condemned to death. Junayd was wearing his Sufi robe on that day and
refused to sign the verdict.When pressed by the caliph, he took off his Sufi
robe, put on the gown and turban of the judge and signed the warrant of
death writing: ‘According to the outer law, he is guilty. As for the inner
reality, God alone knows.’
6
Al Hallaj
Husayn ibn Mansur al Hallaj (858-922) was born in the Persian province
of Fars and was the son of a wool-carder (in Arabic,
hallaj
). He left his
homeland at the age of sixteen and traveled widely, spending time inTustar,
Baghdad, Basra, Khorasan,Transoxiana and India. He made three pilgrimages
to Makkah. He was a follower of a number of prominent Sufis, including
Junayd. He was a passionate exponent of the divine love and sought union
with God, Whom he called the Beloved. His ecstatic utterances, his
condemnation on the charges of heresy and subsequent execution made him
one of the most controversial figures of classical Sufism.
His ignoble end was brought about by his proclamation: ‘Ana’l Haq’ – ‘I
am theTruth,’ in which he implied that he was one with God.As he preached
his views openly in the streets and bazaars of Baghdad, he earned the hostility
of the administration and the orthodox. He was accused of blasphemy and of
inciting the masses with his heresies. Even other Sufis of the time, including
the most prominent of them, Junayd (who was also a jurist and an acting
judge), considered such utterances to be over-extravagant and not really
meant to be disseminated amongst the uninitiated. He was ultimately
sentenced to death, his erstwhile spiritual master, Junayd, also signing the
6
as above, pp. 134-135
