The Islamic Mysticism in the Thought and Works of Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi

The purpose of the article is to explain the essence of mysticism from a theoretical point of view and true mysticism from a practical point of view. the author of the article intends to investigate the roots and sources of the production of the knowledge of mysticism in both the knowledge of theoretical and practical mysticism from a historical point of view and to prove and explain the revelation sources in the emergence and expansion of authentic Islamic mysticism which doubled the importance and necessity of research and checking them.

Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi, with the knowledge of the history and origin and expansion of Islamic mysticism, as well as its truthfulness and falsity, has criticized it with a philosophical view from the two perspectives of the first epistemology and the second epistemology. With regard to the hypothesis that Professor Misbah considers mysticism to be the intuitive knowledge of the Supreme Being that originated from revealed sources and its purpose  which is to be close to the Almighty God and to meet the Lord with heart, at the same time. He is a critic and not an opponent of the so-called Islamic mysticism, especially sectarian Sufism, this question arises: what is Islamic mysticism in the thought and works of Misbah and how is it? In the present article, the answer to the mentioned question was given with a descriptive, rational and narrative method.

The findings of the present article which are based on the method of Allameh Misbah Yazdi are as follow: 1- The Islamic mysticism is original and independent and has its roots in religious texts, Book and traditions. 2- In the Islamic mysticism, (both theoretical and practical) epistemic errors and sulūki slips were found due to deviation, distortion and heresy. 3- The way to get rid of epistemological and sulūki mistake and errors is to return to the Qur'an and Ahl al-Bayt (as) and following the path of Ahl al-Bayt (as). 4- The Islamic mysticism derived from the Book and tradition has characteristics such as conformity with Fitrah, comprehensive and Shariah-oriented. 5- There is a comprehensive and complete version of Spiritual Wayfaring (Sulūk) in verses, hadiths, prayers and the life of the Ahl al-Bayt (as), and there is no need for imported and self-constituted versions. For this reason, Allameh Misbah has been searching for Islamic mysticism through the Qur'an and Ahl al-Bayt (as).

With regard to the purpose, method and findings that were mentioned, the conclusion is: the Islamic mysticism was not imported and foreign, and the family similarity of its teachings and issues with other mysticisms in divine and human religions and schools was not the reason for taking this from them. On the other hand, the Islamic mysticism is in terms of human origin, innate, in terms of knowledge, argument, and in terms of do and don'ts and Sharia-based instructions, and the criteria for measuring its rightness and wrongness.