Khawāṭir as a Key Concept in the Formative Period of Sufism: al-Ḥārith al-Muḥāsibī’s Approach

Scholars in the field of Ṣūfism, Kalām, and Philosophy have dealt with the concept of khawāṭir with different forms of understanding since the third century. Ḥārith al-Muḥāsibī (d. 243/857) examines it based on the thought of al-riʿāyah on moral and practical grounds. During his lifetime, the fact that some zāhids based their actions on the information they obtained through subjective experiences caused a crisis. In addition, the use of many expressions such as dāʿī/davāʿī, ʿāriḍ, waswasa, nazgh/nazaghāt, hadith an-nafs, ilhām, ḥikma and maʿrifa to convey this information also caused conceptual confusion. Al-Muḥāsibī develops a systematic and holistic understanding of khawāṭir as a key concept to overcome these crises that hinder the establishment of Sufism as a science of religion. Thus, he builds the knowledge method of Sufism, which is on the way to becoming a religious science, through an understanding based on the Qurʾan and Sunna. In this study, I first examined the historical adventure in which the concept of khawāṭir began to be used in religious sciences to question the originality of this understanding developed by al-Muḥāsibī. At the same time, I discussed whether al-Muḥāsibī was influenced by Philosophers and Mutakallimūn while forming his understanding of khawāṭir. In addition to this, I explained his ideas about obedience and human nature through the concept of khawāṭir. Furthermore, I determined what kind of a method al-Muḥāsibī has developed against the confusion of concepts caused by expressions similar to khawāṭir, and what is the responsibility and epistemological value of the khawāṭir that comes to the heart. Finally, to reveal the main factor behind al-Muḥāsibī’s writings on the concept of khawāṭir, I have identified groups that he disagrees with and agrees with.