خوانش پدیدارشناختی بیگانه والدنفلس در عرفان اسلامی (تحلیل موردی داستان شیخ صنعان و دختر ترسا)

Many critics of subjectivism, who view subjectivity as self-grounding, attempt to decentre the subject by raising the issue of the “You” or the “Other.” In contrast, Husserl and Waldenfels, discussing the “homeworld” and the “alienworld,” aimed to transcend the self-grounding subject. In his project of intersubjective phenomenology, Waldenfels argues that what decentres the subject is the “alien.” The alien is experienced as something inherently incomprehensible and inaccessible, which creates a radical rupture in ordinary experience. Employing a descriptive-analytical method with a phenomenological approach, this research conducts a comparative study of the concept of the “alien” in the worldview of Berhnard Waldenfels and Islamic mysticism. Drawing on Waldenfels’ ideas, this article demonstrates how encounters with the alien in both intellectual traditions lead to a break from the homeworld and redefinition of identity. A case study of Attar’s “Sheikh San'an and the Christian maiden” (Sheikh San’an va Dokhtar-e Tarsa), in the light of Waldenfels’ phenomenological components (radical otherness, limit-experience, rupture, and responsivity), supports the hypothesis that Islamic mysticism, through a re-reading of rejected and banished elements (blasphemy, Satan, or wine), enables a constructive dialogue with radical otherness. The findings suggest that this process provides not only an epistemological mechanism but also an ethical framework for exploring cultural and religious differences in the contemporary world.
 
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
The issues of subjectivity and the self-groundedness of the subject are among the main issues of contemporary philosophy. Edmund Husserl, by introducing the concepts of “homeworld” and “alienworld” within the framework of intersubjective phenomenology, took a step towards negating self-groundedness. Expanding on this idea, German phenomenological philosopher Bernard Waldenfels argues that what truly dismantles the centrality of the self-grounded subject is not the “other” but the “alien.” The alien is experienced as something inherently incomprehensible and inaccessible, which creates a radical rupture in ordinary experience. Employing a descriptive-analytical method with a phenomenological approach, this research conducts a comparative study of the concept of the “alien” in the worldview of Berhnard Waldenfels and Islamic mysticism. The main questions of this study are: How does the alien in these two intellectual traditions lead to the decentring of the subject? And what capacities does Attar’s “Sheikh San’an” provide for the phenomenological analysis of encountering the alien? This study hypothesises that Islamic mysticism, through a re-reading of rejected and banished elements (blasphemy, Satan, and wine), enables a constructive dialogue with radical otherness.
2. Methodology
Informed by Berhnard Waldenfels’ phenomenological components (radical otherness, limit-experience, rupture, and responsivity), this study employs a descriptive-analytical method with a phenomenological approach to conduct a comparative study of the concept of the “alien” in the worldview of Waldenfels and Islamic mysticism.
3. Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework of this research is organized around Bernard Waldenfels’ ideas on the phenomenology of the alien. Echoing Husserl and critiquing his views, Waldenfels makes a fundamental distinction between the “other” and the “alien.” In his view, the “homeworld” is a closed, familiar, and meaningful system in which the subject feels a sense of belonging and control. This world maintains its closure by excluding everything that does not fit into it (the alien). The alien, on the other hand, is an element that is radically unfamiliar, unpredictable, and inaccessible. The alien, in turn, creates a “rupture,” breaking the continuity and coherence. Waldenfels’ phenomenological components include: Radical otherness, meaning that the alien is never fully understood or absorbed, and that this otherness is irreducible and responsivity, in the sense that the subject, when confronted with the alien, is not in the position of “knowing agent,” but rather in the position of “responder.” The response is not necessarily verbal or logical. Still, it can be a bodily action, an emotion, or even silence, and an asymmetrical intersubjectivity, which indicates that the relationship between the self and the alien is never symmetrical or balanced, and that power lies in the hands of the alien, who challenges the order of the self. In addition to Waldenfels’ ideas, Sigmund Freud and Julia Kristeva's concepts have also been used as complementary frameworks.
4. Discussion and Analysis
In Islamic mysticism, the concept of “strangeness” is central and corresponds to the Waldenfels-Heideggerian “ontological homelessness.” God, as the “unseen,” is the quintessential example of “radical otherness” and the inaccessible, calling the subject to openness and responsiveness. Abdullah Ansari calls seeking truth “strangeness” and considers the mystic a stranger in this world and the hereafter.
Islamic mysticism responds to the alien through “integrative elimination” and the four ruptures: Spatial rupture, which is leaving one’s homeland, traveling, and residing in border places (ruins, groves) that symbolize openness to the unknown, as in Attar’s “The Journey of Birds to Simorgh”; Discursive rupture, which is entering into dialogue with non-conformists to hear the voice of a completely different semantic system, which is an example of asymmetrical intersubjectivity; Moral-symbolic rupture, which is the symbolic sanctification of concepts rejected by official religious discourse, such as blasphemy, wine, and Satan, which breaks the norms of the domestic world of Sharia; and Existential rupture, which is embodied experiences such as love and ecstasy that remove the subject from the sovereignty of self-grounded reason.
The story of “Sheikh San’an” is a prime example of encountering the alien. The Sheikh is a self-grounded ascetic at the center of a meaningful domestic world of the Haram (mosque), organized around the Muslim/infidel dichotomies. The Christian girl appears as “an absolute other.” The Sheikh’s response (burning the Quran, drinking wine, and keeping pigs) is unpredictable, existential, and unconsciousness. His relationship with the girl is an example of asymmetrical intersubjectivity. Even with his eventual return to Islam (in Attar’s account), the sheikh’s domestic world is no longer the same. This experience transforms his understanding of love and truth, establishing a ruptured order that legitimises the experience of the alien.
5. Conclusion
This study demonstrates that Waldenfels’ phenomenological framework of the alien provides a powerful analytical tool for understanding the mechanisms of encountering otherness in Islamic mysticism. Both traditions emphasise radical otherness, a break from the familiar homeworld, the responsive position of the subject, and the asymmetry of the self-alien relationship. However, they differ in their views on the finality of this relationship. In Waldenfels’ phenomenology, the alien always remains an unattainable “other,” whereas in Islamic mysticism, this ultimate alien (God) is recognised as the seeker’s “true self.” The findings suggest that this process provides not only an epistemological mechanism but also an ethical framework for exploring cultural and religious differences in the contemporary world.
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