A space for the truth

Mansur Hallaj and deconstructing the masculine body through sound and space

Authors

  • Arpan Bhandari The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/bar.22398

Keywords:

Sufi, Ḥallāj, embodiment, masculinity, death, space

Abstract

Hosayn b. Mansur Hallaj’s (d. 922 CE) words ‘I am the truth’ gave premodern Muslims, followers and scholars alike, an unconventional perspective on self-hood, embodiment, and the body–soul dichotomy. For Hallaj, his masculine identity suggested that his corporeal existence was made in the image of the divine. As a result, he was able to view himself as being near the divine,
however, unable to unify with the divine given the limits of the flesh. This study reads Hallaj’s words through the perspective of masculinity and space. Hallaj’s embodied masculine existence gave him the ability to draw parallels between himself and the divine. By drawing these parallels, Hallaj was engaging in an esoteric understanding of God, which was considered blasphemous by his companions and the political elite. This article works through three sections that illustrate the complexity of Hallaj’s words, the issues of embodiment, and the role of gender in this conversation.

Author Biography

  • Arpan Bhandari, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

    Arpan Bhandari is a fourth year PhD candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studies Sufism and Islam in South Asia. He is also interested in Sufi poetry, qawwali music, and Urdu and Persian literature, and gender in Sufism. Arpan attended UNC at Chapel Hill for his undergraduate studies, where he first came to appreciate the academic study of Islam. He later received his master’s degree at Duke University (2018). Arpan is a recipient of the Mellon Fellowship and North Carolina Excellence Fellowship.

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Published

2023-05-16

How to Cite

Bhandari, A. (2023). A space for the truth: Mansur Hallaj and deconstructing the masculine body through sound and space. Body and Religion, 6(1), 31-46. https://doi.org/10.1558/bar.22398