the West; there is no deity except Him, so take Him as Disposer of [your] affairs.’ (رَبُّ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ فَاتَّخِذْهُ وَکِیلا) And verses 21 to 23 of Surah Al-Hashr: ‘Had We sent down this Quran upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and coming apart from fear of Allah. And these examples We present to the people that perhaps they will give thought. He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed. He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him.'”
A member of the Institute’s Mysticism and Spirituality group, referring to some instances of Ahl al-Bayt’s mysticism (AS), said: “I will mention figures such as Oweis Qarni, who was a highly spiritual figure and simultaneously revolutionary, jihadist, and valuable, ultimately martyred in the service of Imam Ali (AS). And Salman al-Farsi, known as Salman the Persian, who according to narrations, achieved all levels of spirituality, elevation, and growth.”
He added: “Ammar ibn Yasir also reached a level where he became the criterion and measure of truth and falsehood. Personalities like Mitham Tammar, Hujr ibn Adi, Rashid Hijri, Jaber Ju’fi, and even Mua’la bin Khunais, all students of Imam Sadiq (AS), and Kumayl ibn Ziyad were prominent examples of mystically trained personalities in the presence of Ahl al-Bayt (AS), about whom I have written articles.”
He continued: “Among the characteristics of these personalities are loyalty, rationality, devotion, jihadism, realism, and political mysticism. Ahl al-Bayt’s (AS) mysticism extended into many schools of mysticism, especially the Najaf School of Practical and Theoretical Mysticism, led by Imam Khomeini, who established a divine and monotheistic system against secular and non-monotheistic systems.”
Damages of Sufism in Safavid Era
Concerning the damages of Sufism during the Safavid period, Hujjat al-Islam Ali Fazi, the head of the Institute’s Mysticism and Spirituality group, also addressed the question of whether Sufism and mysticism are the same in Iran or not. He said: “In the 11th and 12th centuries during the Safavid era, Sufism suffered several damages, including the reduction of epistemological aspects of mysticism to ‘Muhy al-Din Arabi,’ the domination of Sufism by the rituals of convents, and the shirking of Shariat in convents.”
He added: “For this reason, the great mystics in Najaf and Isfahan sought to produce jurisprudential mysticism. This jurisprudential mysticism had several characteristics: firstly, they attempted to deduce mysticism from the Quran and Sunnah. Secondly, they placed the monotheistic Tawhid as the basis of spiritual journeying in the cognitive section. Thirdly, they applied Shari’a to all their actions. And fourthly, they created a spiritual structure based on cognitive monotheism and self-awareness and presented it to the Islamic world.”
The Sufi resistance in Tunisia against French colonization
Sheikh Muhammad Aziz ben Zakour, a leader of the Sufi Tariqa order in Tunisia, highlighted that Sufism returned to the Islamic Maghrib in the 7th century and influenced various aspects of people’s lives—political, economic, social, etc. These Sufi orders were supported by cultural, religious, and endowment institutions in the Arab Maghreb, which financially facilitated their activities.
Ben Zakour emphasized that since ancient times, Sufi orders had a presence in Tunisian society, significantly impacting its cultural fabric to the extent that not adhering to a Sufi path was considered following the path of Satan. Sufism succeeded in establishing a strong spiritual-social fabric in society, promoting moral purification and ethical conduct.
Regarding their roles, Ben Zakour added that Sufi orders aimed firstly at spiritual purification and education towards divine knowledge. They also fulfilled social duties like sheltering the homeless and feeding the needy. Furthermore, they played a political role, such as resisting French colonialism in the late 19th century, as well as contributing to the Crusades known as the “Ribatat”.
He stressed that Sufism in Tunisia has not disappeared but has diminished under the influence of modernity.
