The shathīyāt (singular shaṭḥ; literally “ecstatic utterances”) are the paradoxical or theologically scandalous declarations — such as anā al-ḥaqq (“I am the Truth”) of al-Ḥallāj — by which the Sufi, in a state of mystical intoxication, gives voice to the experience of passing-away (fanāʾ) in the divine reality. The doctrine of the shathīyāt is treated at the close of the *Ḥujjat aṣ-ṣiddīq li-dafʿ az-zindīq* of Nūruddīn ar-Rānīrī, where Raniri compares them to latah and pronounces upon them a notable judgment: although God will not punish them on the Day of Judgement, because the words come from Him, yet by the religious law they must be punished, even killed. Whoever, being in his senses, pronounces such shathīyāt, must be killed and will burn in hell eternally.
The doctrine of the shathīyāt
The shathīyāt are a recognised genre of Sufi utterance, distinguished from the ordinary professions of faith by their paradoxical or scandalous form: the Sufi, in the state of fanāʾ, declares himself to be God, or declares the world to be God, or pronounces other utterances that, in the mouth of one not in a state of mystical intoxication, would be unbelief. The classic example is anā al-ḥaqq (“I am the Truth”) of al-Ḥallāj, who was executed in Baghdad in 309 H / 922 C.E. The Sufi tradition generally distinguishes the shathīyāt pronounced in a state of fanāʾ — which are not judged as unbelief, because the self that pronounces them has passed away in the divine reality — from the same utterances pronounced by one in his senses, which are judged as unbelief and apostasy.
Raniri’s treatment
Raniri’s treatment of the shathīyāt in the *Ḥujjat aṣ-ṣiddīq* is one of the most remarkable passages in his Achehnese writings. After distinguishing the orthodox Sufi position from that of the heretical Wujudiyyah — the principal business of the treatise — Raniri closes with a pronouncement on the shathīyāt. He argues that the shathīyāt are to be compared with latah — the trance-state familiar in the Malay-Indonesian world, in which the entranced person speaks words that are not his own. Although God will not, on the Day of Judgement, punish the shathīyāt — because the words come from Him — yet by the religious law they must be punished, even killed. Whoever, being in his senses, pronounces such shathīyāt, must be killed and will burn in hell eternally.
Significance
Raniri’s pronouncement on the shathīyāt is the scholastic justification of the persecution of the Wujudiyyah that followed his public disputation at the court of Iskandar Thani. By distinguishing the shathīyāt of the entranced mystic — which are to be forgiven — from the same utterances pronounced by one in his senses — which are to be punished with death — Raniri provides the religious authority by which the disciples of Hamzah Pansuri could be put to death and his books burned. The pronouncement is also, in its comparison of the shathīyāt with latah, a remarkable trace of the localisation of Sufi scholastic discourse in the Malay-Indonesian world: the shathīyāt of the Arabic Sufi tradition are explained by reference to a Malay-Indonesian trance-state, in a Malay treatise written at the court of Acheh.
See Also
- al-Hallaj
- Acheh
- Bahasa Djawi
- Hamzah Pansuri
- Hudjdjat as-siddiq li-daf az-zindiq
- Iskandar Thani
- Raniri
- Raniri’s public debate against the Wujudiyyah in Acheh
- Sultan Tajul-alam
- Wujudiyyah
Source
Twee Maleise geschriften van Nūruddīn ar-Rānīrī: in facsimile uitgegeven met aantekeningen door P. Voorhoeve. Uitgaven van de Stichting De Goeje, No. 16. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1955. Inleiding §3 (“Ḥujjat aṣ-ṣiddīq li-dafʿ az-zindīq”), pp. 37–43, summarising §25–§27 of the treatise.
The shathīyāt (singular shaṭḥ; literally “ecstatic utterances”) are the paradoxical or theologically scandalous declarations — such as anā al-ḥaqq (“I am the Truth”) of al-Ḥallāj — by which the Sufi, in a state of mystical intoxication, gives voice to the experience of passing-away (fanāʾ) in the divine reality. The doctrine of the shathīyāt is treated at the close of the *Ḥujjat aṣ-ṣiddīq li-dafʿ az-zindīq* of Nūruddīn ar-Rānīrī, where Raniri compares them to latah and pronounces upon them a notable judgment: although God will not punish them on the Day of Judgement, because the words come from Him, yet by the religious law they must be punished, even killed. Whoever, being in his senses, pronounces such shathīyāt, must be killed and will burn in hell eternally.
The doctrine of the shathīyāt
The shathīyāt are a recognised genre of Sufi utterance, distinguished from the ordinary professions of faith by their paradoxical or scandalous form: the Sufi, in the state of fanāʾ, declares himself to be God, or declares the world to be God, or pronounces other utterances that, in the mouth of one not in a state of mystical intoxication, would be unbelief. The classic example is anā al-ḥaqq (“I am the Truth”) of al-Ḥallāj, who was executed in Baghdad in 309 H / 922 C.E. The Sufi tradition generally distinguishes the shathīyāt pronounced in a state of fanāʾ — which are not judged as unbelief, because the self that pronounces them has passed away in the divine reality — from the same utterances pronounced by one in his senses, which are judged as unbelief and apostasy.
Raniri’s treatment
Raniri’s treatment of the shathīyāt in the *Ḥujjat aṣ-ṣiddīq* is one of the most remarkable passages in his Achehnese writings. After distinguishing the orthodox Sufi position from that of the heretical Wujudiyyah — the principal business of the treatise — Raniri closes with a pronouncement on the shathīyāt. He argues that the shathīyāt are to be compared with latah — the trance-state familiar in the Malay-Indonesian world, in which the entranced person speaks words that are not his own. Although God will not, on the Day of Judgement, punish the shathīyāt — because the words come from Him — yet by the religious law they must be punished, even killed. Whoever, being in his senses, pronounces such shathīyāt, must be killed and will burn in hell eternally.
Significance
Raniri’s pronouncement on the shathīyāt is the scholastic justification of the persecution of the Wujudiyyah that followed his public disputation at the court of Iskandar Thani. By distinguishing the shathīyāt of the entranced mystic — which are to be forgiven — from the same utterances pronounced by one in his senses — which are to be punished with death — Raniri provides the religious authority by which the disciples of Hamzah Pansuri could be put to death and his books burned. The pronouncement is also, in its comparison of the shathīyāt with latah, a remarkable trace of the localisation of Sufi scholastic discourse in the Malay-Indonesian world: the shathīyāt of the Arabic Sufi tradition are explained by reference to a Malay-Indonesian trance-state, in a Malay treatise written at the court of Acheh.
See Also
- al-Hallaj
- Acheh
- Bahasa Djawi
- Hamzah Pansuri
- Hudjdjat as-siddiq li-daf az-zindiq
- Iskandar Thani
- Raniri
- Raniri’s public debate against the Wujudiyyah in Acheh
- Sultan Tajul-alam
- Wujudiyyah
Source
Twee Maleise geschriften van Nūruddīn ar-Rānīrī: in facsimile uitgegeven met aantekeningen door P. Voorhoeve. Uitgaven van de Stichting De Goeje, No. 16. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1955. Inleiding §3 (“Ḥujjat aṣ-ṣiddīq li-dafʿ az-zindīq”), pp. 37–43, summarising §25–§27 of the treatise.