Al-Hallaj
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Mansour al-Hallaj () or Mansour Hallaj () ( 26 March 922) ( Hijri 309 AH) was a
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
Hanbali The Hanbali school or Hanbalism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It is named after and based on the teachings of the 9th-century scholar, jurist and tradit ...
Christopher Melchert, "The Ḥanābila and the Early Sufis," ''Arabica'', T. 48, Fasc. 3 (2001), p. 352 mystic,
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
, and teacher of
Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
. He was best known for his saying, "I am the Truth" ("''Ana'l-Ḥaqq''"), which many saw as a claim to divinity, while others interpreted it as an instance of annihilation of the ego, which allowed God to speak through him. Al-Hallaj gained a wide following as a preacher before he became implicated in power struggles of the
Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...
court and was executed after a long period of confinement on religious and political charges. Although most of his Sufi contemporaries disapproved of his actions, Hallaj later became a major figure in the Sufi tradition.


Life


Early years

Al-Hallaj was born around 858 in Pars Province of the
Abbasid Empire The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes i ...
to a cotton-carder (''Hallaj'' means "cotton-carder" in Arabic) in an Arabized town called al-Bayḍā'. His grandfather was a Zoroastrian magus. His father moved to a town in
Wasit Wasit (, ) was an early Islamic city in Iraq. It was founded in the 8th century by the Umayyad viceroy of Iraq, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, to serve as the region's seat and as the garrison of the Syrian troops who enforced Umayyad rule there. It was ...
famous for its school of Quran reciters. Al-Hallaj memorized the
Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...
before he was 12 years old and would often retreat from worldly pursuits to join other mystics in study at the school of
Sahl al-Tustari Sahl al-Tustarī () or Sahl Shushtarī () according to Persian custom, born Abū Muḥammad Sahl ibn ʿAbd Allāh (c.818 CE (203 AH) – c.896 CE (283 AH)), was a Persian Sunni Muslim scholar and early classical Sufi mystic.Co-publisher: Edi ...
. During this period al-Hallaj lost his ability to speak Persian and later wrote exclusively in Arabic. Al-Hallaj was a
Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...
. When he was twenty, al-Hallaj moved to
Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...
, where he married and received his Sufi habit from 'Amr Makkī, although his lifelong and monogamous marriage later provoked opposition from the latter. Through his brother-in-law, al-Hallaj found himself in contact with a Zaydi Shi'i clan that supported the
Zanj Rebellion The Zanj Rebellion ( ) was a major revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate, which took place from 869 until 883. Begun near the city of Basra in present-day southern Iraq and led by one Ali ibn Muhammad, the insurrection involved both enslaved and ...
. Al-Hallaj later went to Baghdad to consult the famous Sufi teacher
Junayd of Baghdad Junayd of Baghdad (; ) was a mystic and one of the most famous of the early wali, Islamic saints. He is a central figure in the spiritual lineage of many tariqa, Sufi orders. Junayd taught in Baghdad throughout his lifetime and was an important ...
, but he was tired of the conflict that existed between his father-in-law and 'Amr Makkī and set out on a pilgrimage to
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
, against the advice of Junayd, as soon as the Zanj Rebellion was crushed.


Pilgrimages and travels

In Mecca he made a vow to remain for one year in the courtyard of the sanctuary in fasting and total silence. When he returned from Mecca, he laid down the Sufi tunic and adopted a "lay habit" in order to be able to preach more freely. At that time a number of Sunnis, including former Christians who would later become viziers at the Abbasid court, became his disciples, but other Sufis were scandalized, while some Muʿtazilis and Shias who held high posts in the government accused him of deception and incited the mob against him. Al-Hallaj left for eastern Iran and remained there for five years, preaching in the Arab colonies and fortified monasteries that housed volunteer fighters in the jihad, after which he was able to return and install his family in Baghdad. Al-Hallaj made his second pilgrimage to Mecca with four hundred disciples, where some Sufis, his former friends, accused him of sorcery and making a pact with the jinn. Afterwards he set out on a long voyage that took him to India and Turkestan beyond the frontiers of Islamic lands. About 290/902 he returned to Mecca for his final pilgrimage clad in an Indian loin-cloth and a patched garment over his shoulders. There he prayed to God to be made despised and rejected, so that God alone might grant grace to Himself through His servant's lips.


Imprisonment and execution

After returning to his family in Baghdad, al-Hallaj began making proclamations that aroused popular emotion and caused anxiety among the educated classes. These included avowing his burning love of God and his desire to "die accursed for the Community", and statements such as "O Muslims, save me from God" ... "God has made my blood lawful to you: kill me". It was at that time that al-Hallaj is said to have pronounced his famous
shath A ''shath'' ( ''šaṭḥ'', plural: ''šaṭaḥāt'' or ''šaṭḥiyyāt''), in the Islamic mystical tradition of Sufism, is an ecstatic utterance which often seems outrageous; however, it also holds immense significance within Sufism by actin ...
"I am the Truth". He was denounced at the court, but a
Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...
jurist refused to condemn him, stating that spiritual inspiration was beyond his jurisdiction. Al-Hallaj's preaching had by now inspired a movement for moral and political reform in Baghdad. In 296/908 Sunni reformers made an unsuccessful attempt to depose the underage caliph
al-Muqtadir Abū’l-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Al-Mu'tadid, Aḥmad ibn Al-Muwaffaq, Ṭalḥa ibn Al-Mutawakkil, Jaʿfar ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muḥammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, Hārūn Al-Muqtadir bi'Llāh () (895 – 31 October 932 AD), better known by his regnal name a ...
. When he was restored, his Shi'i vizier unleashed anti-Hanbali repressions which prompted al-Hallaj to flee Baghdad, but three years later he was arrested, brought back, and put in prison, where he remained for nine years. The conditions of al-Hallaj's confinement varied depending on the relative sway his opponents and supporters held at the court, but he was finally condemned to death in 922 on the charge of being a
Qarmatian The Qarmatians (; ) were a militant Isma'ili Shia movement centred in Al-Ahsa in Eastern Arabia, where they established a religious state in 899 CE. Its members were part of a movement that adhered to a syncretic branch of Sevener Ismaili ...
rebel who wished to destroy the
Kaaba The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and Holiest sites in Islam, holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Sa ...
, because he had said "the important thing is to proceed seven times around the Kaaba of one's heart." According to another report, the pretext was his recommendation to build local replicas of the Kaaba for those who are unable to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The queen-mother interceded with the caliph who initially revoked the execution order, but the intrigues of the vizier finally moved him to approve it. On 23 Dhu 'l-Qa'da (March 25) trumpets announced his execution the next day. The words he spoke during the last night in his cell are collected in ''Akhbar al-Hallaj''. Thousands of people witnessed his execution on the banks of the
Tigris River The Tigris ( ; see below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, before merging ...
. He was first punched in the face by his executioner, then lashed until unconscious, and then decapitated or hanged. Witnesses reported that al-Hallaj's last words under torture were "all that matters for the ecstatic is that the Unique should reduce him to Unity", after which he recited the Quranic verse 42:18. His body was doused in oil and set alight, and his ashes were then scattered into the river. A
cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...
was "quickly" built on the site of his execution, and "drew pilgrims for a millennium" until being swept away by a Tigris flood during the 1920s. Some question whether al-Hallaj was executed for religious reasons as has been commonly assumed. According to
Carl W. Ernst Carl W. Ernst (born September 8, 1950, in Los Angeles, California) is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Islamic studies at the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was ...
, the legal notion of blasphemy was not clearly defined in Islamic law and statements of this kind were treated inconsistently by legal authorities. In practice, since apostasy was subsumed under the category of ''
zandaqa Zindīq (pl. zanādiqa) is an Islamic pejorative applied to individuals who are considered to hold views or follow practices that are contrary to central Islamic dogmas.. Zandaqa is the noun describing these views. Zandaqa is usually translated a ...
'', viewing heresy as a political crime, they were prosecuted only when it was politically convenient.
Sadakat Kadri Sadakat Kadri (born 1964 in London) is a lawyer, author, travel writer and journalist. One of his foremost roles as a barrister was to assist in the prosecution of former Malawian president Hastings Banda. As a member of the New York Bar he has ...
points out that "it was far from conventional to punish heresy in the tenth century," and it is thought he would have been spared execution except that the
vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...
of caliph
al-Muqtadir Abū’l-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Al-Mu'tadid, Aḥmad ibn Al-Muwaffaq, Ṭalḥa ibn Al-Mutawakkil, Jaʿfar ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muḥammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, Hārūn Al-Muqtadir bi'Llāh () (895 – 31 October 932 AD), better known by his regnal name a ...
wished to discredit "certain figures who had associated themselves" with al-Hallaj. (Previously al-Hallaj had been punished for talking about being at one with God by being shaved, pilloried and beaten with the flat of a sword, not executed because the
Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...
te judge had ruled that his words were not "proof of disbelief.")


Teachings and practices

Al-Hallaj addressed himself to popular audiences encouraging them to find God inside their own souls, which earned him the title of "the carder of innermost souls" (ḥallāj al-asrār). He preached without the traditional Sufi habit and used language familiar to the local Shi'i population. This may have given the impression that he was a Qarmatian missionary rather than a Sufi. His prayer to God to make him lost and despised can be regarded as typical for a Sufi seeking annihilation in God, although
Louis Massignon Louis Massignon (25 July 1883 – 31 October 1962) was a French Catholic scholar of Islam and a pioneer of Catholic-Muslim mutual understanding. He was an influential figure in the twentieth century with regard to the Catholic Church's relatio ...
has interpreted it as an expression of a desire to sacrifice himself as atonement on behalf of all Muslims. When al-Hallaj returned to Baghdad from his last pilgrimage to Mecca, he built a model of the Kaaba in his home for private worship. Al-Hallaj was popularly credited with numerous supernatural acts. He was said to have "lit four hundred oil lamps in Jerusalem's
Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem. The church is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchat ...
with his finger and extinguished an eternal flame in a Zoroastrian
fire temple A fire temple (; ) is a place of worship for Zoroastrians. In Zoroastrian doctrine, ''atar'' and '' aban'' (fire and water) are agents of ritual purity. Clean, white "ash for the purification ceremonies sregarded as the basis of ritual lif ...
with the tug of a sleeve." Among other Sufis, al-Hallaj was an anomaly. Many Sufi masters felt that it was inappropriate to share
mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...
with the masses, yet al-Hallaj openly did so in his writings and through his teachings. This was exacerbated by occasions when he would fall into trances which he attributed to being in the presence of God. Hallaj was also accused of ḥulūl "incarnationism", the basis of which charge seems to be a disputed verse in which the author proclaims mystical union in terms of two spirits in one body. This position was criticized for not affirming union and unity strongly enough; there are two spirits left whereas the Sufi fana' texts speak of utter annihilation and annihilation in annihilation (the annihilation of the consciousness of annihilation), with only one actor, the deity, left.Sells, Michael Anthony. 1996. Early islamic mysticism: Sufi, Qurʼan, miraj, poetic and theological writings. New York: Paulist Press. Saer El-Jaichi has argued "that in speaking of the unity with the divine in terms of ḥulūl, Hallaj does not mean the fusion (or, mingling) of the divine and human substances." Rather, he has in mind "a heightened sense of awareness that culminates in the fulfillment of a spiritual – super-sensory – vision of God’s presence."Early Philosophical Sufism: The Neoplatonic Thought of Ḥusayn Ibn Manṣūr al-Ḥallāğ. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press.
Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of Postcolonialism, post-co ...
succinctly described al-Hallaj as "quasi-Christlike." There are conflicting reports about his most famous '' shaṭḥ'', ''Anā l-Ḥaqq'' "I am The Truth, " which was taken to mean that he was claiming to be God, since ''al-Ḥaqq'' "the Truth" is one of the
names of God in Islam Names of God in Islam () are 99 names that each contain Attributes of God in Islam, which are implied by the respective names. These names usually denote his praise, gratitude, commendation, glorification, magnification, perfect attributes, ...
. While
meditating Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...
, he uttered The earliest report, coming from a hostile account of Basra grammarians, states that he said it in the mosque of al-Mansur, while testimonies that emerged decades later claimed that it was said in private during consultations with Junayd Baghdadi. Even though this utterance has become inseparably associated with his execution in the popular imagination, owing in part to its inclusion in his biography by
Attar of Nishapur Faridoddin Abu Hamed Mohammad Attar Nishapuri ( – c. 1221; ), better known by his pen-names Faridoddin () and ʿAttar of Nishapur (, Attar means apothecary), was a poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer from Nishapur who had an immense ...
, the historical issues surrounding his execution are far more complex. In another controversial statement, al-Hallaj claimed "There is nothing wrapped in my turban but God, " and similarly he would point to his cloak and say, ''Mā fī jubbatī illā l-Lāh'' "There is nothing in my cloak but God." He also wrote: In the 11th volume of the proto-Salafi
Ibn Kathir Abu al-Fida Isma'il ibn Umar ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi (; ), known simply as Ibn Kathir, was an Arab Islamic Exegesis, exegete, historian and scholar. An expert on (Quranic exegesis), (history) and (Islamic jurisprudence), he is considered a lea ...
's book '' al-Bidaya wa-l-Nihaya'', it is said that al-Hallaj used to deceive people by putting on plays with his hired men under the guise of spiritual healing, and extorting money from them by cunning and secret, and it is also stated that, he came to India to learn and practice Indian magic.البداية والنهاية/الجزء الحادي عشر/ثم دخلت سنة تسع وثلاثمائة
/ref> Ibn Kathir also said in the book, "Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami Amr ibn Uthman said on the authority of al-Makki: He said: "I was walking with al-Hallaj in some streets of Makkah and I read the Qur'an. I was reciting, and he heard my recitation. And said: I can recite the same (recitation), so I left him". Narrated by Ibn Kathir, Abu Zari al-Tabari said, I heard Abu Ya'qub al-Aqta say: I gave my daughter in marriage to al-Husayn al-Hallaj when I saw his good conduct and diligence, and after a short time it became clear to me that He is a deceitful sorcerer, a hateful infidel. Ibn Kathir also said, "Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Razi said: I heard Amr ibn Uthman cursing him and saying: If I could have killed him, I would have killed him with my own hands. I said to him: What did the Shaykh get on him? He Said: "I read a verse of the Book of Allah and He said: I can compose like it and speak like it." Ibn Kathir also said, and Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri mentioned in his letter in the chapter on preserving the hearts of the sheikhs: Amr bin Uthman entered the house of al-Hallaj when he was in Makkah, he (Hallaj) was writing something on paper and he (Amr) said to him : What is it? He (Hallaj) said: It is ''against the
Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...
''. He said: Then he prayed for him and then he was not successful. Hallaj denied that Abu Ya'qub al-Aqta married him to his daughter.


Works

Al-Hallaj's principal works, all written in Arabic, included: * Twenty-seven ''Riwāyāt'' (stories or narratives) collected by his disciples in about 290/902. * ''Kitāb al-Tawāsīn'', a series of eleven short works. * Poems collected in ''Dīwān al-Hallāj''. * Pronouncements including those of his last night collected in ''Akhbār al-Hallāj''. His best known written work is the ''Book of al-Tawasin'' (), in which he used line diagrams and symbols to help him convey mystical experiences that he could not express in words. ''Ṭawāsīn'' is the
broken plural In linguistics, a broken plural (or internal plural) is an irregular plural form of a noun or adjective found in the Semitic languages and other Afroasiatic languages such as the Berber languages. Broken plurals are formed by changing the pattern ...
of the word ''ṭā-sīn'' which spells out the letters ṭā (ط) and sīn (س) placed for unknown reasons at the start of some
surah A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into ayah, verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' (al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while ...
s in the Quran. The chapters vary in length and subject. Chapter 1 is an homage to Muhammad, for example, while Chapters 4 and 5 are treatments of his legendary ascent to Mi'raj. Chapter 6 is the longest of the chapters and is devoted to a dialogue of Satan (
Iblis Iblis (), alternatively known as Eblīs, also known as Shaitan, is the leader of the Shayatin, devils () in Islam. According to the Quran, Iblis was thrown out of Jannah#Jinn, angels, and devils, heaven after refusing to prostrate himself bef ...
) and God, where Satan refuses to bow to Adam, although God asks him to do so. Satan's monotheistic claim—that he refused to bow before any other than God even at the risk of eternal rejection and torment—is combined with the lyrical language of the love-mad lover from the Majnun tradition, the lover whose loyalty is so total that there is no path for him to any "other than" the beloved. This passage explores the issues of mystical knowledge (ma'rifa) when it contradicts God's commands for although Iblis was disobeying God's commands, he was following God's will. His refusal is due, others argue, to a misconceived idea of God's uniqueness and because of his refusal to abandon himself to God in love. Hallaj criticizes the staleness of his adoration (Mason, 51–3). Al-Hallaj stated in this book:


Classical era views

Few figures in Islam provoked as much debate among classical commentators as al-Hallaj. The controversy cut across doctrinal categories. In virtually every major current of juridical and theological thought (
Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...
,
Maliki The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major madhhab, schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas () in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the ...
,
Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...
Hanbali The Hanbali school or Hanbalism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It is named after and based on the teachings of the 9th-century scholar, jurist and tradit ...
,
Maturidi Maturidism () is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu Mansur al-Maturidi. It is one of the three creeds of Sunni Islam alongside Ash'arism and Atharism, and prevails in the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. Al-Maturidi codified a ...
,
Ash'ari Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...
, and also Jafari) one finds his detractors and others who accepted his legacy completely or justified his statements with some excuse. His admirers among philosophers included
Ibn Tufayl Ibn Ṭufayl ( – 1185) was an Arab Andalusian Muslim polymath: a writer, Islamic philosopher, Islamic theologian, physician, astronomer, and vizier. As a philosopher and novelist, he is most famous for writing the first philosophical no ...
, Suhrawardi, and
Mulla Sadra Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Shīrāzī, more commonly known as Mullā Ṣadrā (; ; c. 1571/2 – c. 1635/40 CE / 980 – 1050 AH), was a Persians, Persian Twelver Shi'a, Shi'i Islamic philosophy, Islamic mystic, philosopher, Kalam, theologian, a ...
. Although the majority of early Sufi teachers condemned him, he was almost unanimously canonized by later generations of Sufis. The principal Sufi interpretation of the ''
shath A ''shath'' ( ''šaṭḥ'', plural: ''šaṭaḥāt'' or ''šaṭḥiyyāt''), in the Islamic mystical tradition of Sufism, is an ecstatic utterance which often seems outrageous; however, it also holds immense significance within Sufism by actin ...
iyat'' which took the form of "I am" sayings contrasted the permanence (''baqā'') of God with the mystical annihilation (''fanā'') of the individual ego, which made it possible for God to speak through the individual. Some Sufi authors claimed that such utterances were misquotations or attributed them to immaturity, madness or intoxication, while others regarded them as authentic expressions of spiritual states, even profoundest experience of divine realities, which should not be manifested to the unworthy. Some of them, including
al-Ghazali Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111), archaically Latinized as Algazelus, was a Shafi'i Sunni Muslim scholar and polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theoreticians, muftis, philosophers, the ...
, showed ambivalence about their apparently blasphemous nature while admiring the spiritual status of their authors.
Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (), or simply Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century poet, Hanafi '' faqih'' (jurist), Maturidi theologian (''mutakallim''), and Sufi mystic born during the Khwarazmian Empire ...
wrote: "When the pen (of authority) is in the hand of a traitor, unquestionably Mansur is on a gibbet"


Modern views

The supporters of Mansur have interpreted his statement as meaning, "God has emptied me of everything but Himself. " According to them, Mansur never denied God's oneness and was a strict monotheist. However, he believed that the actions of man, when performed in total accordance with God's pleasure, lead to a blissful unification with Him.
Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
author
Vaikom Muhammad Basheer Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (21 January 1908 – 5 July 1994), popularly referred to as the Beypore Sultan, was an Indian writer of Malayalam literature, a humanist and an Indian independence activist. He was a novelist and short story writer not ...
draws parallel between "Anā al-Ḥaqq" and
Aham Brahmasmi Aham may refer to: People * Aham Okeke (born 1969), Nigerian-born Norwegian sprinter * Aham Sharma Aham Sharma (born 22 July 1989) is an Indian actor from Salimpur, Bihar, India. Best known for his work in Indian television, he has also f ...
, the Upanishad Mahāvākya which means 'I am
Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII In the ...
' (the Ultimate Reality in
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
). Basheer uses this term to intend God is found within one's 'self'. There was a belief among European historians that al-Hallaj was secretly a
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, until the French scholar
Louis Massignon Louis Massignon (25 July 1883 – 31 October 1962) was a French Catholic scholar of Islam and a pioneer of Catholic-Muslim mutual understanding. He was an influential figure in the twentieth century with regard to the Catholic Church's relatio ...
presented his legacy in the context of Islamic mysticism in his four-volume work ''La Passion de Husayn ibn Mansûr Hallâj''.


Influence

Hallaj highly influenced
Adi ibn Musafir Adi ibn Musafir (, ; born 1072–1078, died 1162) was a Sunni Muslim sheikh who founded the Adawiyya order. He is also considered a Yazidi saint. The Yazidis consider him as an avatar of Tawûsî Melek, which means "Peacock Angel". His tomb at L ...
. Hallaj was revered in
Adawiyya Adawiyya (; ), also pejoratively known as Yazidiyya (; ), was a Sunni Sufi order founded by Adi ibn Musafir in Kurdistan. Adawiyya was a syncretic and heterodox sect, heavily influenced by Pre-Islamic religions. It later evolved into Yazidism. O ...
and later highly revered by
Yezidis Yazidis, also spelled Yezidis (; ), are a Kurdish-speaking endogamous religious group indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. The majority of Yazidis remaining in ...
, who composed a few religious hymns devoted to him. Elements of his views expressed in ''Kitab al-Tawasin'' can be found in their religion.


See also

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Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...
*
List of Persian poets and authors The list is not comprehensive, but is continuously being expanded and includes Persian poets as well as poets who write in Persian from Iran, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Georgia, Dagestan, Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, ...
*
Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
*
Hasan of Basra Abi Sa'id al-Hasan ibn Yasar al-Basri, often referred to as al-Hasan al-Basri, was an ancient Muslim preacher, ascetic, theologian, exegete, scholar, and judge. Born in Medina in 642,Mourad, Suleiman A., “al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī”, in: ''Encyc ...
*
Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya Rābia al-Adawiyya al-Qaysiyya (; 801 CE) or Rabia Basri was a poet, one of the earliest Sufi mystics and an influential religious figure from Iraq. She is regarded as one of the three preeminent Qalandars of the world. Biography Very ...
*
Aham Brahmasmi Aham may refer to: People * Aham Okeke (born 1969), Nigerian-born Norwegian sprinter * Aham Sharma Aham Sharma (born 22 July 1989) is an Indian actor from Salimpur, Bihar, India. Best known for his work in Indian television, he has also f ...
*
Anal Haq Anā al-Haqq (Arabic: أنا الحَق) is a short story based on the life of the Sufi Mansur Al-Hallaj, who was indicted and killed on charges of heresy.T''he Mystery of Essence and the Essence of Mystery: Yezidi and Yaresan Cosmogonies in the Light of the'' Kitab al-Tawasin
Macmillan. .


Further reading

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External links

In English: *
The Tawasin of Mansur al-Hallaj in English translation





Articles at Poet Seers


In other languages:
Rhythmic prose and poetry by Al-Hallaj recited in Arabic

Kitâb al tawâsîn edited and annotated by Louis Massignon (in Arabic and French)
(includes Persian translation and commentary by
Ruzbihan Baqli Abu Muhammad Sheikh Ruzbehan Baqli (1128–1209) was a Persian poet, mystic, teacher and sufi master. He wrote about his own life as well as published commentaries on Sufi poets and ideas. Baqli's most renowned work was his autobiography ''Unv ...
).
Louis Massignon (1922) La passion d'Al Hosayn-ibn-Mansour al-Hallaj, vol. 2 (in French)

Akhbar al-Hallaj (in Arabic)

Collected Works of Mansur Hallaj in Persian translation

Diwan of Mansur Hallaj in Persian translation

Diwan of Mansur Hallaj in Urdu Translation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallaj 850s births 922 deaths Year of birth uncertain 9th-century Arabic-language writers 10th-century Arabic-language poets People executed for blasphemy People executed for heresy Executed Iranian people Iranian Sufi saints Sufi poets 10th-century executions by the Abbasid Caliphate People from Fars province 10th-century Iranian writers 9th-century Iranian writers Iranian Muslim mystics Executed philosophers Hinduism and Islam Iranian Arabic-language poets Poets of the medieval Islamic world