The Divided Judgment of the Masters on al-Hallaj

In his entry on Abu al-Mughith al-Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj, Hujwiri records that the Sufi masters were sharply divided in their assessment of him, treating this division as a distinct problem for learners of the path.

• Rejected (mardud): a group repudiated him, including Amr ibn Uthman, Abu Yaqub al-Nahrajuri, Abu Yaqub al-Aqta, and Ali ibn Sahl al-Isfahani.
• Accepted (maqbul): another group approved him, including Ibn Ata, Muhammad ibn Khafif, Abu al-Qasim al-Nasrabadi, and most of the later masters (mutaakhkhiran).
• Suspended judgment (tawaqquf): figures such as Junayd, Shibli, al-Jariri, and al-Husri withheld a verdict.
• Attributed to sorcery (sihr): yet others explained his powers as magic.

Hallaj is presented as an ecstatic (mustaghraq) of overwhelming spiritual states and lofty aspiration, and this concept isolates how such a figure could be received in radically opposed ways within a single traditio...