On the martyrdom of al-Hallaj & the modeling of pocket universes
[ by Charles Cameron — commemoration of al-Hallaj, sufi and martyr, the nature of circumambulation, matrioshka, modeling and mandalas ]
.
According to a report by Fahad Faruqui in today’s Huff Post, Mansur al-Hallaj was martyred on this day, March 26, 922 CE.
His offence is often said to have been that he declared “An al-Haqq” — I am the Truth — although many sufis would say that his egoic nafs had been erased in fana, and that it was al-Haqq that spoke through him, not a claim that he made of himself.
So today would be the day to leave a marker here on Zenpundit, saying that I hope to return in the not too distant with a post that ties al-Hallaj as described in Faruqui’s post with the circumambulation of Banaras, the circumambulation of an avatar of Vishnu Shiva and Parvati by Ganesh, and the modeling of what I sometimes refer to as “pocket universes”…
*
The particular aspect of Faruqui’s post that caught my attention was this:
Hallaj was not sentenced to death for uttering “ana’l-haqq.” After his arrest, he was accused of various things, but, according to Professor Ernst, he was pinned down after his prosecutors discovered a document in the handwriting of Hallaj that recommended that those who were unable to afford Hajj pilgrimage could construct a model of Kaaba at home and perform circumambulation (tawaf) and give alms to poor and feed some orphans and they would have completed the Hajj.
“At that point one of the judges turned to Hallaj and said in Arabic ‘damuka halal,’ that is, your blood may legally be shed. In other words, now we have you,” said Professor Ernst, a specialist in Islamic Studies. “But then Hallaj said that I found this in the writings of Hasan al-Basri, so that was a kind of technicality, but he was given no opportunity to explain or repent.”
*
I gratefully offer a hat-tip @ Sarah Schlesinger.
