Inner Truth and Outer History: The Two Worlds of the Ahl-i Haqq of Kurdistan

Ziba Mir-Hosseini
1994 International Journal of Middle East Studies  
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more » ... ief of the Ahl-i Haqq, an esoteric sect centered in Iranian Kurdistan, is that the Divine Essence has successive manifestations in human form. The Ahl-i Haqq religious universe comprises two distinct yet interrelated worlds: the inner world (Calam-i bdtin) and the outer world (Calam-i zahir), each with its own order and its own rules. We as ordinary human beings are aware of the order of the outer world, but our life is governed by the rules of the inner world, where our ultimate destiny lies. This article analyzes the events surrounding one of the last manifestations of the Divine Essence, one of those rare moments in which a passage is made between the two worlds, and explores the ways in which these two worlds interact, as perceived by the believers and as reflected in the recent developments within the sect.
doi:10.1017/s0020743800060244 fatcat:hxjnsi6z5zf3ro66i5nvfm236e