Knowledge in Islamic Mysticism and Gnosticism

Subject Areas : Christianity

Seyyed Ali Mohammad Sajjadi ¹ (Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran)
Ahmad Khatami ² (Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran)
Fereshteh Jafari ³ (Faculty Member, Islamic Azad University, Naraq Branch, Naraq, Iran)

Received: 2014-02-24 Accepted : 2014-06-15 Published : 2014-07-23

Keywords: Sufisim, Mystic, gnosis, Salvation, Man,

Abstract :

Gnosticism is in fact a mystical movement that includes differentreligions such as Manichaeism, Mandaeism and Christianity. Gnosticshad a dualistic view and they considered the material world as thecreation of an evil force. Their main doctrine is that the human soul istrapped in this world and the path of his salvation is passing throughachievement of gnosis or the saving Knowledge, which brings to themankind by divine messengers and holy saviors. This knowledge isacquired through the heart not the mind. Such an idea is considered asone of the most basic principles in Islamic mysticism, so there areremarkable similarities between gnostic and the Sufi epistemologicalstandpoints. This becomes more obvious when we consider themeaning of the two words, gnosis and „rfān, both of which mean“knowledge”.