Investigating on the relationship between "positive alienation" and the issue of "annihilation" (Fana) in mystical-Philosophical Islamic works

Alienation has been one of the most important debates in anthropology in recent centuries. Most recent thinkers have focused on the negative side of it, but one can also understand some positive aspects. In the mystical and philosophical Islamic tradition there are some explanations about "positive self-alienation" before God about the key word annihilation. The main question of the present study is how can be explained the relationship between "positive alienation" and "the issue of annihilation" in Islamic mystical- Philosophical works? The present research's method is descriptive-analytical. Early and late Islamic mystics and scholars, by quoting some Qur'anic verses (such as Qasas verse 88, Baqarah verse 156, Ghaffer verse 16, Muhammad verse 19, etc.) have proposed theories in this regard. In these works (from both descriptive and advisory perspectives), annihilation in God is accompanied by forgetting himself (as positive alienation). Studies show that there is a direct and significant relationship between "positive self-alienation", "Fana in God", "absence of self and Non- God" and "levels of perfection". The final stage of annihilation, which is accompanied by survival, requires complete alienation; accordingly, the recommendations for "annihilation and positive alienation" can be understood on the basis of the course of the levels of perfection and ultimate survival.