Khawf, Raja’, and Mahabbah as Sufi Affects: A Philosophical Reading through Spinoza and Martha Nussbaum
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24235/matsnawi.v1i1.634Keywords:
affect, transcendence, Sufism, Spinoza, Martha Nussbaum, philosophy of emotionAbstract
This article examines khawf (fear of God), raja’ (hope in Divine mercy), and mahabbah (Divine love) as disciplined forms of affective transformation in Sufism. Against modern tendencies to treat emotion primarily as a psychological symptom, irrational disturbance, or object of regulation, this study argues that Sufi affect functions as a spiritual discipline through which the self is purified, ethically reoriented, and directed towards God. Using a philosophical-hermeneutic method, this article analyses selected discussions of khawf, raja’, and mahabbah in al-Ghazali’s Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din and al-Qushayri’s al-Risalah al-Qushayriyyah, placing them in dialogue with Baruch Spinoza’s theory of affect and Martha Nussbaum’s evaluative theory of emotion. The analysis shows that khawf is not merely paralysing fear, but vigilant awareness of Divine majesty and moral accountability; raja’ is not passive optimism, but disciplined openness to Divine mercy; and mahabbah is not sentimental attachment, but a reorientation of the self towards the Beloved. Through Spinoza, these affects can be understood as movements from passivity towards active understanding. Through Nussbaum, they appear as value-laden judgements that disclose what the subject regards as ultimately meaningful. The article concludes that Sufi affect offers an ontological, ethical, and spiritual framework for rethinking emotion as a path of self-purification, existential restoration, and transcendence, without reducing Sufism to clinical psychotherapy.
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