Batiniyya
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Batiniyya (Arabic: باطنية, romanized: Bāṭiniyyah) refers to groups that distinguish between an outer, exoteric (zāhir) and an inner, esoteric (bāṭin) meaning in Islamic scriptures.[1] The term has been used in particular for an allegoristic type of scriptural interpretation developed among some Shia groups, stressing the bāṭin meaning of texts.[2] It has been retained by all branches of Isma'ilism and its Druze offshoots.[2] The Alawites practice a similar system of interpretation.[2] Sunni writers have subsequently used the term polemically in reference to rejection of the evident meaning of scripture in favor of its bāṭin meaning.[3] Al-Ghazali, a medieval Sunni theologian, used the term batiniyya pejoratively for the adherents of Isma'ilism.[4][5] Some Shia writers have also used the term polemically.[1]
In history
In history, Batiniyya was originally introduced by Abu’l-Khāttāb Muhammad ibn Abu Zaynab al-Asadī,[6][7] and later developed by Maymūn al-Qāddāh and his son ʿAbd Allāh ibn Maymūn[8] for the interpretation of Qur'an.[1] It might sometimes be employed as a pejorative term to refer to those movements, such as Alevism, Ismailism, and often Sufism, which distinguish between an inner, esoteric (Batini) level of meaning in the Quran, in addition to the outer exoteric (Zahiri) meaning. Batini ta’wil is the name given to the exegesis of the esoteric knowledge which rests with the Imam, or with the Shaykh/Pir in Sufism.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Halm, H. "BĀṬENĪYA". Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ^ a b c M.G.S. Hodgson. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "Bāṭiniyya", vol. 1, p. 1098.
- ^ M.G.S. Hodgson. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "Bāṭiniyya", vol. 1, p. 1099.
- ^ Hodgson, M.G.S. "Bāṭiniyya". Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). Brill.
- ^ Mitha, Farouk (2001). Al-Ghazali and the Ismailis: A Debate on Reason and Authority in Medieval Islam. I.B.Tauris. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-86064-792-5.
- ^ "ABU'L-ḴAṬṬĀB ASADĪ". Retrieved 2 April 2016.
- ^ "ḴAṬṬĀBIYA". Retrieved 2 April 2016.
- ^ "ʿABDALLĀH B. MAYMŪN AL-QADDĀḤ". Retrieved 2 April 2016.
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