Husayn Mansur Al-Hallaj
Mystic Masters.
To speak of mysticism we must first know what it is. Mysticism is the theological term for the union of man with God and the contemplative life. The mystical union with God is beyond the dogmas of religion, is the direct contact with our own divine nature.
One of the greatest mystics and perhaps one of the most representative for his death is Husayn Mansur Al-Hallaj. It was a revolutionary writer and Sufi master known for his poetry; was accused of heresy, was convinced that God could be found in the bottom of his heart and encouraged others to do so. His method was one of a universal mystical introspection. Mansur believed that one should go beyond religious rites to reach divine reality. He believed in the union with divinity and that God was within him.
Husayn Mansur was publicly executed in Baghdad after a long process of investigation. He was accused of heresy and preaching against the pilgrimage to Mecca, though he himself had performed it three times. When he was executed, it was hanged, crucified, cut into pieces and burned. During the execution he entered a trance state in which repeated "I am the truth"; even as they cut his arms, legs, tongue and finally his head he continued smiling. Mansur believed that his sacrifice for the truth lead to unity with God. After his legs were cut he said: I used to walk the earth with these legs, now there is only one step to heaven, cut that if you can.
Many Islamic schools of thought continue to see Mansur as heretic and off target. But his followers have interpreted his words as of great significance. He, sometime said: "God has emptied me of everything but himself”. According to them Mansur never denied the unity of God and was a strict monotheist, however, believed that when man's actions are carried out in full accordance with the will of God, they are leading to a blissful unification with Him
I’ve thought about different faiths in an effort to understand them, and consider them as a single principle with numerous ramifications. Do not ask a man to take a particular religious denomination, as this will alienate the fundamental principle and, indeed, is the same principle that must go look to Him in whom all greatness and meanings are elucidated. And then the man will understand.
In twenty four hours, Mansur was able to recite a prayer of four "rakat", accepting the toughest tests of mortification. And until the age of fifty years he remained faithful to these practices, never leaving in twenty years, not even once, his robe, one day was removed by force, on it, were found lots of lice that were the size of a pea. On another occasion, seeing that a scorpion was walking along Mansur, someone wanted to kill the insect, but the sheikh prevented from doing so on the grounds that this animal frequented his environment for twelve years.
Rashid Mansur Samarqandi that when he walked to the Ka'aba, with four Sufis, told him one day: "Oh Mansur!, We would need bread and cooked lamb heads."
"Sit all beside each other," said Mansur. When all were seated and he was seated among them, passed his hand behind his back and began handing each of them two loaves and cooked sheep's head, put another way, distributed a total of four heads lamb and eight hundred breads.
"Now, we would need fresh dates," said the Sufis.
"Shake me Mansur said, pick and eat the dates falling". Then they began to shake and dates started to fall. They collected the dates and ate and everyone was satisfied. Throughout all the way, from every thorny bush which supported Mansur, started to fell dates in abundance.
In his heart Al-Hallaj knew that he could see Allah, “The Beloved” everywhere in His Creation. Although he saw that the people were blind, dumb, animal-like and they could not recognize Him, yet as he said, "The beloved does not drink a single drop of water without seeing His Face in the cup. Allah is He Who flows between the pericardium and the heart, just as the tears flow from the eyelids."
Mansur Al-Hallaj was also a follower of Jesus and his conception of love. He was aware that his preaching and his message can lead to death, but he also did know that his death also contains the redemptive message of passion. He was a very controversial master, yet his teachings are very similar to those of other Sufi mystical masters, christians or buddhists, perhaps somehow confirming the notion that you must go beyond religious rites to reach divinity.
