Examination of the Semiosphere of Mysticism and Islamic Sufism in Kashf-ol-Mahjub

Abstract

From the perspective of cultural semiotics, texts as cultural repositories, are the products of intercultural conditions and interactions, and represent the culture and its organizational structure. Over centuries, Islamic Mysticism and Sufism, as a collection of beliefs, practices and customs, permeated the layers of society and gradually evolved as a coherent culture within the framework of the comprehensive Islamic culture. This emerging culture systematically organized itself through the use of linguistic paradigmatic structures, particularly in the realm of mystical literature. To achieve a systematic understanding of the organizational structure of the culture of Islamic mysticism and Sufism, the first independent Persian text of this culture was explored using a descriptive-analytical approach. Through this examination, the semiosphere of mysticism and intercultural relations in Kashf-ol-Mahjub by Hujwiri was identified. The represented culture in this book exhibits a dual pattern, consisting of a “core” with cohesive symbols such as poverty, esotericism, the scientific nature of Sufism, veiling (the wearing of patched clothes), etc., to distinguish Self from Others, and a “periphery” that continuously interacts with others. The articulation of a specific Sufi worldview and its validation in theological and jurisprudential frameworks and their cited sources; compiling of the principles; Sufi leaders and sects in accordance with these principles; narrators and the various schools of thought in the linguistic and jurisprudential spheres; and discussions on topics such as the attributes of God, their classification, the contingent nature of these attributes; the oneness of God; divine occurrence, divine precedence; and the richness and independence of God in Kashf-ol-Mahjub reveal border spaces that constitute arena for intercultural exchanges. This central and peripheral space shapes the cultural identity of Sufism with internal coherence and dynamic external relationships.

Keywords

• mystical literature
• kashf-ol-mahjub
• cultural semiotics
• semiosphere
• cultural typology