The Reasonable Explanation of Annihilation (fanā) in Mysticism

Mystics undergo stages and spiritual stations on their journey to Allah that are difficult for non-mystics to understand. Reflective people often rely on intellectual and theoretical principles to explain mystical experiences and ecstasy, but the success of such explanations depends on the power of those principles. Fanā (annihilation) is one mystical stage that is especially hard for non-mystics to grasp, leading to various theories. The article argues that the only successful explanation of fanā is one based on transcendental theosophy and theoretical mysticism, rather than on scientific or philosophical achievements alone.

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Abstract

Abstrak : Para mistikus melampaui tahap-tahap (derajat kesempurnaan mistik) dan maqam spiritual dalam perjalanan mereka menuju Allah yang sulit dimengerti oleh non-mistikus. Karena itu, sebagian besar kalangan reflektif berusaha mengandalkan prinsip-prinsip intelektual dan teoritis mereka untuk memperoleh penjelasan atas pengalaman mistis dan ekstasi. Namun, keberhasilan penjelasannya sepenuhnya berada di bawah kuasa dan kekuatan dari prinsip-prinsip tersebut. (Fanā) atau kesirnaan adalah salah satu tahap mistis atau keadaan yang sulit dimengerti oleh non-mistikus sehingga memunculkan berbagai teori yang berbeda untuk menjelaskannya. Pencapaian prestasi ilmiah dan filosofis merupakan penjelasan yang tepat atas fanā. Bagaimanapun upaya yang dilakukan dalam artikel ini membuktikan bahwa satu-satunya penjelasan yang sukses adalah penjelasan yang didasarkan pada prinsip-prinsip teosofi transendental dan mistisisme teoritis.Kata kunci : Fanā, Mistisisme, Penjelasan rasional, Mistisisme teoretis, Filsafat transendentalAbstract : Mystics are passing through stages (degrees of mystic perfection) and esoteric abodes (spiritual stations) in their spiritual journey to Allah which is difficult for unmystics to understand. Because of this, most of the reflective people are trying to rely on their intellectual and theoretical principles to obtain an understandable explanation of mystical experiences and ecstasy. However the success of such explanation completely lies in the power and strength of the above mentioned principles. (Fanā) or annihilation is one of the mystical stages or states which unmystics find very difficult to reasonably understand, hence various and different theories have been provided for its explanation. Various scientific and philosophical achievements are appropriate explanations of annihilation (fanā) which is valuable in its place; however effort had been made in this article to prove that the only successful explanation is an explanation based on the principles of transcendental theosophy and theoretical mysticism.Keywords : Fanā (annihilation), Mysticism, Reasonable explanation, Theoretical mysticism, Transcendental theosophy