Fana (Sufism)

Similar to other Sufi doctrines, Fana is also based purely on first-party Islamic teachings. Specifically, the Quran says:^[3]

"All things in creation suffer annihilation and there remains the face of the Lord in its majesty and bounty."

— Surat-L-Rehman 26-27 ^[5]

Fana as Vision

Mystics such as Al-Junayd al-Baghdadi, Al-Ghazali and Al-Sarraj maintained that this ultimate goal of Sufism was the vision (mushahadah) of the divine.^[3][6]

Fana was defined by Abu Nasr as-Sarraj thus:

The passing away of the attributes of the lower self (nafs) and the passing away of the repugnance to, and reliance upon, anything that may happen.^[6]

— Al-Sarraj, Kitab al-Luma fi al-Tassawuf

Al-Hujwiri states the following:

One may speak, however, of an annihiliation that is independent of annihiliation: in that case annihilation (fana) means 'annihilation of all remembrance of other' and subsistance (baqa) means 'subsistence of the remembrance of God' (baqa al-dhikhr al-haqq)^[6]

— Al-Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub

So according to these early Sufis, Fana was interpreted as a recognition of the will of God, or the abandonment of being conscious of ones self, replacing this with contemplation on God alone.^[6]

However, according to Al-Hujwiri, vision of the divine can not occur without hard work on the part of the seeker. Such vision is combined with "ilm al-yaqin" or knowledge of certainty. This station leads to "ayn al-yaqin" (vision of certainty) and then the station of "ma'rifah" (gnosis), until it one arrives at haqq al-yaqin (reality of certainty), the stage of the friends of God (Wali Allah). This stage of Haqq al-Yaqin is what Al-Ghazali expressed as fana' kulli and fana fi al-tawhid.^[6] For Al-Ghazali, as with Al-Junayd before him, this meant recognition of God as the sole agent of the Universe.^[3] However Fana fi al-Tawhid does not mean 'fusion', 'identification', 'incarnation' etc.^[6] Rather, for Al-Ghazali, God could not be known through speculation in the manner of the philosophers, nor through the claims of union brought by al-Bistami and al-Hallaj, rather God could be known through his self-unveiling (khasf) through the personal process of observation (mushahadah).^[3]

Al-Sarraj condemned the idea of incarnation and fusion (the unionist interpretation below):

Some mystics of Baghdad have erred in their doctrine that when they passed away from their qualities they enter into the qualities of God. This involves incarnation or leads to the Christian belief concerneing Jesus. The doctrine in question has been attributed to some of the ancients, but its true meaning is that when a man goes forth from his own qualities and enters into the qualities of God, he goes forth from his own will, which is a gift to him from God, and enters into the will of God, knowing that his will is given to him by God and by virtue of this gift he is served from regarding himself and becomes entirely devoted to God and this is one of the stages of the unitarians. Those who have erred this doctrine have failed to observe that the qualities of God are not God. To make identical with his qualities is to be guilty of infidelity, because God does not descend into the soul, but that which descends into the soul is faith in God and belief in his unity (tawhid) and reverence for the thought of him.^[6]

— Al-Sarraj, Kitab al-Luma fi al-Tassawuf

This visionary interpretation has been qualified by some thinkers as a "moderate form of Islamic mysticism", whereas the next interpretation is considered an "extravagant form of mysticism".^[3]

Fana as Union

Another interpretation is that of Fana as being united with the One or the Truth.^[3] The two famous exponents of this who contended that fana is total union (ittihad) were Al-Bistami and Al-Hallaj.^[3]

The interpretation of Fana ascribed to Jallaluddin Rumi is as follows:

When the Shaykh (Halláj) said 'I am God' and carried it through (to the end), he throttled (vanquished) all the blind (sceptics). When a man's 'I' is negated (and eliminated) from existence, then what remains? Consider, O denier.^[7]

In his book, Ain-ul-Faqr, Sultan Bahoo gives his interpretation of Fana:

"Initially I was four, then became three, afterwards two and when I got out of Doi (being two), I became one with Allah."

Hossein Nasr insists that this interpretation is the highest spiritual truth.^[3]

This view is criticized as heretical by some orthodox Muslims.

Discover more about Views related topics

Quran

Quran

The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters, which consist of verses. In addition to its religious significance, it is widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature, and has significantly influenced the Arabic language.

Al-Ghazali

Al-Ghazali

Al-Ghazali, full name Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad aṭ-Ṭūsiyy al-Ġazzālīy, and known in Persian-speaking countries as Imam Muhammad-i Ghazali or in Medieval Europe by the Latinized as Algazelus or Algazel, was a Sunni Muslim Persian polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theorists, muftis, philosophers, theologians, logicians and mystics of the Islamic Golden Age.

Abu Nasr as-Sarraj

Abu Nasr as-Sarraj

Abū Naṣr ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlī al-Sarrāj was a Sunni sheikh and ascetic born in Tūs, Iran. He traveled widely in the Islamic world, having lived in cities as diverse as Cairo, Tabriz, Ramla, Baghdad, Damascus, Basra, and Nishapur. He is best known for his seminal Kitāb al-luma, which is considered an encyclopedia of the history of early Sufism.

Ma'rifa

Ma'rifa

Maʿrifa is the mystical knowledge of God or the “higher realities” that is the ultimate goal of followers of Sufism. Sufi mystics came to maʿrifa by following a spiritual path that later Sufi thinkers categorized into a series of “stations” that were followed by another series of steps, the “states,” through which the Sufi would come to union with God. The acquisition of maʿrifa was not the result of learnedness but was a type of gnosis in which the mystic received illumination through the grace of God. The finest expressions of maʿrifa can be found in the poetry of the Sufis Jalāl al-Dīn al-Rūmī (1207–73) and Ibn al-ʿArabī (1165–1240).

Gnosis

Gnosis

Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge. The term was used among various Hellenistic religions and philosophies in the Greco-Roman world. It is best known for its implication within Gnosticism, where it signifies a spiritual knowledge or insight into humanity's real nature as divine, leading to the deliverance of the divine spark within humanity from the constraints of earthly existence.

Bayazid Bastami

Bayazid Bastami

Abū Yazīd Ṭayfūr bin ʿĪsā bin Surūshān al-Bisṭāmī (al-Basṭāmī), commonly known in the Iranian world as Bāyazīd Bisṭāmī, was a Persian Sufi from north-central Iran. Known to future Sufis as Sultān-ul-Ārifīn, Bisṭāmī is considered to be one of the expositors of the state of fanā, the notion of dying in mystical union with Allah. Bastami was famous for "the boldness of his expression of the mystic’s complete absorption into the mysticism." Many "ecstatic utterances" have been attributed to Bisṭāmī, which lead to him being known as the "drunken" or "ecstatic" school of Islamic mysticism. Such utterance may be argued as, Bisṭāmī died with mystical union and the deity is speaking through his tongue. Bisṭāmī also claimed to have ascended through the seven heavens in his dream. His journey, known as the Mi'raj of Bisṭāmī, is clearly patterned on the Mi'raj of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Bisṭāmī is characterized in three different ways: a free thinking radical, a pious Sufi who is deeply concerned with following the sha'ria and engaging in "devotions beyond the obligatory," and a pious individual who is presented as having a dream similar to the Mi'raj of Muhammed. The Mi'raj of Bisṭāmī seems as if Bisṭāmī is going through a self journey; as he ascends through each heaven, Bisṭāmī is gaining knowledge in how he communicates with the angels and the number of angels he encounters increases.

Al-Hallaj

Al-Hallaj

Al-Hallaj or Mansour Hallaj was a Persian mystic, poet, and teacher of Sufism. He is best known for his saying: "I am the Truth" (Ana'l-Ḥaqq), which many saw as a claim to divinity, while others interpreted it as an instance of annihilation of the ego, allowing God to speak through him. Al-Hallaj gained a wide following as a preacher before he became implicated in power struggles of the Abbasid court and was executed after a long period of confinement on religious and political charges. Although most of his Sufi contemporaries disapproved of his actions, Hallaj later became a major figure in the Sufi tradition.

Rumi

Rumi

Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, also known as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī, Mevlânâ/Mawlānā and Mevlevî/Mawlawī, but more popularly known simply as Rumi, was a 13th-century Persian poet, Hanafi faqih, Islamic scholar, Maturidi theologian and Sufi mystic originally from Greater Khorasan in Greater Iran. Rumi's influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions: Iranians, Kurds, Tajiks, Turks, Greeks, Pashtuns, other Central Asian Muslims, as well as Muslims of the Indian subcontinent have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the "most popular poet" and the "best selling poet" in the United States.

Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Seyyed Hossein Nasr is an Iranian philosopher and University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University.

The idea of Fanaa in Sufism has been compared to Samadhi in Hinduism and Buddhism.^[8]