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  • "Mysticism" in Iran: The Safavid Roots of a Modern Concept by Ata Anzali
  • Azadeh Vatanpour
"Mysticism" in Iran: The Safavid Roots of a Modern Concept Ata Anzali Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2017. 276 Pages.

"Mysticism" in Iran: The Safavid Roots of a Modern Concept, is an important contribution to the study of Shī'ism and specifically of 'irfān (Shī'ī mystical theology) as the dominant form of Shī'ī mysticism. The work includes a historical analysis of the transformation of the religious landscape of Iran in the Safavid period (1501–1722), which led to the marginalization of Sufism as an independent institution and the emergence of the 'irfān tradition. It is particularly valuable today, as no in-depth study published in English has yet addressed the differences between Sufism and 'irfān in the historical and political contexts of Iranian intellectual history. The book is divided into six chapters. These cover the development of the concept of 'irfān by Islamic philosophers in the medieval period, its use in opposition to Sufism by the Safavids, the formal institutionalization of 'irfān in the Safavid and Qajar eras, and the modernization of the concept as an academic discipline in the twentieth century. In order to bring new and fresh insights to the research, the author examines published sources that have not been previously studied in detail and others that have remained unpublished until now. In theoretical terms, the work takes a NeoWeberian approach to its subject, relying for the most part on Peter Berger's The Sacred Canopy (1967) for the role that religion plays in the social construction of reality and Said Amir Arjomand's The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam (1984), for its approach to the religious transformation of Shī'ism from the Safavid period to the present. [End Page 89]

Anzali starts the book by examining the debate over 'irfān in contemporary Iran. By using a debate conducted on the state-run broadcasting network, he highlights the current tension between the fundamentalist understanding of Shī'ism, which rejects both Sufism and Islamic philosophy, and a more mystical undertanding of Shī'ism, which claims that 'irfān is integral to the teachings and legacy of the Imams. Significantly, on both sides of this debate, "Sufism" is used as a pejorative term. The polemical argument between advocates of Sufism and 'irfān has escalated in Iran over the past decade due to sociopolitical developments since the Islamic Revolution. Anzali notes that during the revolutionary period 'irfān was a significant component of the new religiosity developed by Ayatollah Khomeini and his students. Despite opposition from traditional madrasa authorities, they succeeded in introducing Islamic philosophy and 'irfān into the madrasa curriculum. Ironically, however, this led to a greater hostility toward Sufism and a questioning of the authenticity of institutionalized Sufi orders in Iran. The ideological distinction between 'irfān, as a legally endorsed path of seeking gnosis, and Sufism as a sort of "pseudo-'irfān," continues to this day.

Chapter One, "'Irfān in the Pre-Safavid Period," begins by introducing the word 'irfān and its etymology. The related term ma'rifa emerged as a distinct category in the mid-ninth century CE with a "new spiritual vision focused primarily on the cultivation of the inner life" (p. 11). According to Anzali, the concept of ma'rifa became best developed in Ibn 'Arabi's (d. 1240 CE) thought. By contrast, 'irfān was seen as an elitist term and was popular mainly among philosophers, in particular Ibn Sīnā (d. 1037 CE). In Ibn Sīnā's view, the concept of 'irfān was independent of Sufi ma'rifa. For him, the true "knower" ('ārif) is a philosopher who has been educated in discursive reasoning and the virtues of the soul. Armed with a sharp and purified intellect, he is capable of reaching the stage of the Acquired Intellect (al-'aql al-mustafād).

Although the dominance of Sufism did not allow Ibn Sīnā's understanding of 'irfān to gain primacy, the rise of Safavid Shī'ism in the sixteenth century and its dominance in Iran opened...

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