The Issue of Yaqin in al-Ghazzali’s Sufism
In this brief report we shall attempt at outlining some nuances of the remarkable Quranic term yaqin which is of key importance to the understanding of al-Ghazali’s entire mystical experience and specifically to the existential drama that takes place in the zenith of his theological career. It is common knowledge that this dramatic episode is described best in the short autobiographical treatise “Deliverance from Error” which is referred to by some scholars as “the tale of doubt”. The scepticism which makes al-Ghazali so famous, especially in the Western world, should not be viewed only in its religious and ethical dimensions. In other words, his scepticism should not be interpreted exclusively as related to the issue of the truthfulness of the intentions and the confessional creed. The spiritual crisis that al-Ghazali experiences poses the issue of doubt in its metaphysical dimensions, in the dimensions of the knowledge of God ma’rifa. The very knowledge as such hangs over the abyss of al-Ghazali’s scepticism. For some reasons that remain unfathomable for us, the human reasoning faculty begins to doubt itself. It begets an instinct for self-destruction of a kind. When a human being becomes fully aware of the very real danger that such a catastrophe presents, the diagnosis could be not other than that of a mental disorder. This is the critical point at which the existential state of the mind faces the utmost ordeal – an ordeal that can be followed only by either madness, in its darkest form, or by what we all call spiritual enlightenment or, in other words, the illumination of the reason by the light of God’s grace. Al-Ghazali was approaching the classical milestone of the age of 40 when he experienced the painful symptoms of what we nowadays describe automatically as the crisis of middle age. It is precisely at this moment when the issue of yaqin, the issue of existential certitude, crystalizes dramatically in his mind, having occupied his thoughts unconsciously ever since childhood.
Yaqin constitutes a fundamental term in the religious and intellectual views of al-Ghazali – a term which has no accurate equivalent in languages other than Arabic. As we shall see further, the linguistic difficulty in translating the concept is due to the fact that the nature of yaqin has a dynamic and ascending character rather than a static one. The etymology of yaqin usually refers us to the Arabic verb ya-qi-na which expresses the state of peace that is achieved by water when it stabilizes its surface in the confinement of a well or a hole. Most prominent theologians and Sufis indicate this etymological connection which explains to a large extent why the state of yaqin is axiomatically accompanied by the sense of peace and quiet. According to al-Ghazali, though, the presence of peacefulness in the heart is no guarantee for the achievement of yaqin because the tranquillity can be the result of ignorance. Traditional exegesis – in other words, the one which adheres strictly to the literal interpretation of the sacred text – views the state of yaqin as achievable only after the physical death when the truth about Paradise and Hell, the decision about men’s final fate, will be inevitably revealed to each person. It is on this particular point that Sufism distances itself completely from such an understanding of the state of yaqin. Although this state is strongly connected with death, Sufis interpret it through a different perspective. The concept of death in Sufism – a concept that al-Ghazali naturally adheres to – is the concept of a state of a complete awareness of reality when all phenomena are seen as they really are. In its understanding of yaqin Sufism refers to the following hadith by the Prophet (peace be upon him): “Die before you die”. Here death is understood as death in the secular sphere and life in the Divine Presence.
In the Quran the term yaqin is combined with the words haqq (which literally means “truth”, “reality”) and ‘ilm (knowledge). To these language structures we can add another one: ‘ayn al-yaqin in which the Arabic word ‘ayn means “eye”, “essence”, “substance”, “source”, “well”. On the basis of these linguistic uses Islamic exegesis differentiates three main degrees of yaqin in the following gradation: ‘ilm al-yaqin (which literally means “the knowledge of yaqin”), ‘ayn al-yaqin (literally, the “eye of yaqin”) and haqq al-yaqin (literally, “the truth of yaqin”).
The interpretation of these variations suspends us in an abyss of linguistic, intellectual and psychological situations which are best explicated in the works of the Great Sheikh Ibn Arabi.
In his Opus Magnum ‘Ihya ulum ad-din’ al-Ghazali defines yaqin as “the capital of religion” and points out an important definition given by the Prophet himself (peace be upon him) which reads as follows: Yaqin is the belief and iman in its entirety”. Here yaqin is exposed as a synonym of belief iman which, as we know, can grow weaker or stronger. Once the belief has reached its summit, it transforms into what the Quranic and Prophetic tradition define as ihsan – the beauty and perfection of religion, its highest degree. In this context we can draw parallels between the degrees of yaqin and the degrees of religious belief as described in the prominent hadith of Jibril. Thus, the term ‘Islam’ matches ‘ilm al-yaqin, iman matches ‘ayn al-yaqin, and ihsan matches haqq al-yaqin. If the first two degrees possess their own zenith and, therefore, reach a certain boundary, then the third degree ihsan knows no boundaries and, in this sense, it knows no death. The person who has transcended onto this degree is in a state of perpetual upward advancement, perpetual ascension. His yaqin is a never-ending bliss. Such probably is the state in which perpetuate those who have reached “the Dune of White Musk” which lies in the heart of Paradise.