The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (124 page)

 
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(d. 922 (AH 309)).
One of the most controversial figures in Islam: he was acclaimed as a saint by the masses and condemned as a heretic by the jurists. It is said that he was called Hall
j al-asrar (Carder of Consciences) because he could read the secret thoughts of others. He embraced the doctrine of
fan
’ (extinction of personal consciousness) and other notions such as
hulul
(union and identity with God). Al-Hall
j aimed to bridge the abyss between humans and God: ‘I am He whom I love and He whom I love is I. We are two spirits dwelling in one body. When you see me, you see Him.’ However, to the jurists of his time, he appeared blasphemously to contradict the Islamic notion of
tanz
h
(transcendence of God), and even to threaten the social order.
He paid the supreme penalty for his choice. After many years of extensive teaching and travelling throughout Central Asia and India, he was arrested, imprisoned and finally brutally executed in Baghd
d. His only work to have survived is
Kit
b al-Taw
s
n
(902 CE). This contains the famous phrase ’
ana
’
l-Haqq
(I am the Truth). It is important to read it in its proper context: ‘If you do not recognize God, at least recognize his signs. I am that sign, I am the Creative Truth (‘
ana
’
l-Haqq
) because through the Truth I am a truth eternally.’ (
Kit
b al-Taw
s
n
, pp. 51–2).
Cf. also
AL-INS
N AL-K
MIL