A Constructivist Explanation for the Contrast between Nirvana and Fana

The ultimate goal and the destination of the mystical path in Islam is Fana, and in Buddhism is Nirvana. Reaching to both destinations is through elimination of desires. There are so many similarities between Fana and Nirvana that sometimes they are considered as identical concepts. Fana and Nirvana are mystical experiences and can also be studied through the lens of theories on mystical experiences. One of these theories is Constructivism, which believes mystical experiences are processed through and organized by beliefs and expectations that the mystic brings to the experience. In the Constructivist view, the mystic goes through mystical experience, while he is contextualized with the established doctrines and concepts of his religion, and since established doctrines and concepts of various religions are profoundly different, mystical experiences could not be the same. In this article, we attempt to study Fana and Nirvana through the lens of Constructivism. We argue that the difference between these two faiths is drawing their mystics’ mystical path genuinely different inasmuch as these paths would not end up in the same destination, and thus, Fanā and Nirvana are profoundly different. This article begins with a brief explanation of mystical experience and a short introduction on Constructivism and Essentialism; then continues by describing some principal doctrines on Fanā and Nirvana and recommended instructions to reach them, and finally ends with a comparison of these teachings and conclusion of the argument.