Gnostik ‘Kurtarıcı Bilgi’ (Gnosis) Anlayışı ve İsmaililik’teki Tezahürleri
The Understanding of Gnostic “Redemptive Knowledge” and Its Reflections on Ismailism
Yazar: Avcu, Ali
Dergi: e-Makalat Mezhep Araştırmaları Dergisi, Vol. 12 No. 2, 2019
Anahtar kelimeler: Religious Studies ; Din Araştırmaları ; Gnosis,bâtin,Gnosticism,Hermetism,Ismailism,Extremist Shiites,Bâtinism ; Gnosis,Gnostisizm,Hermetizm,bâtın,Bâtınîlik,Aşırı Şiiler,İsmaililik

İslam dini daha Hz. Ömer döneminde geniş bir coğrafyayayayılmıştı. Bu farklı coğrafyalarda pek çok din, mezhep, cemaat ve gruplakarşılaşıldı. Bunlar arasında gnostik karakterli, senkretik ve heterodoks birsiyasi-dini gelenek, İslam’daki Şii-Bâtınî din anlayışına fikri ve epistemikkaynaklık etme noktasında önemli bir yer edindi. Bu doğrultuda çalışmamızdagnostik geleneklerin kurtarıcı bilgi anlayışının İsmaililik’teki “bâtın”düşüncesi ile irtibatı ele alınacaktır. Çalışmanın amacı iki gelenek arasındakiorganik bağı ortaya koymak ya da metin karşılaştırması yapmak değildir.Çalışmamızın hareket noktasını, Ortadoğu’daki gnostik çevrelerin İslamlaşmasıya da gnostik olmayan ancak onlarla temasa geçen çevrelerin bu kültür üzerindenyeni dini yorumlama çabası neticesinde sosyokültürel bir etkileşimin zorunluolarak ortaya çıktığı ve bu ilişkinin kendi doğal süreci içerisindegerçekleştiği tezi oluşturmaktadır. Bu amaçla makalemizde İsmaililer’in bâtınanlayışlarının Gnostikler’in gnosis anlayışı ile örtüşen noktalarına veMüslüman bir çevreye ait olmanın bir neticesi olarak bazı hususlarda ortayaçıkarılan yeni yorum ve yaklaşımlara işaret edilecektir.

Islam has spread to a large geography during the period of Caliph Omar. Inthese different geographies, many religions, sects, communities and othergroups have been encountered. Among these, a syncretic and heterodoxpolitical-religious tradition with a gnostic character has gained an importantplace in terms of providing intellectual and epistemic references to theShiite-esoteric religious understanding of Islam. In this article, therelationship between the understanding of redemptive knowledge in the gnostictraditions and esoteric knowledge (bâtın) in Ismailism will be discussed. Theaim of the article is not to reveal the organic relationship between the twotraditions or to compare the text with each other. The starting point of ourstudy is the thesis that a sociocultural interaction has emerged as a result ofthe Islamization of the gnostic circles or the efforts of non-gnostic butfamiliar circles to interpret new religion through this culture in the MiddleEast and that the interaction takes place in its natural process. In thisarticle, it will be pointed out that the bâtin understanding of Ismailis thatoverlap with the gnosis understanding of Gnostics and, new interpretations andapproaches had been developed at some points as a result of belonging to aMuslim environment.SummaryIslam came to a pagan society andsoon spread to different geographies and cultural environments. Especially withthe conquest of Mesopotamia and Khorasan since the period of caliph Omar, manypeople from different religions, languages, cultures, and civilizations startedto live in Islamic lands. A significant portion of these became Muslims in ashort time. However, they carried their cultural heritage from the Middle Eastgeography to the new religion and social environment.When Islam emerged, there was atradition of opposition in the heterodox circles of the Middle East, whichremained outside power, against the religious and political repression ofpower. To survive, this tradition developed a syncretic understanding ofreligion by exploiting the different religious and philosophical tendencies ofthe Middle East. This rather gnostic tradition also actively used Hermetic, NewPlatonist, and New Pythagorean philosophy. The common feature of these traditions, which differedfrom each other depending on their social environment, was their epistemologybased on a gnostic perspective.This tradition emerged for the first time in Islam as Bâtinî Shiism, and inlater periods it became more systematic structures such as Ismailism andNusayrism. Our aim in this article is to show how pre-Islamic gnostic religioustraditions and Ismaili understanding of bâtin are similar by comparing them atthe doctrine level.As a result, we found that there was a great similarity between the gnosticreligions’ understanding of gnosis and the understanding of the bâtin inIsmailism. This similarity stands out in matters such as what gnosis or bâtinis, its origin, its relation to the zahir, its function, how to obtain it. According to the Gnostics, gnosis isthe only redeemer knowledge that will save a person from this realm. The sourceof gnosis is not the material realm in which we live, and it is knowledge sentfrom the divine realm to the earth. One’s salvation is only possible if oneacquires this knowledge. However, one cannot acquire it through his efforts andthus needs a guide to get it. Gnosis is hidden beneath the text so that it doesnot fall into the hands of the persecutors.. Only an apostle chosen by God canunderstand and explain it.In all of the above-mentioned matters, the Ismailis put forward aconception of the gnosis matching up with the gnostic religions. However, theydifferentiated themselves from the Gnostics, especially at two points. Thefirst is about why gnosis is hidden beneath the zâhir. The Gnostics explainthis with gnostic dualism based on the Light (Nur)-Darkness (Zulmat)distinction. According to this, the world is an arena where Light and Darknessstruggle. The material world we live in belongs to the Darkness, and the Lightfights the Darkness to save the souls of light that have fallen from the divinerealm to earth. Gnosis, which belongs to the divine realm in gnostic understanding,has a nature that strengthens the supporters of the Light in this struggle.Therefore, it should not fall into the hands of the supporters of the Darkness.To strengthen their followers and save them from the bondage of darkness, theLight sends the gnosis as redeemer knowledge, hiding it under the sacred text.Thus, gnosis is prevented from getting into the hands of the supporters ofDarkness.