The Social Roles of Mawlānā from Postulating Pantheism

Mystics believe that all beings are the manifestations of God's existence. This idea, referred to as the passing away of human's essence and attributes by mystics, is called pantheism (union with God) in Ebn-e Arabi's school of thought. Some scholars have remarked on pantheism in Mowlavi's Masnavi and his other works but they have mentioned nothing about his intention and the social roles of pantheism in Masnavi which is a didactic collection. Although Masnavi is resonating with joy and vitality, definitely it embraces social goals. Therefore, it is of necessity to clarify this issue. This paper emphasizes that, to understand Mowlavi's purpose in introducing pantheism, we should, in addition to the passing away of the essence and attributes and annihilation (Fana) in God, consider polemics brought forward to in Masnavi. This shows that Mowlavi seeks a didactic and social goal which is to create unity among people and to denounce sectarianism and division which spreads prejudice among people, and which divides and makes the Islamic community loose and defenseless against the enemies.