Shaikhī

views updated

Shaikhī. Followers of Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsāʾī (1753–1826), a Shīʿa Muslim who lived in Persia. They reject what they regard as the excesses of Sufism, especially the view that the essence of God becomes manifest in all that he creates (because essence cannot be divided into parts), but equally they are more rationalistic than many Shiʿites would allow. Thus they reject the resurrection of this body, saying that it goes to dust, but affirm a subtle body which subsists and is resurrected; and they interpret such miracles as the miʿrāj (ascension) metaphorically.

More From encyclopedia.com