Pendefinisian istilah “mistisisme” telah menjadi salah satu isu kontroversial dalam kajian modern tentang mistisisme sejak awal kemunculannya di paruh kedua abad ke-19 Masehi. Beberapa penulis menggunakan istilah tersebut dengan merujuk pada subjek yang berlainan. Dengan mengkaji beberapa sumber utama yang berkesan dalam mistisisme, tulisan ini berupaya meninjau beberapa definisi modern mengenai mistisisme dan mengevaluasinya berdasarkan seberapa lengkap definisi tersebut mencakup aspek-aspek mistisisme secara komprehensif. Selain itu, tulisan inipun ditujukan sebagai upaya mengklarifikasi beragam klasifikasi mistisisme yang berbeda dengan menggunakan definisi yang terkait dimensi-dimensi yang berbeda dari mistisisme.
‘Mysticism’ and ‘modernity’, two constructs that emerged in the West during the post-medieval era, were created partly in opposition to each other. What were regarded as ‘mystical traditions’ were seen, by several influential thinkers of ‘modern’ discourses, as a phenomenon of the medieval era and the antithesis of rationality, and those traditions were employed by ‘counterculture’ currents in their critique of the modern world. This article problematizes and nuances the relationship between the mystical and the modern and highlights various aspects of their reciprocity, entanglement and harmony. It argues that the reconstruction of mystical traditions as ‘mystic-ism’, which started in the 17th century, resulted in the rejuvenation of those facets of such traditions that were harmonious with modern discourses along with the adoption of modern elements into the concept of mysticism. Therefore, the mystical and the modern enjoy a hybrid relation of ‘integrejection’ rather than a simple connection of exclusion.
One major Hellenistic tradition that has enjoyed considerable influence over Islamic philosophy and mysticism is Neoplatonism. Through the Baghdad-based Greco-Arabic translation movement of the mid-eighth to tenth century, significant Neoplatonic works were translated into Arabic, though usually misascribed to Aristotle, the First Teacher (al-mu allim al-awwal) of Islamic philosophy. While the theological discourses of early Muslim mystics (Sufis) such as Dhu al-Nun al-Miṣri (d. ca. 860) and Sahl al-Tustari (d. ca. 896) indicate only potential Neoplatonic influence, such impact became more visible after the twelfth century. Specifically, the Andalusian Sufi Ibn Arabi (d. 1240) and his philosophically-minded disciples developed the doctrine of the "unity of being" (waḥdat al-wujud) based on the theory of "emanation," a cornerstone of Neoplatonic metaphysics. Ibn 'Arabi's authoritative stance as the Greatest Master (al-shaykh al-akbar) of Sufism assured the presence of Neoplatonic elements in later Sufi theology. This paper argues that despite such strong intellectual influence, Muslim mystics varied in their reception of Neoplatonic principles. While some Sufis incorporated Neoplatonism into their theology and some others distanced themselves from this Hellenistic tradition, a third group tried to develop a hybrid mystical theology that, though including Neoplatonic elements, were more in accordance with the image of God as presented in the Qur'an. This paper especially analyzes the mysticism of a notable representative of the latter group, Jalal al-Din Rumi (d. 1273), whose thought shares several commonalities with Neoplatonism yet differs from it on three fundamental issues, namely God's nature, the Divine will, and the successive stages of emanation.
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