Hylic Belief: On The Religion of the Gnostic according to Ismail Hakki Burusawi

Abstract

The doctrine of Wahdat al-Wujūd, which represents a monistic world view, has developed a philosophy of religion that is in line with this monistic world view. According to this philosophy of religion, which expresses a certain kind of perennialism, all religions and shari'as are manifestations of the single truth in different forms. The essence of God, which is the absolute truth, is the truth of everything that is being worshiped. Therefore, the belief of an ārif who reaches God through sayr u sulūk (initiation/spiritual journey) is a belief that encompasses all forms of belief. An important representative of the Ottoman Sūfī thought and the doctrine of Wahdat al-Wujūd in the 17th and 18th centuries, Ismā'īl Ḥaqqī al-Burūsawī (d. 1137/1725) penned a treatise entitled Lubb al-Lubb wa Sirr al-Sirr with a view to explaining the basics of this philosophy of religion. By examining the ontological and epistemological grounds on which al-Burūsawī’s philosophy of religion is based, this article aims to explain his understanding of religion and to scrutinize the concept of “heyūlānī (hylic) faith” which is the type of faith discussed in al-Burūsawī’s treatise.

Keywords: Perennialism, Wahdat al-Wujūd, Wahdat al-Ma'būd, Wahdat al-Adyān, al-Burūsawī, Ibn ‘Arabī, ‘Irfān

JEL Classification: Z12