From the Annihilation of Acts to the Annihilation of the Essence: An Analysis of the Structure of the Degrees of Divine Unity in the Contemporary Mystical Traditions of Najaf and Qom

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the structure of the degrees of divine unity in the contemporary mystical traditions of Najaf and Qom and to explain the gradual movement from the annihilation of acts to the annihilation of attributes and ultimately to the annihilation of the essence. The central question concerns how the stages of annihilation correspond to the degrees of divine unity and what spiritual and epistemological logic explains the relationship among these stages. The study adopts an analytical-interpretive approach and focuses on the conceptual reconstruction of mystical teachings related to divine unity, annihilation, self-knowledge, existential poverty, and subsistence. The findings indicate that the annihilation of acts represents the first level of negating independence, in which the spiritual traveler no longer perceives personal agency or worldly causes as independent of divine will and bestowal. At the level of the annihilation of attributes, this negation becomes deeper, as qualities such as knowledge, power, will, and virtue are no longer regarded as independently possessed perfections. The annihilation of the essence constitutes the final stage, in which the perception of the self as independently existing is removed and human existence is understood as essentially poor and dependent upon the Divine. The results show that these three levels are not separate experiences but form a continuous, hierarchical, and gradational structure in which each stage negates a deeper form of perceived independence. The distinction between the Najaf and Qom traditions lies primarily in their modes of articulation: Najaf emphasizes practical spiritual discipline, vigilance, and teacher-guided training, whereas Qom more often formulates the same path through philosophical, exegetical, and ontological concepts. Ultimately, annihilation in this tradition signifies not the destruction of human identity, but the dissolution of the illusion of independence and the realization of subsistence within the horizon of divine unity.