A Comparative Study of the Dimensions and Components of Self-Purification and Human Education in Dīwān-e Shams by Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī in Dialogue with the Views of Imām Muhammad al-Ghazālī, Ibn ʿArabī, and Mullā Ahmad Naraqī

Abstract

This study adopts a descriptive-analytical approach rooted in comparative analysis to examine the dimensions and components of self-purification (tazkiyat al-nafs) and human education in Dīwān-e Shams by Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī (Rūmī). It explores these themes in relation to and contrast with the perspectives of three prominent scholars in Islamic mysticism and ethics—Imām Muhammad al-Ghazālī, Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn ʿArabī, and Mullā Ahmad Naraqī. The objective of this study is to explore the theoretical foundations, methodological approaches, and educational goals of these thinkers, with a particular focus on the role of divine love, religious law (sharīʿa), gnosis (maʿrifa), and ethics in the process of self-purification. The findings indicate that, in contrast to the other scholars examined, Rūmī regards divine love not merely as a means but as the very foundation and ultimate aim of the spiritual journey (sulūk), positioning it as the primary force for liberation from the commanding self (nafs ammāra) and a path toward intuitive knowledge and unification with the Truth. In contrast, al-Ghazālī emphasizes moral refinement, piety, and strict adherence to religious law, situating love within the bounds of religious ethics and servitude to God. Ibn ʿArabī, based on his doctrine of waḥdat al-wujūd (unity of being), conceptualizes self-purification as an epistemic and intuitive process achieved through ontological insight and experiential union with the Divine. Naraqī, with a systematic and ethics-based framework, addresses self-discipline through reason, willpower, and religious teachings, presenting love as the outcome of proper spiritual training. The fundamental divergence in prioritizing love, reason, religious law, or intuition presents a multidimensional portrait of spiritual education within Islamic mysticism. This study, through its comparative analysis, illuminates the diverse mystical and ethical capacities within Islam for human development and opens new horizons for spiritually oriented research in the humanities.