“All those who are elevated by Your love
Are asleep in the fields of martyrdom.
Victory for them in the battle of two worlds
Is won through love,
All soldiers of love achieve martyrdom.”
_________________________ Till today, Mansur al-Hallaj is the most controversial figure in Sufism. He was born around 858 CE, AH 244 in Madina al-Bayda [which was a city of the Amṣar, a militarized section, of Basra]- an Arabized small town of the Fars province of ancient Persia. His full name was Abu al-Mujid al-Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj. His father al-Hallaj was a cotton-carder who was a converted Muslim, moved his family, between AH 249-253, to the Arab colony of Wasit in Iraq where Mansur admitted to a Midrash. He was very meritorious from his childhood and became a Hafiz [memorized the Qur'an] when he was around 12 yrs old.
At the age of 18, Hallaj went to Tustar and became a disciple of Sufi Sahl al-Tustari, who was famous for his controversial sayings- "I am the Proof of God for the created beings and I am a proof for the saints (Awliya) of my time".
After living 2 yrs under Tustari, Hallaj came back to Basra and became a disciple of Sufi Amr al-Makki. He was under Amr nearly 2 yrs and in that period he got married. But his Guru Amr displeased with this marriage. Massignon says- "Makki‘s main fortune had been made with the caravans toward Mecca, and it may be due to this business that the rupture between Hallaj and his Guru happened. The quarrel began with the marriage of Mansur with Umm al-Husayn, the daughter of Abu Ya’qub Aqta Karnaba’i. He was an ally of the Zanj rebels, who were threatening the passage of the Mecca Hajj around Basra. When Mansur married, he was in the middle of a dispute between his father-in-law and his master. Professor Schimmel, moreover, affirms that the clash between the two mystics had been caused by the jealousy of Makki for Hallaj married the daughter of the rival.-(Schimmel, Mystical dimensions of Islam. p. 66).
But MA Haque has given an interesting account, who sustains, even though not pointing at any specific source, that Makki had been worried about Hallaj’s personal involvement with the Karnaba’i family, because this would have led, as it probably happened, to progressive detachment from Mansur’s spiritual progress. -(Ansari, M. Abdul Haq... Ḥusayn ibn Manṣur al-Hallaj: Ideas of an ecstatic. Islamic Studies). But some other sources mentioned, Amr not displeased but abandoned Hallaj and that is for different reasons. Once Hallaj comments hearing his recital Qur'an- "I can write that kind." And at that point, Amr leaves him in disgust.
However, for a solution of the conflict, Mansur went to Baghdad to consult with Sufi master Junayd Baghdadi, as both Makki and Aqta were his followers, but he was tired of the conflict that existed between his father-in-law and Amr Makki, so Baghdadi only replied to be calm and wait. Then Hallaj set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca, against the advice of Junayd Baghdadi, as soon as the Zanj rebellion was crushed.
The term Sufi came from "Suf" which means 'fur'. People who go out seeking for God leaving his family, wearing a course of woolen garments and lived a monastic life are known as Sufi. According to some others, the word Sufi came from Safa which means purity. To them, they are Sufi because they were freed from all kind of worldly Sin and dirt. But some others say: Sufi came from Ashab-e-Suffa. It is noted that those who were not married but engaged themselves in meditation and worship of God in the Masjid-un-Nabi were known as Ashab-e-Suffa. But Sufi Abu Hafs defined differently, in his opinion, a Sufi is he who does not ask who a Sufi is.
Hallaj reached Mecca in AH 270. where he made a vow to remain for one year in the open courtyard of the sanctuary in fasting and silence. During these days, every day a man would leave some bread and a jug of water in front of him. Hallaj rarely ate some of the bread or used to drink a little water. As a result, his body became Bonnier.
The people of Mecca were not familiar with such a scene. So, every day a no. of people curiously began to gather around him. This time Yakub-e-Narajuri, one of the authorities there, denounced him as a heretic and a lunatic. For this, people thought he was a magician. And as the magic is forbidden in Islam, and the magicians declared have no portion in the Hereafter, so, they began to tease him in various ways. Hallaj sometimes openly complained to God saying, "O Lord. You are the guide of all those who pass through the valley of bewilderment. If I am a heretic, then increase my heresy, Lord." But in the late night, he would pray to Him as- "O Lord. I know and worship none besides you. I am so grateful for the gifts that you have bestowed upon me, and my tongue cannot express my gratitude for them.O Lord! thank yourself on my behalf."
After that year in Mecca Hallaj returned to Baghdad and immediately went to see al-Junayd- his Guru. It was midnight when he knocked on his Master's door, Junayd asked, "Who is it?"
The reply was, "Ana al-Haqq" [I am the Truth]. The door opened.
"No," Junayd answered him, "It is by means of the Truth that you are! What gibbet will you stain with your blood!" Massignon 1982: 127]
Hallaj replied, "The day when it will happen, you will not with your Sufi robe but academic instead."
Then Junayd asked: "Why did you come?"
Hallaj: "To live in community with you as a master."
Junayd: "I do not live in community with madmen; community life requires balance, otherwise what happened to you with Sahl Tustari and Amr occurs."
Hallaj: "O master, sobriety, and intoxication are only the two human aspects of the mystic, who remains separated from his Lord as long as these two aspects are not both annihilated."
Junayd: "You are wrong in your definition of those states, sobriety, and intoxication; the first means the state of normal equilibrium of the faithful before God; it is not a qualification of the faithful that he may get it through his own effort as a creature; likewise the second, which signifies extremes of desire and love." -[Hujwiri, The Unveiling 235]
After this confrontation, Mansur abandoned all his Gurus.
Hallaj then began to develop the idea that after he had surrendered his heart to the Nutq, the “vital utterance of the inmost divine creative liberty”, he had to overcome the traditionalists and oppose the secrecy of the Sufi. In the following years, around AH 272 and 273, he metaphorically unclothed the Khalida symbolizing the rupture with the Sufi community, and he developed a new rhetoric based on ideas and protest. In the same period, he was arrested for the first time. After the prison, he departed for his first “Apostolic Journey” through the caliphate, and in AH 280 he made his second hajj, followed by a great number (nearly 4000) of disciples. These were years of great traveling and preaching and it has been said that during his journeys he was named Hallaj, the carder of the hearts, for his ability to understand the inner movement of the hearts. -[Massignon, Life vol.1 p. 27].
In AH 284 he began his conclusive journey abroad, which was an attempt to convert the “infidels” and to preach the Word until the borders of the world. He reached India and China; then he came back, and settled in Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Empire after a 3rd hajj, in AH 292. He was reported to have prayed aloud at the Station of Arafat for God to make him more lost and despised in the world like an infidel. Although this can be regarded as typical of the sentiments of Sufis seeking complete annihilation in God to the point of worldly degradation and censure, Massignon has interpreted the prayer as the expression of Ḥallaj’s desire to be a sacrifice for atonement on behalf of all Muslims -[see Massignon, I, pp. 67, 265-67; Tr. Mason, I, pp. 26-27, 219-23].
Actually, al-Hallaj was different from other Sufis as they were unwilling to unveil the secret of Sufism, or mysticism to the general public, whereas he ignored that. He continues to unveil through his writings and teachings. Thus he became known to all as- 'Hallaj, the Master of Secrets'- the carder of the Hearts. And by this, without his knowledge, he made a lot of enemies.
Hallaj would often fell in in trance. Thus, one day in the midnight, he saw a bright Shining man standing in front of him. Stirring to him for a long time, he then asked, "Who are you?"
He replied, "Anal Haqq." The man vanishes, but his word is now being echoed from Mansur's mouth.
Anal Haqq means "I am the God." as al-Haq (the Truth) is one of the 99 names of God. So his disciple demanded its explanation to him. He said: 'There is nothing wrapped in my turban but God.- people were surprised. Then pointed to his clothes he said in the same way: "Ma fi jubati illalla."
Modern theologian still debating on the essence of God. Now we have to look what was the essence of Hallajian God-
God
-Al Hallaj
-Arberry, A.J., The Doctrine of the Sufis
"Before" does not outstrip Him,
"after" does not interrupt Him
"of" does not vie with Him for precedence
"from" does not accord with Him
"to" does not join with Him
"in" does not inhabit Him
"when" does not stop Him
"if" does not consult with Him
"over" does not overshadow
Him "under" does not support Him
"opposite" does not face Him
"with" does not press Him
"behind" does not limit Him
"previous" does not display Him
"after" does not cause Him to pass away
"all" does not unite Him
"is" does not bring Him into being
"is not" does not deprive Him from Being.
Concealment does not veil Him
His pre-existence preceded time,
His being preceded non-being,
His eternity preceded limit.
If thou sayest 'when',
His existing has outstripped time;
If thou sayest 'before', before is after Him;
If thou sayest 'he', 'h' and 'e' are His creation;
If thou sayest 'how', His essence is veiled from description;
If thou sayest 'where', His being preceded space;
If thou sayest 'ipseity' (ma huwa),
His ipseity (huwiwah) is apart from things.
Other than He cannot
be qualified by two (opposite) qualities at
one time; yet With Him they do not create opposition.
He is hidden in His manifestation,
manifest in His concealing.
He is outward and inward,
near and far; and in this respect He is
removed beyond the resemblance of creation.
He acts without contact,
instructs without meeting,
guides without pointing.
Desires do not conflict with Him,
thoughts do not mingle with Him:
His essence is without qualification (takyeef),
His action without effort (takleef).
According to Hallaj, this is the essence of God. And he said in his book Tawasin-“If you do not recognize God, at least recognize His sign, I am the creative truth -Ana al-Haqq,- because through the truth, I am eternal truth”. -[Tawasin, 6:24].
Hallaj has a very strange nature. For twenty years he had been wearing the same dress. Over time, the cloak was ragged, as a result, it needs to add tuck after tuck. Hallaj never showed any interest in changing his dress. And no one of his disciples ever could persuade him to change his cloak. Then at one time, some of his disciples planned to throw off his cloak forcefully with a new dress. And when they took off his dress, then saw a scorpion that nested in his cloak. Hallaj told them that it is living with him like a friend for the last 20 Yrs. He asked them to give back his cloak with that scorpion. Then they gave it back to him.
However, what Hallaj says, "I am God" is not a shirk to claim this? Such was also the claim of Pharaoh Nimrod. Jalaluddin Rumi explain this as: "Mansur al-Hallaj's claimed "I am God,"-only to vanish his ownness in front of God, on the other hand, Pharaoh's claiming,"I am God," was to vanish God's ownness in front of him." We will be more clear if we understand the following Quranic verse-
“And you threw not when you threw, but it was Allah who threw that” -(8:17) This verse sent down in the context of the "Battle of Badr" when the Prophet threw a handful dust to the enemy.
Through the verse, God mentioned the handful of sand that Prophet Muhammad threw at the disbelievers during the day of Badr. The Quraish were rejoicing at their great number, seeing this, the Prophet invoked God humbly and expressing his neediness before Him. After his prayer, he threw a handful of dust at the disbelievers and said, "Humiliated be their faces". At that time willingness of the Prophet was the same as that of God and this is mentioned in this verse.
The Prophet then commanded his Companions to start fighting with sincerity and they did. God made this handful of sand enter the eyes of the idolators, each one of them was struck by some of it and it distracted them making each of them busy. God said, "And you threw not when you did throw, but Allah threw". Therefore, it is Allah Who made the sand reach their eyes and busied them with it, not you.
If anyone directly meanings of this verse most of the people do not understand the inner significance of it, because of the limitations of the rational mind of the human. As a result, they take it otherwise and brought him under the punishment of heresy, which was the case of Hallaj.
As a matter of fact, Mansur’s sentence generated a bitter response from a large part of the population who believed to have heard the words of a heretic. 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?”
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.
And, Hallaj, claiming himself as God! which is doubtlessly shirk,anti-Islam, and against the traditional faith! He was perverting people to a path, which was ultimately the path of evil. So a charge brought against him. Actually, a group of orthodox Muslim filed a blasphemy case to the caliph's court against him.
The Qazi of Baghdad Muhammad Dawud rose against him, together with a whole group of Ulema; and they took their accusations against his views to the Caliph Mu̔ktadir Billah (CE 895-932), who was appointed the new Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad in AH 295, CE 908 at the age of thirteen. … Some people said: "He [Hallaj] is a sorcerer", Others said: "He is a madman". Still, others said: "He performs miracles [Mansur was popularly credited with numerous supernatural acts. He was said to have "Lit four hundred oil lamps in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher with his finger and extinguished an eternal Zoroastrian flame with the tug of a sleeve."] and his prayer is granted (by God)".
Hallaj was denounced at the court, but a Shafi'i jurist refused to condemn him, stating that mystic inspiration was beyond his jurisdiction. At this time, having already made numerous enemies in Baghdad through his open style of preaching, display of miracles and shocking behavior, he fled to safety in Ahvaz. But he was arrested there three years later and brought back to Baghdad to be imprisoned.
And tongues wrangled over his case up to the moment when the authority arrested and imprisoned him. Hallaj prisoned in the jail of Baghdad for a long period, nearly 11 years.
It is said, the 1st day of his captivity, Hallaj vanished from prison. In the second day, the whole jail disappeared. And on the 3rd day, everything is visible as before. Then when the Jailor found him in his cell as a prisoner as before, he exclaimed, “O Mansur, What magic is this?”
However, this incident spread panic throughout Baghdad. Many religious leaders including Junaid Baghdadi rushed to him and demanded its explanation. Hallaj explained: "First day I went to visit God, so I was not visible. In the second day, God came to see me, so nothing was visible for the power of Gods light."After this incident, the prisoner and the guard all became his disciples.
Hallaj was in prison in that Jail for one year. And up to the middle of that year, a lot of people regularly visited him. However, when the Caliph came to know this, he decreed that no one shall be permitted to visit him. During this period, a Sufi ibn Ata sympathized and send a message to him that he may repent for his speech against the conventional religious beliefs so that he may be forgiven by the Caliph. Hallaj's reply to the messenger: "Tell him to repent and asked for his own forgiveness, who sent this message to me."
Informing this ibn Ata wept and said: "We, who believe we are true servants of the Lord, are not even worthy of one splinter of the light that He casts upon Hallaj."
The trial of Hallaj started by the order of the Caliph. He was prosecuted at a time when the Abbasid caliph was extremely weak and did not have the ability to make a unilateral decision. 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 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.”Hallaj sentenced to death by hanging for violating Sharia, but it was subjected to conditions. This imposition of the condition is because there were no witnesses of his charges. Therefore, to implement the verdict, it is instructed that it should be with the consent of 101 scholars.
Hallaj was not sentenced to death violating sharia laws [Saying "Anal Haqq" that means "I am the Truth", it is noted that his supporters interpret it as- "God has emptied me of everything but Himself."] After his arrest, he was accused of various charges, 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.
“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.”
“Thou who blames me for my desire of him, how great is your blame!
If you only knew Him of whom I would speak,
you would not blame me.
Other men go away for their pilgrimage, but my pilgrimage is the place where I am.
Other men offer sacrifices, but my sacrifice is my own heart and blood.
They physically circumambulate the temple,
but were they to proceed reverently around God Himself,
they would not need to go around a sacred building”. -(Diwan al-Hallaj, 85)
Ironically, the Judge of the Baghdad was no one but Mansur's master Junaid Baghdadi. (Though Farid Uddin Attar claimed such, yet Carl Earnest, in his book "Words of Ecstasy in Sufism" questioned this, because according to the information, Baghdadi died on CE 910, while the execution of Hallaj takes place on CE 922). He signed first and said, "We Judge according to externals, as for the inward truth, that God alone knows.”
When the judgment informed to Hallaj, he only said- “What is important for the ecstatic is for the One to reduce him to oneness.” -[Massignon, 87]Moreover, he knew that all the acts of Marifat is considered improper when it is judged under Sharia. Did not all the works of Marifati Prophet Khiji-r considered as crimes in the eyes of Shariyati Prophet Moses?
Meanwhile, the disciples of Hallaj and the no. of visitors to him increase steadily due to the failure of the officials, as a result, Caliph instructed to move him to another Jail. There were 300 prisons in that Jail. One night Mansur asked them, 'Do you want to be free?'
They said, 'If you had the power to free us, then why do you not be freed yourself? "
Without answering them, Mansur gazed on their lockers and the door opened one by one. All the prisoners had fled. In the meantime, a fleeing prisoner found him sitting in his cell, so he came forward and said, 'Why do you not fleeing? "
He said, "I'm crazy in love with God, not for crazy to be freed."
The answer surprised the prisoner, noticing this Mansur clarify themselves, “I have a secret matter with the Lord, which can only be revealed upon the scaffold. I am a prisoner of my Master, the Lord.”
When the Caliph informed the detailed story of the release of a prisoner, he furiously proclaimed, "Hallaj will cause an insurrection next. The time has come for his death. Make public the punitive announcement for his execution. Begin by flogging him severely."
It was delayed to implement the death sentence, because, only a total of 84 Signatures of the scholars were collected. But when the Qazi of Baghdad ordered to lash him 500 lashes publicly for the crime of releasing 300 prisoners, then the process of implementing the order started after it was approved by the Caliph.
 |
| Execution of Hallaj |
It had demanded an exemplary punishment for Hallaj. On 23, Dhu 'l-Qa'da (25, March) trumpets announced his execution the next day. Thousands of people witnessed his execution on the banks of the Tigris River.
The Guard was shocked, the people who could see burst into nervous laughter, and they led him to the Gibbet. They tore the clothes from his back and began the ordered flagellation.
"Now Constantinople has taken" he shouted, at the five hundredth lash. He fainted and the commissioner ordered the flagellation stopped least he die without suffering the full prescribed punishment.
The guard had been ordered to close their eyes lest they are seduced to show him mercy. Once the lashes had been stopped, the executioner cut off one of his hands and then a foot, and then the other hand followed as prescribed by the other foot. He then was hoisted on the gibbet in a display.
When he was dragged to the gibbet, he recited -
“Now stands no more between Truth and me
Or reasoned demonstration,
Or proof of revelation;
Now, brightly blazing full, Truth's lumination,
Each flickering, lesser light.”
The air was filled with screams. At the time of the evening prayer, the authorization by the Caliph to decapitate Hallaj came. But it was declared: "It is too late; we shall put it off until tomorrow."
Thus the commissioner ordered the decapitation Postponed until the next day, so the vizier, Hamid could be present.
Then Hallaj recited: “Here are these people, Your worshipers, they are gathered to kill me, out of zeal for You, to be pleasing You...pardon them! If you have revealed to them what You have revealed me, they would not be doing what they are doing, and if You had hidden from me what You have hidden from them, I would not be going through the ordeal that I am undergoing” -[Akhbar al-Hallaj, 1].
That night his friends and enemies came to him, challenging him to answer for himself. Looters Roamed the city, setting fire to shops Baghdad was convulsed with rioting. He cried out to God: "O my God, here I am in the dwelling place of my desires, where I contemplate Your marvels. O my God, since You witness friendship even to whoever does You wrong, how is it You do not witness it to this one to whom wrong is done because of You?"
His disciples came... and said to the gibbet: "Have we not forbidden you to receive a guest, neither angel nor man!"
One threw a rose at him who raised his bloody stump and wiped his check where it had struck him. Life ebbed from him and he could barely speak.
In the morning Hamid came. He had ordered the official witnesses at the trial scattered through the crowd to cry out: This is for the salvation of Islam. Let his blood fall on our neck!" Advancing toward the gibbet he drew from his sleeve which he handed to the commissioner to unroll. The later handed it back to him. It had the names of 84 learned men on it. The legal Scholars and Qur'an reciters, attesting to his Heresy.
A placard was raised that later would be pinned to his head, saying, this is the head of the blasphemous conniver and deceiver Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj, one whom God has put to death at the hands of Caliph al-Muqtadir after proof was given showing that he claimed the sovereignty of God Himself, Glory to be God, Who causes his blood to be shed and let him, to be cursed."
The crowd shouted: "God is Great!"
Then they took him down from the gibbet and dragged him forth to behead him. Then he recited his last words: "Those who do not believe in the Final Hour call for its coming; but those who believe in it await it with loving shyness, knowing that this will be (the coming of) God" (Quran 42:17).
Hamid then called for the witnesses to reenact the trial as was prescribed, arguing the pros and cons and finally concurring with the statement read, Hamid then asked, "The Caliph is innocent of his blood?"
They shouted, "Yes!"
"The Commissioner is innocent of his blood?"
"Yes, let his blood fall on our neck!"
Then Hamid returns the scroll to his sleeve. One of the guard by this time cut down his nose and ear Hallaj cried out, "The ecstatic wants only to be alone with his Only One." Then they cut his tongue. But when his eyes were plucked, the crowd shouted astonishing fear. Some of them became horror and speechless, some squatting on the ground and wept loudly, while others were cursed fluently. And now Hamid raised his right hand. The executioner stepped forward and the guard took him down. As he was being lowered, and then Hamid lowered his right hand and the executioner beheaded him.
Hallaj's dismantling pieces painting with his blood lay scattered on the ground surrounding his body for the visitors, as an example for them, so that they can learn from the consequences of a repeat of such incidents.
Next morning, people discover that the dismantling body parts are alive which uttering continuously "Anal Haqq". Uzir-e-Hakim and a group of scholars rushed there quickly. They were stunned the consequences. However, Did they committed a sin? They were shaken and in hesitation. Immediately some of them rushed to Junayd al-Baghdadi for advice others to the Caliph. Baghdadi said, "When Mansur saw God through his inner mind, he asked Him, "Man Anta?"
He said, "Anal Haqq" and that Pronunciation which echoing only Mansur's dismantling body Parts."
And when it was informed to the Caliph, he became upset and frightened as his throne was not firm founded. So he immediately ordered to stop the show and burn up the body parts. He was in a fear that the anger and emotions of the public due to the incident may not cause of a rebellion against him.
So he body parts were collected, and wrapped in his mantle, and doused with oil and set aflame together with his books. The sellers had been ordered to bring forth, one half crazed disciple came forward and pushed at the coals with his stick, saying to them, "Speak!" Some said, "Like Jesus, he could not die, another took his place."
And other said, "He stole the word God gave him to keep in secret and used it to exalt himself. And that is why he put to death".
The ashes were taken up and thrown from a minaret into the Tigris and his head was carried to the Caliphs palace, across the Tigris on the bridge of boats. It was hung on a gate for everyone to see. The wall of the Palace behind him was high. The power and Majesty of what men build are awesome.
It is said, when Hallaj's burnt ashes were thrown into the Tigris, the water began to rise high. And when it came towards the city of Baghdad one of his disciple Sameri rushed to the city and brought a cloak of Hallaj. Then when he threw that into the water, the river calm again. Sameri said- Hallaj instructed him such 40 days before his death.
After Hallaj death Sufi Abbas Tusi said: "On the Day of Judgement Hallaj shall be brought forth in fetters, since in his divine ecstasy he may turn the whole world upside down."
Hallaj wrote several books those were burnt with his body. However, one of his works, "Kitab al-Tawasin" still present today. In this book, he used a lot of sign-line diagram and description of the mystical experience, which he could not express in words. Ṭawasin is the broken plural of the word ṭa-sin which spells out the letters ṭa (ط) and sin (س) placed for unknown reasons at the start of some surahs in the Qur'an.
Hallaj is also renowned for having identified closely with and glorified Satan. In by far the longest essay of the Ṭawāsin, the “Ta-sin al-Azal wa’l-eltebas,” he depicts Satan as the most sincere and uncompromising of monotheists for refusing to bow in obeisance to anyone but God, even when ordered by Him to do so before Adam with the threat that he would be cursed as punishment for disobedience- [Tawasin, pp. 41-55].
"According to Iblis," Hallaj explain, "he has known You (God) from pre-eternity”, nearly million years he worshiped Him and obeyed His orders and thus he is “worth more than he (Adam)”, Also, his pride was grounded on the idea that “You (God) created me (Iblis) of fire and him (Adam) of earth”. Despite the inevitable punishment, Satan, the jealous lover of the divine unity, was not regretful for his choice; insofar he knew that “All choices, even my choice, are Yours since you have already chosen for me”.
Qur'an informs- Iblis deny to prostrate Adam-(2:34). “The explanation Hallaj gives,” said Professor Ernst, “was that God had given secret hint (ishara) to Iblis that he should not bow down and so he disobeyed, but internally he was the most loyal servant and willing to suffer punishment of being estranged from God and being punished by God in order to demonstrate his loyalty.” Though unorthodox, Hallaj makes Iblis’s encounter with God sound like a tragedy.
Sufis generally never 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," and others explain as- In Adam, as in every human being, there is a trace of God, inasmuch that Adam is huwa huwa “exactly he”. This particle of deity enables the created to reach the Uncreated, and, therefore, it is what allowed Hallaj to say, in a moment of rapture, Ana’l-Haqq.-[Schimmel, Mystical dimensions of Islam, p. 72].
Furthermore, ‘Attar presents a second case which may be comparable to Mansur. He quotes Umar ibn al-Khattab (d.644), the third great Caliph.-(Attar, Memorial of God’s friends, p. 395.) According to the tradition "Allah has engraved truth on the tongue of Umar and his heart" and "If there were a Prophet after me verily it would be Umar." -(al-Hadith). Mason, instead, points out that for Hallaj, while in union, all separation is annihilated and so he comes back to the Source (ayn al-jam) and thus it is possible to say Ana’l-Haqq, not being heretical. (Mason, Hallaj and the Baghdad school of Sufism p. 72.) Even Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (d.1273), one of the greatest Sufi poets, and outspoken admirer of Mansur tried to explain the infamous shat by comparing Hallaj to iron in the fire, which becomes so hot to pretend to be fire. -(Schimmel, Mystical dimensions of Islam, p. 145).
And mainly because of such attitude, Hallaj portrayed in different ways by the Sufis. Maulana Farid Uddin attar depict his headless body as-
They saw Hallaj in a dream one night,
his head cut off, but with a cup in hand.
They asked, How is it your head is cut off?
Tell-how long you have chosen this cup.
”The king of blessed name gave this cup to the headless one.
Those who forget their own heads can drink from this spiritual cup.”
-Asrar-Nama by Farid al-Din Attar.
Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi's love to Hallaj was so strong that he compared him with Ali in his "Masnavi" Finally, we will draw the end line of this article with a poem by Rumi-
HALLAJ
---Jalaluddin Rumi
Hallaj said what he said and went to the origin
through the hoe in the scaffold.
I cut a cap's worth of cloth from his robe,
and it swamped over me from head to foot.
Years ago, I broke a bunch of roses
from the top of his wall. A torn from that
is still in my palm working deeper.
From Hallaj, I learned to hunt lions,
but I became something hungrier than a lion.
I was a frisky colt. He broke me
with a quiet hand on the side of my head.
A person comes to him naked. It's cold.
There's a fur coat floating in the river.
"Jump in and get it," he says.
You dive in. You reach for the coat.
It reaches for you.
It's a live bear that has fallen in upstream,
drifting with the current.
"How long does it take!" Hallaj yells from the bank.
"Don't wait," you answer. "This coat
has decided to wear me home!"
A little part of a story, a hint.
Do you need long sermons on Hallaj!
The End.
Not Yet Verified.
Picture: Wikipedia,
# "Bro, I just do not understand the issues of Hallaj."
What is that?
"That he was guilty or not!"
Ghazali already answered that, saying- "Hallaj revealing the divine secret publicly".
"But is that an offense?"
Surely it is [if not you unable to immerse the laws of both the worlds]. Hallaj was physically in this world, but mentally to the unseen world. As a result, what he said that was in the light of unseen world, which is not applicable [as that is not understandable to the general public] in the real world because the laws are seems opposite/different in the two worlds. For example- alcohol is prohibited here but lawful there. The fact is that Hallaj was so engaged/immersed into the unseen world that he forgets this reality. Thus falling in the patch of Sharia law, he killed himself ie. he was put to death under blasphemy law.
"Bro, leaving such high-thought, explain this in a simple way so that we can understand."
Okay, tell me, where is heaven? And how people will enter there?
"Heaven, according to scripture, under the Throne of God. And, people will go there with their faith, deeds [both for God (ie, Salat, Siam, Hajj) and fulfill the Haqq's of the neighbor (in/c, Jakah, Sadka etc)] and with their good advice to others."
But, I said, The Hallajian answer would be- "Heaven is in the middle of the Hell. So, no one, will enter into it without entering Hell". Do you understand what it means?
"Yeah, It means Abraham, Moses, Jesus even Mohammad shall pass through the Hell."
You are right. So he was hanged.
Human will sin. And it is a natural process. A Bengali poet says-
"এ পাপ-মুলুকে পাপ করেনি ক’ কে আছে পুরুষ-নারী?
আমরা ত ছার; পাপে পঙ্কিল পাপীদের কাণ্ডারী!
তেত্রিশ কোটি দেবতার পাপে স্বর্গ সে টলমল,
দেবতার পাপ-পথ দিয়া পশে স্বর্গে অসুর দল!" -[Sin, by Kazi Nazrul]
And, Qur'an says- And there is none of you except he will come to it. This is upon your Lord an inevitability decreed. Then We will save those who feared Allah and leave the wrongdoers within it, on their knees.-[19:71-72] ..Then separation would be brought about between them, with a wall having a door in it; (as for) the inside of it, there shall be mercy in it, and (as for) the outside of it, before it there shall be punishment.-[57:13] 'Every one, be he who he may, must go to hell. It is true, however, that the holy ones and prophets of God shall go there to behold, not suffering any punishment and the righteous, only suffering fear. -[Barnabas-Ch-136]
"But why God created Heaven in the middle of the Hell?"
Because, Heaven is for those who are free willed [Jinn and Insan]. And as those are free-willed shall never be sinless. And this is the cause that Heaven is in the middle of Hell. And for this, entering into the heaven depends on Gods Grace. And thus it was advised to the Prophet to beg forgiveness to the God. But for some [especially for Prophets], the gap between the Hell and Heaven will be less than the cross section of a hair. Now we will see what is said in the Hadiths in this context-
Abu Ayyub Ansari reported that the Messenger of God said: "If you were not to commit sins, Allah would have swept you out of existence and would have replaced you by another people who have committed sin, and then asked forgiveness from Allah, and He would have granted them pardon." -[Sahih Muslim, Book 037, Number 6621]
Undoubtedly, the Prophet had a wonderful sense of humor. However, here- "If you were not to commit sins”, means in that case, he is not Human but Angel, because angels are only sinless. And so- “Allah would have swept you out of existence” -as this world is not for Angels, so naturally God took him up and replaced him by another Human. This is what the above Hadith means.
Source:
http://www.academia.edu/9706380/Why_was_Mansur_al-Hallaj_one_of_the_most_controversial_Sufi _saints
N. Hanif (2002), Biographical Encyclopaedia of Sufis: Central Asia and the Middle East.
Jawid Mojaddedi, "Ḥallaj, Abul-Mogit Hosayn b. Manṣur b. Maḥammā Bayżāwi"
Al-Hallaj, Diwan.
Al-Hallaj, Kitāb at-tawāsīn.
Farid ad-Din ‘Attār. Memorial of God’s friends, lives and sayings of Sufis,
Hujwīrī, Kashf al-Mahjūb, 281.
Unknown, Akhbār al-Hallaj.
Ansari, M. Abdul Haq. 2000. Ḥusayn ibn Manṣur al-Hallaj: Ideas of an ecstatic.
Bosworth, C. E. 1960. The encyclopaedia of Islam.
Lewisohn, Leonard. 1999; 1993. The heritage of Sufism.
Massignon Louis, Passion of al-Hallaj-4 volumes translated by Herbert Mason
Massignon, Louis (1982). The Passion of al-Hallaj, Mystic and Martyr of Islam
Schimmel, Annemarie. 2011. Mystical dimensions of Islam.
Wilcox, Andrew. 2011. The dual mystical concepts of fanā' and baqā' in early Sufism.
Carl W. Ernst (1997). Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed., Vol. 9, "Shath".
Ernst, Carl W. (1985). Words of Ecstasy in Sufism.
Kadri, Sadakat (2012). Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari'a Law from the Deserts of Ancient Arabia.
Browne, Edward G. (1998). Literary History of Persia.
Michot, Yahya M. (2007). "Ibn Taymiyya’s Commentary on the Creed of al-Hallâj".
Rypka, Jan (1968). History of Iranian Literature. Dordrecht.
Shah, Idries (1964). The Sufis. Garden City: Doubleday.
Muhammad Ali Zamania, Tales from the land of Sufis.
Picture: Wikipedia,
# "Bro, I just do not understand the issues of Hallaj."
What is that?
"That he was guilty or not!"
Ghazali already answered that, saying- "Hallaj revealing the divine secret publicly".
"But is that an offense?"
Surely it is [if not you unable to immerse the laws of both the worlds]. Hallaj was physically in this world, but mentally to the unseen world. As a result, what he said that was in the light of unseen world, which is not applicable [as that is not understandable to the general public] in the real world because the laws are seems opposite/different in the two worlds. For example- alcohol is prohibited here but lawful there. The fact is that Hallaj was so engaged/immersed into the unseen world that he forgets this reality. Thus falling in the patch of Sharia law, he killed himself ie. he was put to death under blasphemy law.
"Bro, leaving such high-thought, explain this in a simple way so that we can understand."
Okay, tell me, where is heaven? And how people will enter there?
"Heaven, according to scripture, under the Throne of God. And, people will go there with their faith, deeds [both for God (ie, Salat, Siam, Hajj) and fulfill the Haqq's of the neighbor (in/c, Jakah, Sadka etc)] and with their good advice to others."
But, I said, The Hallajian answer would be- "Heaven is in the middle of the Hell. So, no one, will enter into it without entering Hell". Do you understand what it means?
"Yeah, It means Abraham, Moses, Jesus even Mohammad shall pass through the Hell."
You are right. So he was hanged.
Human will sin. And it is a natural process. A Bengali poet says-
"এ পাপ-মুলুকে পাপ করেনি ক’ কে আছে পুরুষ-নারী?
আমরা ত ছার; পাপে পঙ্কিল পাপীদের কাণ্ডারী!
তেত্রিশ কোটি দেবতার পাপে স্বর্গ সে টলমল,
দেবতার পাপ-পথ দিয়া পশে স্বর্গে অসুর দল!" -[Sin, by Kazi Nazrul]
And, Qur'an says- And there is none of you except he will come to it. This is upon your Lord an inevitability decreed. Then We will save those who feared Allah and leave the wrongdoers within it, on their knees.-[19:71-72] ..Then separation would be brought about between them, with a wall having a door in it; (as for) the inside of it, there shall be mercy in it, and (as for) the outside of it, before it there shall be punishment.-[57:13] 'Every one, be he who he may, must go to hell. It is true, however, that the holy ones and prophets of God shall go there to behold, not suffering any punishment and the righteous, only suffering fear. -[Barnabas-Ch-136]
"But why God created Heaven in the middle of the Hell?"
Because, Heaven is for those who are free willed [Jinn and Insan]. And as those are free-willed shall never be sinless. And this is the cause that Heaven is in the middle of Hell. And for this, entering into the heaven depends on Gods Grace. And thus it was advised to the Prophet to beg forgiveness to the God. But for some [especially for Prophets], the gap between the Hell and Heaven will be less than the cross section of a hair. Now we will see what is said in the Hadiths in this context-
Abu Ayyub Ansari reported that the Messenger of God said: "If you were not to commit sins, Allah would have swept you out of existence and would have replaced you by another people who have committed sin, and then asked forgiveness from Allah, and He would have granted them pardon." -[Sahih Muslim, Book 037, Number 6621]
Undoubtedly, the Prophet had a wonderful sense of humor. However, here- "If you were not to commit sins”, means in that case, he is not Human but Angel, because angels are only sinless. And so- “Allah would have swept you out of existence” -as this world is not for Angels, so naturally God took him up and replaced him by another Human. This is what the above Hadith means.
Source:
http://www.academia.edu/9706380/Why_was_Mansur_al-Hallaj_one_of_the_most_controversial_Sufi _saints
N. Hanif (2002), Biographical Encyclopaedia of Sufis: Central Asia and the Middle East.
Jawid Mojaddedi, "Ḥallaj, Abul-Mogit Hosayn b. Manṣur b. Maḥammā Bayżāwi"
Al-Hallaj, Diwan.
Al-Hallaj, Kitāb at-tawāsīn.
Farid ad-Din ‘Attār. Memorial of God’s friends, lives and sayings of Sufis,
Hujwīrī, Kashf al-Mahjūb, 281.
Unknown, Akhbār al-Hallaj.
Ansari, M. Abdul Haq. 2000. Ḥusayn ibn Manṣur al-Hallaj: Ideas of an ecstatic.
Bosworth, C. E. 1960. The encyclopaedia of Islam.
Lewisohn, Leonard. 1999; 1993. The heritage of Sufism.
Massignon Louis, Passion of al-Hallaj-4 volumes translated by Herbert Mason
Massignon, Louis (1982). The Passion of al-Hallaj, Mystic and Martyr of Islam
Schimmel, Annemarie. 2011. Mystical dimensions of Islam.
Wilcox, Andrew. 2011. The dual mystical concepts of fanā' and baqā' in early Sufism.
Carl W. Ernst (1997). Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed., Vol. 9, "Shath".
Ernst, Carl W. (1985). Words of Ecstasy in Sufism.
Kadri, Sadakat (2012). Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari'a Law from the Deserts of Ancient Arabia.
Browne, Edward G. (1998). Literary History of Persia.
Michot, Yahya M. (2007). "Ibn Taymiyya’s Commentary on the Creed of al-Hallâj".
Rypka, Jan (1968). History of Iranian Literature. Dordrecht.
Shah, Idries (1964). The Sufis. Garden City: Doubleday.
Muhammad Ali Zamania, Tales from the land of Sufis.
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