Abstract

Ahwāl’ and ‘Maqāmāt’ are the basic concepts in Islamic mysticism. These two terms have more or less been used in the works of Sufis since the third century. The basic question here is who first introduced these two concepts. Some scholars believe that these two were raised by Imam Sadiq (AS) for the first time. This paper, however, claims that Imam Ali bin Hussein’s (AS) Khamsa ‘Ashara Monājāt first introduced Ahwal and Maqāmāt to the Muslim world. Therefore, after an introduction, this paper attempts to prove its claim from three aspects: The first part discusses the history of Maqāmāt attributed to Shiite Imams— Imam Ali and Imam Ja'far Sadiq (AS). The second part of the paper is to introduce and explain the structure of Khamsa Ahara Monājāt as a mystical-prayer work. The third part compares the frequency of the words in Monājāt with similar ones attributed to other Shiite Imams. The last part also compares the terms used in Monājāt with those used in the first and second centuries. The result of this study confirms that Imam Ali bin Hussein (AS) is the first person who explained Ahval and Maqāmāt for the Muslim world.

Keywords

• Ahwal and Maqāmāt
• Mystical teachings of the Shiite Imams
• Ali Ibn Hussein (AS)
• Khamsa ‘Ashara Monājāt