The concept of fana in mysticism

One of the most important features of Sufism, which is accepted as the spiritual authority that the Prophet Muhammad represents in his person, is that he is the science of mood. In other words, it is a discipline that cannot be learned by reading from books and is experienced in the context of the situations experienced by the Sufi. These states can be bestowed upon man by Allah and they can be obtained as a result of human efforts. One of the important concepts that have a very complex structure and open to discussion among these states in Islamic thought is the fana. This concept, which was put forward by Abu Saîd al-Harrâz in Hijri III. century, gained new dimensions in the context of Sufi's moods and experiences. In the first phase of Sufism, which was a discipline based on Islamic foundations, before becoming a independent movement, the concept of fana was moral; then, with the development of the idea of unity of existence, ontological meanings were imposed. Human has accepted the fana as a target and tried to approach God more by passing the degrees of spiritual ascension and destroying the self consciousness in order to train his self at the point of being a real servant. Fana has been used with some Sufi concepts in terms of having a very large dimension. People who live in a state of intense fana, can appear in words and behaviors that seemingly express some shatahats contrary to Sharia and some controversial issues such as reincarnation and merger have come in sight. In the Sufi mystical thought system, some orientalists, who have discussed the concept of fena in terms of having an ascetic aspect, have established a connection between fena and some other mystical thoughts, and even went further and tried to find a source for Sufism. As a result, it is possible to say that fana doctrine is superficially similar to some mystical thoughts. However, this does not mean that one is affected by the other. In Sufism, fana is a very comprehensive concept in itself and leaves a lot of space in it. It is among our ultimate goals to fill some of these gaps with our work.