For some, Mansur al-Hallaj was a magician, a heretic and a lunatic, who publicly claimed to be one with the One and deserved to be executed for heresy. But to his sympathizers he was a Sufi saint, who was martyred almost 1,100 years ago, on March 26, 922, allegedly for his ecstatic utterance.
The legends surrounding Hallaj are many. Despite the 2,000 pages written by Louis Massignon, we still don't know much about him and there's no way to validate the claim that he ever uttered the words "ana'l-haqq" (I am the Truth), which many believe was the cause of his arrest, followed by nine-year long trial, leading to his public execution.
The are many fictional stories about him that ensued after his execution, including one told by Farid al-Din `Attar, who claims that Hallaj's one-time teacher, Junayd Baghdadi, changed his Sufi robes and put on a turban of a judge to condemn his disciple to death for heresy. But according to Carl Earnst, author of "Words of Ecstasy in Sufism," this is one of the many unfounded legends about Hallaj.
"The only problem with this story is that Junayd died in 910, and the execution took place in 922," he said. "We see another hostile account when Amr al-Makki was reciting the Qu'ran and the story goes that Hallaj said: 'I can write something like that.' And at that point Amr leaves him in disgust. And there are other stories that he looked at a woman, therefore, it was an illegal glance and he was condemned to die. So, people have come up with various romantic, imaginative explanations of his early life."
Since Hallaj's writings were burned to ashes, we can only conjure an image of the Sufi from his only surviving work, Tawasin, which is a collection of short pieces, of which the dialogue between Hallaj, Iblis (Satan) and the Prophet Moses, may God be pleased with him, is most famous.
A short poem that is said to be about Iblis describes the dilemma of Hallaj:
God threw a man into the sea, with his arms tied behind his back,
And said to him: careful! Careful! Or you'll get wet in the water!
(translated by Eric Schroeder)
Though unorthodox, Hallaj makes Iblis's encounter with God sound like a tragedy.
As far as Hallaj crying out "ana'l-haqq" in public is concerned, notable Sufi masters held it was a result of his spiritual state that is incomprehensible to a layman. A Shadhili-Darqawi shaykh, Muhammad Harun Riedinger, rightly pointed to a metaphor Ghazali employs to explain the limitations of rational mind at comprehending mystical experiences:
"It is like an impotent man asking his friend how his wedding night was and getting the reply: 'Oh, I was in the 7th heaven.' How can the impotent asker 'understand' the bliss of his friend?"
Sufis generally do not consider that Hallaj was claiming to be God, but that his ego had been annihilated. "As `Attar pointed out, when the burning bush said to Moses, 'I am God,' it was not the bush speaking, but God manifesting through it. In the same way, it was God speaking through the voice of the annihilated Hallaj," said Professor Ernst.
Hallaj's spiritual intoxication yielded "theopathic locutions," where God speaks in the first person through a saint. And according to Timothy Winter, lecturer of Islamic Studies at Cambridge University, this "phenomenon is not confined only to mainstream Sufism, but where it is, it is regarded as the consequence of 'fana,' the maqam or station of Annihilation. When the personhood of the saint is stripped away by mujahada (spiritual discipline), the reality of the Divine ground of being is manifest."
Al-Ghazali does not discredit the truth content of Hallaj's state but maintains that since only God is the Truth, and it is only He, who has the right to proclaim it and thus the "I" was not Hallaj's self speaking.
Ghazali however held that Hallaj's execution was justified since he had revealed the Divine secret in public.
Hallaj was not sentenced to death for uttering "ana'l-haqq." After his arrest, he was accused of various things, but, according to Professor Ernst, he was pinned down after his prosecutors discovered a document in the handwriting of Hallaj that recommended that those who were unable to afford Hajj pilgrimage could construct a model of Kaaba at home and perform circumambulation (tawaf) and give alms to poor and feed some orphans and they would have completed the Hajj.
[Mansur al-Hallaj's wax statue in Shiraz. Photo credit: Carl Ernst.]
"At that point one of the judges turned to Hallaj and said in Arabic 'damuka halal,' that is, your blood may legally be shed. In other words, now we have you," said Professor Ernst, a specialist in Islamic Studies. "But then Hallaj said that I found this in the writings of Hasan al-Basri, so that was a kind of technicality, but he was given no opportunity to explain or repent."
Hallaj was prosecuted at a time when the Abbasid caliph was extremely weak and did not have the ability to make a unilateral decision. In fact, the Abbasids were so weak that they completely removed from power a little over two decades later, in 945, by the Shiite Buyid dynasty coming in from the Caspian.
This raises suspicion on why a Sunni caliph allowed the trial to go on for nine years when the Hanbalis and other conservatives revered Hallaj as a pious man, who prayed 2,000 (yes, 2,000) units of voluntary prayers at a time. "Only the Shiites were critical of him, mainly because he proposed an alternative authority," said Professor Ernst. "When asked, what is your madhab (religious sect)?, Hallaj would say: I pick the most difficult rulings from all schools of law and follow that."
The question of why certain Sufis were executed can only be understood by the politics. While speaking of Sufism, we don't naturally think of politics, we simply assume that a lover of God was martyred by a hardliner, but Mr. Ernst says there is more to it: "You have to look at the political contest and it is only when the political authorities find it useful to persecute an unusual figure that's when the incident takes place."
It seems that diverting attention from crippling internal problems, like corruption within the government, to something ridiculously trivial is an ancient tactic.
But from a Sufi perspective, it is futile to analyze the outward series of events that led to Hallaj's execution. "Martyrdom does not belong in this realm," Shaykh Riedinger notes. "If God is pleased with His bondman and wants to bestow the crown of martyrdom on him, He puts him into such an outward scenario -- political or other wise -- that will eventually lead up to the situation, where the Divine intent is realized."
Other political killings of Sufis:
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Mansur Al-Hallaj - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clearly, his worship increased over time. Where can one read more about the prayers that he offered?
Pretty good pice Fahad ;) thanks!
Other than shia main (up to ) twelve Imams, shia had faced executions extensively. When studying this school of Islam, one needs to rise above present day politics so not to be confused about shia school. Even today a hard line salafi/wahabbi group declares whoever kills one shia will be rewarded paradise, And K S a spends fortunes toward to cause misconceptions about shia.
Food for thought! Hope the above is just out of sheer ignorance.
Shia school was so hated by caliph's since it had/has a tremendous emphasis on social justice and equality. Also no other two are closer than shia and sufi, when it comes to matters of soul. In fact Except Ali (which was killed by ignorance) and Mahdi, All shia Imam's were murdered by caliphs one way or the other.
Other than shia main (up to ) twelve Imams, shia
I can't help but to see you contradicting Hallaj's essence. I hope you would be more thoughtful of what you write in your future articles.
These words of Hallaj: 'I am the Truth' (i.e. God) -- have come ringing down the ages, to be intoned ecstatically by some, or quoted with horror by others. Hafiz, the greatest lyric poet of Iran...exonerated Hallaj: The giants among the Sufi poets, including Jalali'd-Din-i-Rumi,have unfailingly sung his praise. But there can be no doubt that Hallaj, who by some accounts was a man bereft of learning and much too boastful, posed a menace to the security and the integrity of the Twelvers...
After languishing .. in a Baghdad prison, he was subjected to a prolonged and protracted trial. The death sentence was eventually confirmed; and Mansur al-Hallaj became one of the most celebrated martyrs of all time. Was he an illiterate impostor, a mere adventurer? Was he a clear-sighted mystic? Was he a victim of circumstances beyond anyone's control? Who knows?”
( Balyuzi, Muhammad and the Course of Islam, 260)
Of course this was on surface as in reality caliphs and his payroll jurists didn't care about any school of Islam.
Similarly, no one can possibly fathom Hallaj's sentiments for God.
Q: You have uttered the expression ana'l-Haqq, i.e. ‘I am the Truth'. Could you please give some explanation of this seemingly outrageous sentence?
A: My brother Jalaluddin Rumi has given an explanation several centuries later. He commented that to say ana'l-Haqq is much humbler than to say I am ‘Abd Allah, which means ‘slave of God', for in the former case there is no retaining of the self, while in the latter case you affirm yourself in a pretentious way as someone separate from God.
In the name of Sufism some of the pseudo-mystics attributed many a funny and strange things to themselves and have demoralized the masses due to their ignorance.
Like some of the fake Hindu godmen, some fake Sufis sold religion for worldly gains. Some of them even turned atheists and free thinkers.
The Sufis who do not possess good knowledge of the Quran and Traditions are robbers of religion. But good Sufis have a great role to play in Islam even today. But where are they hiding?
The books and treatises of Sufis are good alchemy, but for the common folks they are not very useful
In the case of religious doctrines, common people should never give preference to the path of philosophers over the path of the mighty prophets
The ancient Sufis cared for the purification of the body, mind and will (Nafs, Qalb and Aql) and gave priority to the discipline of them and served God sincerely
All the injunctions of the law ( from Shariah to Tariqa to Haqiqa and to Ma’rifa) have the connections with Tasawwuf, they are not independent.
The same can be said of Islam by Christians.
The muslims who do not possess good knowledge of the Holy Bible are robbers of religion.
8:17 ... And thou (Muhammad) threwest not when thou didst throw, but Allah threw, that He might test the believers by a fair test from Him. Lo! Allah is Hearer, Knower.
The most important point the masters emphasized in pursuing this grand knowledge (level of Hallaj) is it needs a guiding master, otherwise one may be lost in deep confusion and blunder.
The most simple tool to attain this high knowledge is doing good deeds
12:22 And when he (Moses) reached his prime We gave him wisdom and knowledge. Thus We reward the good.
Sufism ( or Erfan) = true "din" itself is a means to an end and not a goal itself.
Those who ask questions about the meaning of life or feel the call of love for God should seek guidance either from from jurists or theologians. or they can turn to sufi teachers experienced in matters of the spirit.
People have every right to hold on to either views either the concept of Unity of Being or the Idea of Apparenticism.
Some may say that the difference is only in form but not in substance. God knew best,.
Some religious philosophers think there is unity between God and His creations( probably as Hallaj felt), but in Islam most philosophers like Shah Waliyullah assert that, THAT Unity is not real( as Hallaj expressed).
They say that human intellect ( even Hallaj’s) can reach what they call the universal soul but it can not move a step further and so the Quran says God is incomparable and unfathomable. God is not the Universe, the Ultimate reality is still very, very far away .Even great souls like Hallaj’s got confounded when the Quran says, God is closer to you than your jugular vein.
When a great Emanation takes place ( Example Birth of Jesus or Krishna Hindus may say) people came under the over weaning presumption that Jesus is the Incarnation of God Himself incomprehension according to Islam.)
Sufis like Hallaj took the shadow of Reality as Reality itself.
Yes, it is hard for anyone who hasn't reached the state of Annihilation to understand Hallaj's sentiment.
Majority of sufi masters and scholars of old were Iranian/Persian And you probably knew Hallaj himself was Persian/Iranian. You probably also know that Ghazali himself was Persian too.
Historically, shia could have been considered 99%ers, hence the shia's deep emphasize on social justice, as opposed to caliphs and its various scholars on his payroll, which were 1%ers.
if jesus came back today in america and gave the same sermons and performed the same miracles and had a huge following he would be in deep trouble with the gov and with christians especially the evangels.
anthony de mello was no mystic but he started to awaken before he passed so the catholic church took his videos and books out of their libraries.
on knees..
bended forward..
head towards the ground...
anything above them
can
be
carried away by the wind.
I cannot see how a man who had God speak
through him
could be blamed for
speaking in first person...
we as humans
could not control God...
and if we were of the group
who liked to control things
we
would not be
permitted to speak the
voice of God.