The Degrees of Proximity in Islamic Mysticism

The ontological and spiritual wayfaring-based view about creation's proximity to God and elucidating its degrees are of great importance in Islamic mysticism. Creation's relationship with God is - in the view of mystical ontology which is based on the individual unity of existence and theory of manifestation- either general (indirect or particular (direct). The proximity which man achieves by traversing through these two ways of his direct and indirect relationship with God is called "spiritual wayfaring-based proximity" contrasted with "existential proximity" which refers to man's manifestation of man's truth, whether man understands it or not. In the view of supererogatory rituals and obligations, spiritual wayfaring-based proximity has many degrees. By performing supererogatory rituals or both supererogatory rituals and obligations, the degrees of circle of perfection and authority and similar circles are defined which represent the degrees of proximity. The superiority and posteriority of any one of these two which are called "lover's journey" and "journey of the beloved" form four degrees of proximity: love, unity, knowledge, and research.