What does 'ilm al-batin (esoteric knowledge) mean?
The term "ilm al-batin" (esoteric knowledge) was not mentioned in the Qur’an or , nor by the scholars of the Salaf. Some Sufis have used it, by which they mean what enables a servant to reach the degree of excellence (ihsan), and by which they ascend in the stations of certainty (yaqin), sincerity of intention, and soundness of action from ostentation (riya’). Al-Munawi narrated from Al-Ghazali that the obligatory sciences are three: the science of (monotheism), the science of the secret (ilm al-sirr, i.e., ilm al-batin), and the science of .
The "Ilm al-batin is a secret among the secrets of Allah" is fabricated (mawdu').
If it refers to sincerity of intention and the soundness of the inner self from ostentation and diseases of the heart, then there is no objection to it. The Shariah texts encourage the purity of both the outer and inner self, as in His (Allah's) saying: "And leave the apparent of sin and its hidden."
However, whoever claims that the Sharia has an apparent (zahir) and a hidden (batin) meaning that contradict each other, and that special individuals (khawass) may contravene the apparent due to their knowledge of the hidden, this is deviation and misguidance.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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