Sufi’s Book-Washing in Abū Saʿīd Abū al-Khayr’s Ḥālāt va Sukhanān and Asrār al-Tawḥīd

Abstract

Kitāb Shūyī is a new title for an old trend in the history of Islamic thought. It can literally be translated as “book-washing”. This trend, which refers to the desire to destroy personal works in various ways such as burying, burning, washing, etc., has been repeatedly attributed to Sufis. Some believe it should be considered an anti-scientific movement, and a sign of the confrontation between Sufism and philosophy in the Islamic world. In this article, focusing on Abū Saʿīd Abū al-Khayr (d. 1049) as one of the most prominent figures of Khurāsān Sufism, we try to show that, firstly, this movement is not anti-scientific, in the general sense of science, and secondly, that it has not been formed in opposition to philosophy. The context of the formation of book-washing has to be sought instead in a methodological conflict between two groups of jurists, while one emphasized inspiration, the other relied on ḥadīth archives. Our reference to Abū Saʿīd Abū al-Khayr in this research is based on two main sources about him, both of which are written by his descendants: Ḥālāt va Sukhanān and Asrār al-Tawḥīd.