SYMBOLIC INTERPRETATION AND ALLUSIVE EXEGESIS IN MYSTICAL THOUGHT: A CRITICAL ANALYTICAL STUDY OF THE APPROACHES OF AL-HALLAJ AND AL-NIFFARI
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70703/jtmgd373Keywords:
Mysticism, allusive interpretation, symbolic exegesis, Al-Hallaj, Al-Niffari, Sufi methodology, symbolic language, methodological critiqueAbstract
This research critically analyzes the methodology of allusive interpretation and symbolic exegesis in Islamic mystical thought, using the works of Al-Husayn ibn Mansur Al-Hallaj (d. 309 AH) and Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Jabbar Al-Niffari (d. 354 AH) as case studies. The aim is to shed light on the distinctive methodological and intellectual characteristics of these two Sufi scholars' interpretations and to analyze the semantic and symbolic dimensions in their exegesis of religious texts and spiritual experiences. The research hypothesis is that allusive interpretation and symbolic expression form a fundamental pillar in Al-Hallaj and Al-Niffari's exegetical approach. They employed metaphorical language and esoteric allusions as tools to uncover profound meanings and spiritual subtleties that transcend the apparent denotations of words. The study traces the roots of this approach in the Sufi tradition and examines its key features and applications in selected texts from Al-Hallaj's sayings and Al-Niffari's Makhātibāt. The research adopts a critical analytical methodology. It explicates and analyzes the theoretical foundations and intellectual premises underpinning Sufi allusive exegesis. It also discusses some methodological issues raised by Al-Hallaj and Al-Niffari's interpretations, such as the problem of ambiguity and obscurity in expression and the possibility of ecstatic utterances that deviate from the apparent meaning of religious texts. Furthermore, the research aims to evaluate the extent to which this approach aligns with the principles of interpretation in Islamic thought and its contribution to enriching the exegetical tradition with new insights and profound meanings. The research concludes that Al-Hallaj and Al-Niffari's approach of allusive interpretation and symbolic exegesis represents an important trend in Islamic mystical thought. It reflects a serious attempt to fathom the depths of religious texts and explore their esoteric contents beyond superficial meanings. Despite the difficulties and challenges inherent in this approach, it remains a testament to the richness and profundity of the Sufi experience and an example of the dynamic interaction of Islamic thought with new horizons of interpretation and exegesis.
Downloads
References
ʻAbbās, Qāsim Muḥammad. Hākadhā takallama al-Ḥallāj: al-nuṣūṣ al-ṣūfīyah al-kāmilah (Thus Spoke al-Hallaj: The Complete Sufi Texts). Baghdād (Baghdad): Dār al-Madá lil-Ṭibāʻah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʻ (Al-Mada House for Printing, Publishing, and Distribution), 2009.
ʻAfīfī, Abū al-ʻAlá. al-Taṣawwuf al-thawrah al-rūḥīyah fī al-Islām (Sufism: The Spiritual Revolution in Islam). al-Qāhirah (Cairo): al-Hayʼah al-Miṣrīyah al-ʻĀmmah lil-Kitāb (Egyptian General Book Organization), 2013.
al-Ālūsī, Shihāb al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn ʻAbd Allāh. Rūḥ al-maʻānī fī tafsīr al-Qurʼān al-ʻaẓīm wa-al-sabʻ al-mathānī (The Spirit of Meanings in the Interpretation of the Great Quran and the Seven Oft-Repeated [Verses]). Bayrūt (Beirut): Dār Iḥyāʼ al-Turāth al-ʻArabī (House of Revival of Arab Heritage), [n.d.].
al-Bukhārī, Abū ʻAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ismāʻīl. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (Sahih al-Bukhari). Shara ḥahu Muḥibb al-Dīn al-Khaṭīb, wa-rājaʻahu Quṣay Muḥibb al-Khaṭīb. al-Ṭabʻah 1 (1st edition). al-Qāhirah (Cairo): al-Maṭbaʻah al-Salafīyah (Salafi Press), 1400 [1980].
al-Dhahabī, Muḥammad al-Sayyid Ḥusayn. al-Tafsīr wa-al-mufassirūn (Interpretation and Interpreters). al-Ṭabʻah 7 (7th edition). al-Qāhirah (Cairo): Maktabat Wahbah (Wahba Library), 2000.
al-Dhahabī, Muḥammad al-Sayyid Ḥusayn. Tafsīr Ibn ʻArabī lil-Qurʼān ḥaqīqatuhu wa-khaṭaruhu (Ibn Arabi's Interpretation of the Quran: Its Reality and Danger). al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah (Medina): al-Jāmiʻah al-Islāmīyah (Islamic University), [n.d.].
al-Dhahabī, Shams al-Dīn. Tārīkh al-Islām wa-wafayāt al-mashāhīr wa-al-aʻlām (History of Islam and Deaths of Celebrities and Notables). Taḥqīq (edited by) Bashshār ʻAwwād. al-Ṭabʻah 1 (1st edition). Bayrūt (Beirut): Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī (House of the Islamic West), 2003.
al-Ḥakīm, Suʻād. al-Muʻjam al-ṣūfī (The Sufi Lexicon). al-Ṭabʻah 1 (1st edition). Bayrūt (Beirut): Dār Dandarah lil-Ṭibāʻah wa-al-Nashr (Dandarah House for Printing and Publishing), 1981.
al-Hindī, Maḥmūd. al-Ḥallāj: Ḥaqāʼiq al-tafsīr aw khalq khalāʼiq al-Qurʼān wa-al-iʻtibār (al-Hallaj: Realities of Interpretation or the Creation of the Creatures of the Quran and Consideration). al-Qāhirah (Cairo): Maktabat Madbūlī al-ʻArabīyah lil-Ṭibāʻah wa-al-Nashr (Madbouli Arabic Library for Printing and Publishing), 2006.
al-Ḥusaynī, Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd al-Karīm al-Kasnazānī. Mawsūʻat al-Kasnazān fīmā iṣṭalaḥa ʻalayhi ahl al-taṣawwuf wa-al-ʻirfān (Kasnazan Encyclopedia of Sufi and Gnostic Terminology). Dimashq (Damascus) wa-Bayrūt (Beirut): Maktabat Dār al-Maḥabbah wa-Dār Āyah (Dar al-Mahabbah Library and Dar Ayah), 2005.
al-Jilind, Muḥammad al-Sayyid. Min qaḍāyā al-taṣawwuf fī ḍawʼ al-Kitāb wa-al-Sunnah (Issues of Sufism in Light of the Quran and Sunnah). al-Ṭabʻah 1 (1st edition). al-Qāhirah (Cairo): Maktabat al-Zahrāʼ (Zahra Library), 1985.
al-Jurjānī, al-Sharīf ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad. al-Taʻrīfāt (The Definitions). Taḥqīq (edited by) and introduction by Ibrāhīm al-Ibyārī. al-Ṭabʻah 4 (4th edition). Bayrūt (Beirut): Dār al-Kitāb al-ʻArabī (The Arabic Book House), 1998.
al-Mahdī, Jawdah Muḥammad Abū al-Yazīd. Biḥār al-wilāyah al-Muḥammadīyah fī manāqib aʻlām al-ṣūfīyah (Oceans of Muhammadan Sainthood: On the Virtues of Notable Sufis). al-Ṭabʻah 1 (1st edition). al-Qāhirah (Cairo): Dār Gharīb lil-Ṭibāʻah wa-al-Nashr (Gharib House for Printing and Publishing), 1997.
al-Marzūqī, Jamāl. al-Nuṣūṣ al-kāmilah lil-Niffarī (The Complete Works of al-Niffari). al-Qāhirah (Cairo): al-Hayʼah al-Miṣrīyah al-ʻĀmmah lil-Kitāb (Egyptian General Book Organization), 2005.
al-Marzūqī, Jamāl. Falsafat al-taṣawwuf ʻinda Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd al-Jabbār al-Niffarī (The Philosophy of Sufism According to Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Jabbar al-Niffari). Bayrūt (Beirut): Dār al-Tanwīr (House of Enlightenment), 2009.
al-Marzūqī, Jamāl. Sharḥ Mawāqif al-Niffarī (Commentary on the Stances of al-Niffari). Taʼlīf (authored by) ʻAfīf al-Dīn al-Tilimsānī. Introduction by ʻĀṭif al-ʻIrāqī. al-Qāhirah (Cairo): al-Hayʼah al-Miṣrīyah lil-Kitāb (Egyptian General Book Organization), 2000.
al-Naysābūrī, Niẓām al-Dīn al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn al-Qummī. Gharāʼib al-Qurʼān wa-raghāʼib al-Furqān (Oddities of the Quran and Desiderata of the Criterion). al-Ṭabʻah 1 (1st edition). Bayrūt (Beirut): Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmīyah (House of Scientific Books), 1996.
al-Qushayrī, ʻAbd al-Karīm ibn Hawāzin. Laṭāʼif al-ishārāt (Subtle Allusions). Taḥqīq (edited by) Ibrāhīm al-Basyūnī. al-Ṭabʻah 3 (3rd edition). al-Qāhirah (Cairo): al-Hayʼah al-Miṣrīyah lil-Kitāb (Egyptian General Book Organization), [n.d.].
al-Qushayrī, Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (Sahih Muslim). Bayrūt (Beirut): Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmīyah (House of Scientific Books), [n.d.].
al-Ṣābūnī, Muḥammad ʻAlī. al-Tibyān fī ʻulūm al-Qurʼān (Elucidation of the Sciences of the Quran). al-Ṭabʻah 3 (3rd edition). Ṭihrān (Tehran): Maktabat Dār Iḥsān (Dar Ihsan Library), 2003.
al-Sulamī, Abū ʻAbd al-Raḥmān Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Mūsá al-Azdī. Ḥaqāʼiq al-tafsīr tafsīr al-Qurʼān al-ʻazīz (Realities of the Interpretation of the Noble Quran). Taḥqīq (edited by) Sayyid ʻImrān. al-Ṭabʻah 1 (1st edition). Bayrūt (Beirut): Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmīyah (House of Scientific Books), 2001.
al-Taftāzānī, Abū al-Wafāʼ al-Ghunaymī. Madkhal ilá al-taṣawwuf al-Islāmī (Introduction to Islamic Sufism). al-Ṭabʻah 3 (3rd edition). al-Qāhirah (Cairo): Dār al-Thaqāfah lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʻ (House of Culture for Publishing and Distribution), 1979.
al-Tilimsānī, ʻAfīf al-Dīn. Sharḥ Mawāqif al-Niffarī (Commentary on the Stances of al-Niffari). Study and taḥqīq (editing) by Jamāl al-Marzūqī. Introduction by ʻĀṭif al-ʻIrāqī. al-Qāhirah (Cairo): al-Hayʼah al-ʻĀmmah al-Miṣrīyah lil-Kitāb (Egyptian General Book Organization), 2000.
al-Zarkashī, Badr al-Dīn Abū ʻAbd Allāh. al-Burhān fī ʻulūm al-Qurʼān (The Proof in the Sciences of the Quran). Taḥqīq (edited by) Muḥammad Abū al-Faḍl Ibrāhīm. al-Qāhirah (Cairo): Dār al-Turāth (House of Heritage), [n.d].
al-Zarqānī, Muḥammad ʻAbd al-ʻAẓīm. Manāhil al-ʻirfān fī ʻulūm al-Qurʼān (Fountains of Knowledge in the Sciences of the Quran). Taḥqīq (edited by) Badīʻ al-Sayyid al-Laḥḥām. al-Ṭabʻah 1 (1st edition). Bayrūt (Beirut): Dār Qutaybah (Qutaybah House), 1997.
Ḥilmī, Muḥammad Muṣṭafá. Ibn al-Fāriḍ wa-al-ḥubb al-ilāhī (Ibn al-Farid and Divine Love). al-Ṭabʻah 2 (2nd edition). al-Qāhirah (Cairo): Dār al-Maʻārif (House of Knowledge), 1971.
Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawzīyah, Abū ʻAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb. Madārij al-sālikīn bayna manāzil īyāka naʻbudu wa-īyāka nastaʻīn (The Stages of the Travelers between the Stations of You Alone We Worship and You Alone We Ask for Help). Bayrūt (Beirut): Dār al-Kitāb al-ʻArabī (The Arabic Book House), [n.d.].
Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawzīyah, Muḥammad. Mukhtaṣar al-Ṣawāʻiq al-mursalah ʻalá al-Jahmīyah wa-al-muʻaṭṭilah (Summary of the Striking Thunderbolts against the Jahmites and the Mu'attila). al-Riyāḍ (Riyadh): Idārāt al-Buḥūth al-ʻIlmīyah wa-al-Iftāʼ (Department of Scholarly Research and Iftaa), [n.d.].
Ibn Kathīr, al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Fidāʼ Ismāʻīl. Tafsīr al-Qurʼān al-ʻaẓīm (Tafsir of the Great Quran). Taḥqīq (edited by) ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz Ghunaym, Muḥammad Aḥmad ʻĀshūr, and Muḥammad Ibrāhīm al-Bannā. al-Qāhirah (Cairo): Dār al-Shaʻb (House of the People), [n.d.].
Ibn Manẓūr. Lisān al-ʻArab (The Arab Tongue). Bayrūt (Beirut): Dār Ṣādir (Sadir Publishing House), [n.d.].
Zuqqah, ʻAbd al-Raḥīm Aḥmad. "al-Ittijāh al-ishārī fī tafsīr al-Qurʼān al-karīm: mafhūmuhu wa-nashʼatuhu wa-shurūṭuhu wa-ḍawābiṭuhu" (The Referential Approach in the Interpretation of the Noble Quran: Its Concept, Origins, Conditions, and Controls). al-Majallah al-Urdunīyah fī al-Dirāsāt al-Islāmīyah (Jordanian Journal of Islamic Studies) 1, no. 1.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Ahl alSuffa for Sufi Studies and Heritage Sciences
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
