A comparative study of the concept of predestination and free will in Manichism and Islamic-Iranian mysticism

Document Type : Original Article

Author

assistant professor of Islamic Azad University

Abstract

Mystical literature before Islam in the land of Iran is a literature mixed with mystery and irony and full of dialogue with the spiritual world. The effort to know the truth of man and reach the understanding of God is an aspect of pre-Islamic Iranian mysticism that leaders like Mani, influenced by the Gnosticism, introduced it into Iranian literature. The writings of Mani and his followers were learned and taugh for centuries in the eastern lands. This research aims to investigate one of these aspects of Manichaean beliefs i.e. human predestination and free will and human duty in liberating the light and reaching the realm of the kingdom, by examining some surviving Manichaean writings, and then by examining the mystical belief of Islam on the subject of Determinism and free will, these two views will be compared by using the notable mystical texts on the subject of predestination and free will. According to the research, it can be said that from the point of view of these two creed, the concept of predestination and free will do not actually create a conflict between two different aspects of human existence, but complement each other. In this way, human will is a part of divine will in the world system and man has freedom of action.

Keywords

References

Boyce, M. 1975.A Reader in Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian, Acta Iranica 9a, Leiden.
Brockett, L. P. 1879.The Bogomils of Bulgaria and Bosnia - The Early Protestants of the East.Ed. By CrossReach Publications.The Univesity of Chicago library.
Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (1967).Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism, Leiden: BRILL, 2006.
 Mireckj, Paul. Beduhn, Jason. (2001).The Light and the Darkness, Leiden, Boston, Koln: Brill.
Ballard, Frank. (2004). Determinism False and True: A Contribution to Modern Philosophy and Ethics, Kessinger Publishing.
Comparative Study of Religions and Mysticism
Volume 8, Issue 1
July 2024
Pages 185-208

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History

  • Receive Date: 27 February 2024
  • Revise Date: 13 May 2024
  • Accept Date: 29 July 2024

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