Mystical Instructions; An Introduction to Islamic Gnosis ('Irfan)

1. The terminology of “irfan” literally means knowing/acquantance andtechnically the Islamic mysticism.

2. Usually the other term Tasawwuf means Sufism has been used for thismeaning.

3. Irfan has roots in Islamic sources such as Quran and sunna.4. The Islamic Mysticism (irfan) have types for different reasons such asknowledge, wisdom, insight istead of Tasawwuf or Sufism.

5. As mysticisum suggested something secret or concealed so it does notrefers to the concept of knowledge only for characteristic of irfan.

6. The next term is "contemplation" which refers to the act of mysticalintuition.

7. The terminology of “GNOSIS” has a reference to knowledge.8. Spirituality has broder meanings like mysticism, religion and someother phenomena.

9. Irfan distinguiseh between as a reality and as science.10.The reality of irfan is in the practice and personality of the individual'urafa.

11.Irfan is a way of life that leads to spiritual perfection which includesspiritual virtues and knowledge.

12.The science of irfan, on the other hand, like other branches ofsciences, is a discursive discipline in which scholars study differentaspects of the reality of irfan.

13.The one who acquires the science of irfan is not necessarily an arif.14.The direct irfani (mystical) knowledge comes through mysticalexperiences, however, the science of irfan is what we can learn frombooks and teachers without having those experiences.

15.There are two fundamental branches of science of Irfan in the Islamicculture.

16.Al-irfan al-nadari (the speculative mysticism) deals with the worldview.

17.Al-irfan al-amali (the practical mysticism) deals with urafa's way oflife like Do's and Do'nts in order to achieve their goal and stages andstations that they go through in their spiritual journey.

18.Irfani sciences is the another branch which is esoteric interpretation ofthe Quran (Tafsir al-Irfani).

19.Taiyya and Mathnawi of Moulavi are two influencial works to studyirfan as a literature in different languages.

20.Specific tems that are used in irfan named as mystical oxiology.21.The study of development of mystical tradition and the main figuresand events are in the disciplines of history of mystical.

22.To discuss the social status of mysticism and its relationto otheraspects of society deals in the sociology of mysticism.

23.Philosophy of mysticism is a branch of philosophy that tells about thenature of mysticism amd mystical epistemology.

24.Mysticism is a universal phenomenon; it is found in almost allcultures, traditions and civilizations from the very ancient to the mostrecent and modern ones.

25.The belief system and the practical teaching that we have in irfanoriginated from the Quran and the Sunna of the Prophet whichincludes his way of life, his sayings and his deeds.

26.For Shia (the followers of the school of Ahlulbayt) the tradition of theinfallible Imams is another source of irfan as well.

27.The Prophet's beloved daughter Fatimah who is considered asinfallible in the school of Ahlulbayt is yet another great example for agenuine irfan, specially for women.

28.Some close companions of the Prophet and Imams are called thepeople of secret (ahlulsserr) such as Salman Farsi, Abudar Ghafari,Ammar Yasir, Hozayfah Yamani, Bilal al-Habashi, and Oveys Qarani.They are the first generation of urafa in Islam that directly got theirirfani training from the Prophet (PBUH).

29.To shaped the Islamic culture Irfan grapsed its root gradually intodifferent branches of irfani science as a movement or a school with aspecific discipline in the different period of Islamic history.

30.Mulla Sadr tried to bring philosophy and irfan close together and triedto unite them into one which is called Al-Hakmah al-Mut'aliyah.

31.Al-Hakmah al-Mut'aliyah the metaphysical system is a reconciliationof irfan, philosophy and religion or illumination, reason andrevelation. In his words, he tries to combine burhan (rationaldemonstration), irfan (mystical intuition) and Quran (the propheticrevelation). These are three ways that reflect the same reality andmessage, though through different methodologies and languages.

32.In the present century an inflencial school of Shia irfan developed byMulla Husseinquli Hamadani in Najaf trained numerous great urafasuch as Mirza Ali Qadi who in his turn trained a group of great urafasuch as Allama Tabatabaei and Allama Bahjat.

33.Irfan is not only practice and experience. It is a filed of thought andknowledge too that are materials for mystical sciences.

34.The sources and the content of mystical thought of irfan is providedfrom various sources.

35.The Qur'an is the main inspiring source of mystical knowledge inirfan. It frequently refers to a knowledge which is different from allordinary ways of knowing, such as speculative knowledge and sensoryperceptions. The heart (al-qalb/ al-fu'ad) is the center for having thistype of knowledge.

36.The Sunna of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is another source ofspiritual wisdom which includes his sayings and his practice and way

of life.37.According to the school of ahlul beyt, the sunna of the infallibleImams, which is the extension of the sunna of the Prophet, is anothersource.

38.Beside religious sources which have their roots in the revelation (al-wahy), one of the major sources of irfani thought is the experiences ofurafa themselves.

39.An 'arif tries to get knowledge directly from God by purification ofheart.

40.Ordinary believers take their religious knowledge only from theQur'an and Sunna.

41.Urafa try to discover the same truths, that they learn from thereligious sources, from within their hearts, to have a kind ofexperiential and immediate knowledge of the truth.

42.The next source of knowledge in irfan is reason (al-'aql). The Qur'anencourages us to benefit from our reason. Revelation without reason isnot enough; we need reason to understand revelation.

43.The Qur'an repeatedly mentions reason and encourages people tothink and reflect and not accept anything without proof or evidence(burhan).

44.The Qur'anic epistemology is a pluralistic epistemology in the sensethat it confirms different sources of knowledge including senses,reason, experiences, illumination, inspiration and revelation. They allplay their role in the formation of irfani knowledge.

45.The nature of Irfan explain that in mystical worldwide, reality ingeneral has an outward and an inward dimension.

46.It provides the experimental knowledge of the inward dimenson ofreality.

47.Islamic teachings are classically classified into three categories: a)belief system (al-'aqaiid) which is discussed in theology ( 'ilm al-kalam), b) Islamic law (al-ahkam) which is studied in fiqh, c) Islamicethics (al-akhlaq).

48.irfan is the inner dimension of all of these teachings. All these threeparts of religion have inner dimensions.

49.Mystical knowledge is a kind of knowledge that one acquires throughimmediate encounter with the reality, direct inner experience of thetruth.

50.In Islamic epistemology knowledge can have two types knowledge bycorrespondence (al-ilm al-husuli) and knowledge by presence (al-ilmal-huduri).

51.The claim in mystics is that we can expand this immediate knowledgeto all things. We can know the reality and the inner dimension of theworld in direct intuition (al-shuhud).

52.Rational/intellectual knowledge are moe active, thinkint/ reasoning is

one example to develop rational knowlegde.53.Irfan is not the same as the sciences of irfan.54.The methodology of mystical knowledge, which is the intuition,unveiling (al-kashf) , witnessing (al-shuhood) the reality directlyfollowing the purification of heart (al-tazkiya) and cleansing the soul(tahzibu al-nafs).

55.Discursive knowledge does not necessarily lead to guidance (hidaya).56.Another key factor in mystical journey is obeying God according toIslamic shariah.

57.Obedience is the way toward salvation and reward, as disobedience isthe way toward the hell and punishment.

58.Methodology of mystical sciences and its sources are not necessarilythe same methodology and sources of acquiring direct mysticalknowledge, which is first hand and experiential.

59.Irfani sciences is religious texts and in the case of irfan the Quran andHadith are the second source.

60.The third source of irfani sciences is reason61.The first type of irfani knowledge is experiential knowledge ('ilm al-kashfi), knowledge that comes from unveiling the reality. Thisknowledge belongs to urafa themselves and those who are outside canonly have access to the reports and testimonies of urafa. The secondtype of mystical knowledge is that one can gain through religioussources and narrations (al-irfan al-naqli). The third type of irfaniknowledge is what we gain through rational analysis of urafa'sexperiences (al-irfan al-'aqli).

62.In modern mystical researches is "mystical experience". Anotherclosely related term is "religious experience" which is one of the hotlydebated discussions in modern philosophy of religion.

63.There are three types of theology: natural theology, historicaltheology and mystical theology.

64.Natural or rational theology is a theology that is based on humanreason.

65.William James distinguishes four characteristics of mysticalexperiences.

66.The first one is noetic quality, i.e., mystical experience is a way ofknowledge. It is not only an emotional feeling as some thought; rather,it has a perceptual dimension too.

67.The second quality is passivity. Amystic in his mystical experience ispassive. Amystic does not decide to have a mystical experience anddoes not know when and how he/she will have the experience.

68.The third characteristic is transiency. Usually mystical experience is amomentary event; its duration is very short; the maximum durationmay be one or two hours, except in rare cases.

69.The fourth characteristic is ineffability. Mystics always complain

about the inadequacy of language in explaining mystical experiences.They say that our language is for our ordinary experiences, but inmystical experience we deal with realities that are completely differentfrom ordinary objects.

70.One criterion is religious teachings. Any experience or interpretationwhich is not in harmony with religious teaching is not genuine andvalid. In irfan Shariah (Islamic teachings) is a mizan (criterion) toevaluate the experiences or its interpretation.

71.Reason is another criterion. The experience must not conflict withreason. Any claim by a mystic which is against reason is rejected andinvalid.

72.The mystic is confirmation of the master (shaykh, qutb, pir).73.The impact of the experience on the moral life of the mystic. If themorality of the mystic improves following the experience, this can bea sign of the validity of the experience.

74.Some characteristics of mystical experience such as noetic quality,passivity, transiency, ineffability, unitary consciousness, feeling ofobjectivity, and feeling of blessedness. Then we dealt with somecriteria for 5 evaluating the experiences in order to distinguishbetween genuine experiences from the otherwise .the most importantcriteria are reason and shariah.