Journal Of Islamic Denominations

Journal Of Islamic Denominations

A comparative study of the doctrine of habit from the perspective of Hamedani's Ayn al-Qudsat and al-Ghazali's doctrine of negligence

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
neda kohgard 1
Mehdi Lakzaei 2
hadi Vasei 3
1 PhD student, Religions and Mysticism, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Qom Branch, Qom, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Eastern Religions, University of Religions and Dneominations, Qom, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Qom Branch, Qom, Iran
10.22034/jid.2024.476722.2520
Abstract
The term “heedlessness” (ghafla) has often been examined by Sufis and ethicists from a psychological or virtue-ethical perspective. However, al-Ghazālī views this concept as being far more intricate, playing a central role in both his ontology and the study of the human nature. Meanwhile, the term “habit” in the mystical system of ʿAyn al-Quḍāt al-Hamadānī acquires a distinct semantic connotation, one that lacks precedent in earlier Sufi literature. In addition to this term, other concepts—such as black and white light, Muhammad and Iblis, and various binary oppositions like outer and inner, knowledge and ignorance, light and darkness, this world and the hereafter—feature prominently in ʿAyn al-Quḍāt’s mystical thought. These terms and ideas become his mental and linguistic motifs. However, the concept of habit stands out in particular due to its defamiliarizing effect: it strips familiar terms of their conventional meanings and bestows upon them new designations. This reconfiguration opens the door to a new world of meaning, reshaping the relationship between signifier and signified, altering older connections, and uncovering hidden, novel associations. The rupture from habit leads to an eruption of illumination and elevates the soul from the realm of the ordinary to the domain of wonder.
Keywords
doctrine of heedlessness
al-Ghazālī
doctrine of habit
ʿAyn al-Quḍāt al-Hamadānī
Subjects
The Noble Quran.
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