Biography
(857-922)
Al-Hallaj was born in the southwest of Iran and in 877 became a
disciple of the Sufi mystic al-Junayd of Baghdad, who taught that
religious discipline should be aimed at ego annihilation (fana), which would
be followed by the return to the primordial, natural state of the
self (baqa). A human being could return to the Source of being, to
his original adamantine state, in a reunion with God that would end his
separation and dissolution and bring peace and happiness.
In that early stage of Sufism, where Sufis were the minority and looked
upon with suspicion by other Muslims, al-Hallaj, was rejected Sufis and
traditionalists alike. After a profoundly mystical pilgrimage to Mecca*,
he parted ways with many Sufis when he began preaching, during which he
revealed "secrets" to, and performed miracles for, lay Muslims,
instead of keeping Sufi practices strictly in the hands of the initiated.
Al-Hallaj made two more journeys to Mecca before settling in Bhagdad.
There, he provoked the ire of traditionalist Muslims by claiming that the
ultimate goal of religion was unity with God through love, and he was
accused of idolatry, pantheism, and blasphemy when he proclaimed, "I
am the Truth" (which is like saying, "I am God"). He became
a martyr for Sufi mysticism; he was condemned by legal and political
authorities for his calls for the replacement of the caliphate and for a
new social order. He was arrested in 915, spent nine years in jail, and
was beheaded in 922.
His final words were, "what counts for the ecstatic is that the
Unique reduces him to unity." Al-Ghazzali later excused al-Hallaj's
preaching as not heretical, but simply an unwise presentment of that which
should have been kept hidden from the uninitiated. In his writing, al-Hallaj's
claims that it is not necessary to destroy the individual person, but
suffering (presumably martyrdom in his case) could bring about the
"impassioned love" (ishq) in which the human spirit can
be united with God.
*During his pilgrimage, al-Hallaj said, "My spirit blends itself
with His Spirit as musk with amber, as wine with pure water."
