Mystical Instructions; An Introduction to Islamic Gnosis ('Irfan)

1. The terminology of irfan literally means knowing/acquantance and

technically the Islamic mysticism.
2. Usually the other term Tasawwuf means Sufism has been used for this
meaning.
3. Irfan has roots in Islamic sources such as Quran and sunna.
4. The Islamic Mysticism (irfan) have types for different reasons such as
knowledge, wisdom, insight istead of Tasawwuf or Sufism.
5. As mysticisum suggested something secret or concealed so it does not
refers to the concept of knowledge only for characteristic of irfan.
6. The next term is "contemplation" which refers to the act of mystical
intuition.
7. The terminology of GNOSIS has a reference to knowledge.
8. Spirituality has broder meanings like mysticism, religion and some
other phenomena.
9. Irfan distinguiseh between as a reality and as science.
10.The reality of irfan is in the practice and personality of the individual
'urafa.
11.Irfan is a way of life that leads to spiritual perfection which includes
spiritual virtues and knowledge.
12.The science of irfan, on the other hand, like other branches of
sciences, is a discursive discipline in which scholars study different
aspects of the reality of irfan.
13.The one who acquires the science of irfan is not necessarily an arif.
14.The direct irfani (mystical) knowledge comes through mystical
experiences, however, the science of irfan is what we can learn from
books and teachers without having those experiences.
15.There are two fundamental branches of science of Irfan in the Islamic
culture.
16.Al-irfan al-nadari (the speculative mysticism) deals with the world
view.
17.Al-irfan al-amali (the practical mysticism) deals with urafa's way of
life like Do's and Do'nts in order to achieve their goal and stages and
stations that they go through in their spiritual journey.
18.Irfani sciences is the another branch which is esoteric interpretation of
the Quran (Tafsir al-Irfani).
19.Taiyya and Mathnawi of Moulavi are two influencial works to study
irfan as a literature in different languages.
20.Specific tems that are used in irfan named as mystical oxiology.
21.The study of development of mystical tradition and the main figures
and events are in the disciplines of history of mystical.
22.To discuss the social status of mysticism and its relationto other
aspects of society deals in the sociology of mysticism.

23.Philosophy of mysticism is a branch of philosophy that tells about the

nature of mysticism amd mystical epistemology.
24.Mysticism is a universal phenomenon; it is found in almost all
cultures, traditions and civilizations from the very ancient to the most
recent and modern ones.
25.The belief system and the practical teaching that we have in irfan
originated from the Quran and the Sunna of the Prophet which
includes his way of life, his sayings and his deeds.
26.For Shia (the followers of the school of Ahlulbayt) the tradition of the
infallible Imams is another source of irfan as well.
27.The Prophet's beloved daughter Fatimah who is considered as
infallible in the school of Ahlulbayt is yet another great example for a
genuine irfan, specially for women.
28.Some close companions of the Prophet and Imams are called the
people of secret (ahlulsserr) such as Salman Farsi, Abudar Ghafari,
Ammar Yasir, Hozayfah Yamani, Bilal al-Habashi, and Oveys Qarani.
They are the first generation of urafa in Islam that directly got their
irfani training from the Prophet (PBUH).
29.To shaped the Islamic culture Irfan grapsed its root gradually into
different branches of irfani science as a movement or a school with a
specific discipline in the different period of Islamic history.
30.Mulla Sadr tried to bring philosophy and irfan close together and tried
to unite them into one which is called Al-Hakmah al-Mut'aliyah.
31.Al-Hakmah al-Mut'aliyah the metaphysical system is a reconciliation
of irfan, philosophy and religion or illumination, reason and
revelation. In his words, he tries to combine burhan (rational
demonstration), irfan (mystical intuition) and Quran (the prophetic
revelation). These are three ways that reflect the same reality and
message, though through different methodologies and languages.
32.In the present century an inflencial school of Shia irfan developed by
Mulla Husseinquli Hamadani in Najaf trained numerous great urafa
such as Mirza Ali Qadi who in his turn trained a group of great urafa
such as Allama Tabatabaei and Allama Bahjat.
33.Irfan is not only practice and experience. It is a filed of thought and
knowledge too that are materials for mystical sciences.

34.The sources and the content of mystical thought of irfan is provided

from various sources.
35.The Qur'an is the main inspiring source of mystical knowledge in
irfan. It frequently refers to a knowledge which is different from all
ordinary ways of knowing, such as speculative knowledge and sensory
perceptions. The heart (al-qalb/ al-fu'ad) is the center for having this
type of knowledge.
36.The Sunna of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is another source of
spiritual wisdom which includes his sayings and his practice and way

of life.
37.According to the school of ahlul beyt, the sunna of the infallible
Imams, which is the extension of the sunna of the Prophet, is another
source.
38.Beside religious sources which have their roots in the revelation (alwahy), one of the major sources of irfani thought is the experiences of
urafa themselves.
39.An 'arif tries to get knowledge directly from God by purification of
heart.
40.Ordinary believers take their religious knowledge only from the
Qur'an and Sunna.
41.Urafa try to discover the same truths, that they learn from the
religious sources, from within their hearts, to have a kind of
experiential and immediate knowledge of the truth.
42.The next source of knowledge in irfan is reason (al-'aql). The Qur'an
encourages us to benefit from our reason. Revelation without reason is
not enough; we need reason to understand revelation.
43.The Qur'an repeatedly mentions reason and encourages people to
think and reflect and not accept anything without proof or evidence
(burhan).
44.The Qur'anic epistemology is a pluralistic epistemology in the sense
that it confirms different sources of knowledge including senses,
reason, experiences, illumination, inspiration and revelation. They all
play their role in the formation of irfani knowledge.
45.The nature of Irfan explain that in mystical worldwide, reality in
general has an outward and an inward dimension.
46.It provides the experimental knowledge of the inward dimenson of
reality.
47.Islamic teachings are classically classified into three categories: a)
belief system (al-'aqaiid) which is discussed in theology ( 'ilm alkalam), b) Islamic law (al-ahkam) which is studied in fiqh, c) Islamic
ethics (al-akhlaq).
48.irfan is the inner dimension of all of these teachings. All these three
parts of religion have inner dimensions.
49.Mystical knowledge is a kind of knowledge that one acquires through
immediate encounter with the reality, direct inner experience of the
truth.
50.In Islamic epistemology knowledge can have two types knowledge by
correspondence (al-ilm al-husuli) and knowledge by presence (al-ilm
al-huduri).
51.The claim in mystics is that we can expand this immediate knowledge
to all things. We can know the reality and the inner dimension of the
world in direct intuition (al-shuhud).
52.Rational/intellectual knowledge are moe active, thinkint/ reasoning is

one example to develop rational knowlegde.

53.Irfan is not the same as the sciences of irfan.
54.The methodology of mystical knowledge, which is the intuition,
unveiling (al-kashf) , witnessing (al-shuhood) the reality directly
following the purification of heart (al-tazkiya) and cleansing the soul
(tahzibu al-nafs).
55.Discursive knowledge does not necessarily lead to guidance (hidaya).
56.Another key factor in mystical journey is obeying God according to
Islamic shariah.
57.Obedience is the way toward salvation and reward, as disobedience is
the way toward the hell and punishment.
58.Methodology of mystical sciences and its sources are not necessarily
the same methodology and sources of acquiring direct mystical
knowledge, which is first hand and experiential.
59.Irfani sciences is religious texts and in the case of irfan the Quran and
Hadith are the second source.
60.The third source of irfani sciences is reason
61.The first type of irfani knowledge is experiential knowledge ('ilm alkashfi), knowledge that comes from unveiling the reality. This
knowledge belongs to urafa themselves and those who are outside can
only have access to the reports and testimonies of urafa. The second
type of mystical knowledge is that one can gain through religious
sources and narrations (al-irfan al-naqli). The third type of irfani
knowledge is what we gain through rational analysis of urafa's
experiences (al-irfan al-'aqli).
62.In modern mystical researches is "mystical experience". Another
closely related term is "religious experience" which is one of the hotly
debated discussions in modern philosophy of religion.
63.There are three types of theology: natural theology, historical
theology and mystical theology.
64.Natural or rational theology is a theology that is based on human
reason.
65.William James distinguishes four characteristics of mystical
experiences.
66.The first one is noetic quality, i.e., mystical experience is a way of
knowledge. It is not only an emotional feeling as some thought; rather,
it has a perceptual dimension too.
67.The second quality is passivity. A mystic in his mystical experience is
passive. A mystic does not decide to have a mystical experience and
does not know when and how he/she will have the experience.
68.The third characteristic is transiency. Usually mystical experience is a
momentary event; its duration is very short; the maximum duration
may be one or two hours, except in rare cases.
69.The fourth characteristic is ineffability. Mystics always complain

about the inadequacy of language in explaining mystical experiences.

They say that our language is for our ordinary experiences, but in
mystical experience we deal with realities that are completely different
from ordinary objects.
70.One criterion is religious teachings. Any experience or interpretation
which is not in harmony with religious teaching is not genuine and
valid. In irfan Shariah (Islamic teachings) is a mizan (criterion) to
evaluate the experiences or its interpretation.
71.Reason is another criterion. The experience must not conflict with
reason. Any claim by a mystic which is against reason is rejected and
invalid.
72.The mystic is confirmation of the master (shaykh, qutb, pir).
73.The impact of the experience on the moral life of the mystic. If the
morality of the mystic improves following the experience, this can be
a sign of the validity of the experience.
74.Some characteristics of mystical experience such as noetic quality,
passivity, transiency, ineffability, unitary consciousness, feeling of
objectivity, and feeling of blessedness. Then we dealt with some
criteria for 5 evaluating the experiences in order to distinguish
between genuine experiences from the otherwise .the most important
criteria are reason and shariah.