Hawzah News Agency- The session featured Hojatoleslam Seyyed Mehdi Alizadeh Mousavi, a seminary and university professor, researcher in comparative theology, and representative of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Bangladesh.
Discussions focused on the relationship between mysticism and doctrine, rituals and ethics; differences in mystical interpretations between Shia and Sunni Islam; the link between mysticism and Sharia; the potential of spirituality for promoting Islamic unity and interfaith dialogue; the possibility of developing spiritual diplomacy; and the need to redefine and make mysticism relevant for contemporary society.
In his opening remarks, the session's scientific secretary Hojatoleslam Alijanzadeh Roshan said recent developments and the martyrdom of the great leader of the Islamic Revolution have opened new horizons for the Islamic Republic, making interfaith dialogue centered on spirituality — particularly mysticism — essential.
He said spirituality could serve as a bridge connecting Shia and Sunni Muslims, adding that the capacities, challenges, and practical outcomes of such dialogue must be examined.
Mysticism leads humanity toward ethics
Alizadeh Mousavi said religion can be divided into three spheres — doctrine, rituals, and ethics — none of which is inherently superior to the others. Rather, he said, theology and rituals serve as foundations for ethics and spirituality.
When doctrine takes root in the human soul and rituals find their proper place, he explained, the result is the formation of an ethical, transcendent, and devoted human being.
The seminary professor criticized the marginalization of ethics in contemporary religious life, saying the fruits of doctrine and ritual have been pushed aside and sometimes reduced to mere decoration. He offered the example of a person who carefully performs daily prayers but shows little sensitivity toward lying or backbiting.
Mysticism, he said, manifests itself in the realm of faith. Deeds, spirituality, ethics, and mysticism elevate a person's level of faith and raise their station.
Alizadeh Mousavi stressed that mysticism and spirituality must first be recognized as fundamental principles of Islam — principles that have not received proper attention and must reclaim their rightful place.
He also drew a distinction between rationally proving God's existence and perceiving Him with the heart. A person may be able to demonstrate divine unity through argument, he said, yet still not have reached the stage where they can feel God in their heart.
Mysticism and Sharia: Different readings, common ground
Pointing to the diversity of mystical interpretations both within and outside Islam, Alizadeh Mousavi noted that numerous Sufi orders exist among Sunnis, with more than 70 registered in Egypt alone. Among Shias as well, various paths of spiritual wayfaring exist, associated with figures such as Seyyed Ali Qazi, Heydar Amoli, Hasan-Zadeh Amoli, Allameh Tabatabai, and Ayatollah Behjat.
He argued that by looking beyond outward differences to the essence of mysticism, common ground can be found across all religions and Islamic schools of thought.
That common ground, he said, includes love of God, closeness to the Divine, humility, reverence, and silence — all qualities that elevate human beings above the animal realm and can serve as symbols of mysticism.
At the same time, he stressed that mysticism must never contradict Sharia, warning that any form of mysticism that weakens or opposes religious law faces serious challenges.
Alizadeh Mousavi also cautioned against projecting misconceptions about Sufism in Shia Islam onto Sunni traditions. Sufism among Sunnis, he said, is essentially the same mysticism that Shia scholars practice. Sufism or tariqa is simply the name used within the mystical tradition.
The researcher further rejected the notion that reaching a state of spiritual witnessing exempts a person from religious obligations. Such deviations, he said, have been reported throughout history and continue to exist today.
He pointed to ideas such as the unity of being in the thought of Ibn Arabi, self-knowledge in Rumi's teachings, and Mulla Sadra's concept of transubstantial motion as examples of mystical insights that can complement Sharia rather than oppose it.
The heart's place in knowing God
Responding to questions about literalist currents among Sunnis and Akhbari trends among Shias, Alizadeh Mousavi said disputes over the path to truth are not unique to mysticism but have existed since the earliest days of Islam in fields such as theology and jurisprudence.
He pointed to historical debates between the Mu'tazila and the People of Hadith, the schools of opinion and tradition, and the Usuli and Akhbari movements. Ultimately, he said, all these disputes return to a single question: What is the path to truth — reason, revelation, mystical unveiling, or experience?
The professor said reason and revelation alone cannot explain the entire journey, emphasizing the place of the heart and innate human nature in knowing God.
He cited the experiences of figures such as Imam Mohammad Ghazali, Fakhr al-Razi, and Imam Khomeini, who after years of scholarly argumentation came to emphasize the path of the heart and spirituality.
Alizadeh Mousavi warned that theoretical mysticism must not become so entangled in academic preliminaries that it becomes an obstacle to practical mysticism.
From theory to practice: The need for a mystical system
The speaker said one of the fundamental problems of contemporary mysticism is the separation of theory from practice. Theoretical mysticism, he argued, must engage with real-life conditions to produce relevant insights.
He cautioned against reducing mysticism to meditation for treating illnesses, saying such applications represent only a fraction of mysticism's potential. The core concern, he said, is human transcendence and perfection.
Pointing to what he called an "age of crisis," Alizadeh Mousavi said modern humans are searching for an elevated form of mysticism, even as new-age movements gradually lose their appeal.
"The raw material of Islamic mysticism is abundant," he said. "We have the bricks and materials, but we lack the engineer" — meaning no comprehensive system has been developed to organize these resources.
He called for the creation of a "mystical system" that offers guidance from childhood to old age and provides practical solutions for real-life problems.
"Mysticism today comes in the form of advice, not prescription," he said. "We need to prescribe it, to write spiritual prescriptions."
He also addressed modern doubt and relativism, saying theology and jurisprudence alone cannot create the certainty contemporary humans seek, while mysticism and spirituality can play a decisive role.
Capacity for unity and spiritual diplomacy
Alizadeh Mousavi said the more common ground exists, the greater the potential for unity and rapprochement. While differences multiply in doctrine and jurisprudence, he said, mysticism, ethics, and spirituality offer extensive commonalities.
He listed love, nearness to God, humility, reverence, silence, remembrance, humanitarianism, human dignity, and justice as concepts that can connect people across religions.
He cited the example of Sikh temples opening their doors to feed the poor during the COVID-19 pandemic as evidence of how humanitarian values can build bridges.
On the difference between interfaith dialogue and spiritual diplomacy, the speaker said interfaith dialogue involves exchanges among experts on religious propositions, while spiritual diplomacy must go beyond that to address real-world problems and reduce conflicts among religions, sects, and nations.
He noted that growing materialism, technology, and virtual spaces have exposed modern humans to external influences, pushing some of their spiritual needs toward new-age and secular mysticisms.
From Rumi to the world: The need for a new language
Alizadeh Mousavi pointed to the global interest in Rumi, Hafez, Khayyam, and Jami, saying this content must be presented in a new language suited to contemporary audiences.
"We truly have the resources, but we lack the language," he said. "Just as movements like existentialism gained influence despite limited content because of their language, we too need a language that makes our mystical resources accessible to today's audience."
He called for establishing a global network of mystical elites, with Iran serving as a hub given its rich mystical heritage.
The researcher also highlighted the potential of mystical and spiritual approaches in resolving human conflicts, citing the Rohingya refugee crisis and the Palestinian issue as cases where spiritual solutions could complement political efforts to reduce human suffering and influence public opinion and governments.
He stressed the need to train seminary graduates who are not only experts in theoretical mysticism but also capable of engaging effectively in diverse environments, providing guidance, and building meaningful connections.
Alizadeh Mousavi concluded by emphasizing the importance of producing mystical literature in the form of books, articles, and other formats.
The pre-conference series explores "The Social Extension of Mysticism in the Civilizational Sphere and its Relationship with the Governance of the Islamic Republic of Iran: Challenges and Opportunities."
Your Comment