Critique of Khorasan mysticism in Shams Tabrizi articles

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic mysticism, Research Institute of Imam Khomeini and Islamic Revolution

Abstract

The current of Khorasan romantic mysticism has a special style tradition centered on the concept of love. After the publication of Shams Tabrizi's articles, one of the topics of interest was that Shams did not accept the likes of Bayazid from the elders of Khorasan and even Junaid, Hallaj and Ibn Arabi. In this research, it is clear that the main criticism of Shams is not on the personality of these people but on their mystical method. The fact is that Shams Tabrizi was one of the top critics of Khorasan mysticism who was also affiliated with this school. To prove this claim, important features of Khorasan behavior such as emphasis on austerity, Sokr, Shath and annihilation in the sheikh have been stated. And then Shams' views on these features are explained and analyzed. Shams was opposed to the monastic system based in Khorasan mysticism and customs such as wearing a cloak. He considered conventional austerity a serious deviation. He also considered conditions such as Sokr and Shath as inefficiencies and shortcomings of this behavior. One of the most important achievements of this discussion is that Shams sought to return to the original way of Khorasan because he did not consider Sufism's reliance on the existing monastic system acceptable. He tried to lead Sufism to dependence on the spiritual guardianship of the sheikh and the doctrine of annihilation in the sheikh. The research method is descriptive and analytical and relies on library resources.

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