The meaning and significance of the ʿawām-khawās distinction in mystical experience: al-Ghazālī example

In this thesis, the problem of the quality of the addressee which Sufism is addressed has been focused on, and the concepts of "ʿawām, khawās and khawās al-khawās" have been examined accordingly. It was also questioned how these concepts were dealt with in the works of the Sufism and how the Sufis put meaning to these concepts differently than other disciplines. In the thesis, al-Ghazālī's Sufism-dominated works are centered, and the human hierarchy made before al-Ghazālī is also included, so that the framework of how and when the concepts in question were first used in Sufi sense was tried to be drawn. The most important point to be noted is that the hierarchy is not seen as a classification that cannot be passed from one to the other, as in the caste system. This classification, which is emphasized throughout the thesis, is not a material, but a spiritual classification. In fact, it has been seen that even the Sufis sometimes make various spiritual classifications within themselves. As a result of this thought, the Sufis argued that a person from ʿawām has the opportunity to rise to higher ranks by engaging in spiritual purification. One of the reasons why Sufis express this thought is that some Sufis have been ostracized because of their shaṭaḥāt, imprisoned, subjected to takfir and even killed. According to many Sufis, especially al-Ghazālī, the reason behind this separation and incomprehensibility is that ambiguous words and actions originating from mystical experience and wisdom are meaningless to those who has not the wisdom. For this reason, it is understood that the Sufis have given importance to the ʿawām-khawās distinction from the early periods.