خلاصة:
Mystical literature before Islam in the land of Iran is a literature mixed with mystery and irony and full of dialogue with the spiritual world. The effort to know the truth of man and reach the understanding of God is an aspect of pre-Islamic Iranian mysticism that leaders like Mani, influenced by the Gnosticism, introduced it into Iranian literature. The writings of Mani and his followers were learned and taugh for centuries in the eastern lands. This research aims to investigate one of these aspects of Manichaean beliefs i.e. human predestination and free will and human duty in liberating the light and reaching the realm of the kingdom, by examining some surviving Manichaean writings, and then by examining the mystical belief of Islam on the subject of Determinism and free will, these two views will be compared by using the notable mystical texts on the subject of predestination and free will. According to the research, it can be said that from the point of view of these two creed, the concept of predestination and free will do not actually create a conflict between two different aspects of human existence, but complement each other. In this way, human will is a part of divine will in the world system and man has freedom of action.
ملخص الجهاز:
A Comparative Study of the Concept of Determinism and Free Will in Manichaeism and Islamic-Iranian Mysticism 191 Mani derived the main part of his teachings from Gnostic beliefs, known as Magtasile, among whom he had spent his childhood, and founded a way that is considered one of the Gnostic religions.
194 Comparative Studies of Religions and Mysticism, Volume 8, Number 1, 2024 Determinism in Manichaeism The Manichaean school considers man to be an instrumental being for the goals of Aza (Greed), who is guided by greed and desire, and celestial forces and destiny command him.
Considering the issue that in defining the word 'determinism', we imagine the world as a product of purpose and goal, meaning the final point and end, Mani's view in explaining this myth—that man has come into this world, not by his own choice but at the hands of evil-doing and evil-thinking demons, and is now in the process of liberating himself from this prison of the world, and a creation for him, by the hands of Comparative Study of the Concept of Determinism and Free Will in Manichaeism and Islamic-Iranian Mysticism 197 divine good deeds and good thoughts have been ordained, so that in an unwanted determinism, yet one ending in a clear goal, he may release himself from the material prison and reach his eternal and everlasting origin and source; this is a completely goal-oriented and teleological view.
A Comparative Study of the Concept of Determinism and Free Will in Manichaeism and Islamic-Iranian Mysticism 207 Esmailpour, Abolghasem.
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