Jungian Archetypes and Abu Saeed Abu al-Kheir's Mystical Method: A Comparative Study

Muslim mystics and Jung have similar teachings and views. Jungian archetypes, especially the archetypes of shadow and persona, are close to the ideas of Muslim mystics. Features of the shadow are close to the features that Islamic mystics express for soul, and the worship and asceticism that mystics do to refining soul are somewhat like Jungian archetype of persona. Of course, due to the difference in goals and the epistemic foundations of Muslim mystics and Jung, there are differences in their methods. The present article seeks to compare these two Jungian archetypes with the teachings of Abu Saeed Abu al-Kheir. The author has tried to explain the similarities and differences of these two epistemological approaches with a comparative look, and to show the presentations of shadow in Abu Saeed's thoughts. Also, the attempt is made to find the types of persona in his ideas and express their positive and negative role. The result of the research shows that Jung's goal is to adapt man to his society and providing individuality for him in this society, but the goal of Abu Saeed is to bring man to Truth.