Scientific Collection «InterConf», (39): with the Proceedings of the 8th International Scientific and Practical Conference «Science and Practice: Implementation to Modern Society» (December 26-28, 2020) at Manchester, Great Britain

Evatov Salimjon 
Teacher of the chair "Civil Society" 
Ferghana State Uuniversity, Republic of Uzbekistan 
 
THE EXPRESSION OF THE IDEAS OF ASCETIC THINKING
AND ALTRUISM IN CENTRAL ASIAN MYSTICISM 
 
Abstract. This article explains ascetic thinking in the mystical teachings of Central 
Asia and its essence from a scientific and philosophical point of view. The ideas of 
altruism have also been studied in the development of mystical teachings. 
Keywords: mysticism, asceticism, zuhd, altruism, arif, poverty, ascet, lust, authentic. 
The last periods of Umayyad rule in the eighth century AD, moreover, the 
debates and socio-political conflicts that arose among religious circles during the 
Abbasid dynasty, divided the Islamic world into different sects. The service to the 
interests of the kingdom, the devotion to worldly desires intensified Among the 
scholars. In the matter of the attitude to worldly life, a category of scholars has 
emerged who condemn the path taken by those scholars and accuse them of deviating 
from the path of the prophet. They do not seek active struggle, but express their hatred 
for society by their renunciation. The ascetics considered the change in society as a 
deviation from the path of the Messenger of Allah. According to Abdurahman Jami's 
Nafahat al-uns, the first association of Sufis was founded by Abu Hashim (d. 767) in 
Ramla, and a takya-khanaqah was built for them by a Christian emir. Asceticism 
emerged in the form of mutiny against the secularization of the state, the stratification 
of society, the inclination for the worldly longings of religious leaders, the emergence 
of divisions among the Islamic Ummah, and the formation of Orders and various 
sects. [1:81-82] 
The word “asceticism”, literally, means renunciation of the pleasures of life, 
rejection of luxury and privilege in favor of simple, ordinary mode of living and even 

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a strict diet. 
Asceticism is explained in mysticism through the category of "zuhd". The French 
Islamic scholar Louis Massinon first described zuhd as "abstaining from sin, 
renouncing excess, refraining from all things that lead to distraction from Allah, and 
then purifying the heart from all worldly things." According to the Turkish mystic 
Selcuk Eraydin, zuhd is the desire to gain the consent of the Creator and turn away 
from the world for the Hereafter. [2:175] 
These rules were the necessary requirements of asceticism-mysticism on the way 
to attain Allah. Ahmad ibn Hanbal gives three ranks of Islamic – religious 
interpretation of asceticism: 1) Awam Zuhd - to leave the haram; 2) zuhd of the 
desired: to leave something excess from halal need; 3) Zuhd of the Siddiq (authentic, 
person of unassailable veracity and sincerity)- abandoning everything distracting 
from Allah. 
In general, asceticism according to the Arab scholar Ebul Ala Afifi, is a unique 
way of fighting against the material beauty, blessings, desires, and lusts of the lust 
(nafs, ego-soul). [3:76]. 
Also, according to Islamic scholar Alexander Knysh, it is very difficult to draw 
a clear chronological line between the asceticism of Islam in the first centuries and 
Muslim mysticism (Sufism). Because there is no reliable information about the 
worldviews of the early ascetic-dervishes. There are also difficulties in 
distinguishing between ascetic and mystical piety. The development of Muslim 
mysticism-theology as a religious-philosophical doctrine, the multiplicity of ideas 
about its direct connection with divinity, further complicates the study of the issue. 
The inadequacy of ontological and epistemological research has led to the 
interpretation of the roots of Islamic Muslim asceticism with the religious -spiritual 
aspects of Christianity (monasticism) or Judaism-Buddhism. This problem, of 
course, led to the one-sided definition of the essence, the emergence and 
periodization of Sufism-mysticism. 
Later, as a result of the formation of mysticism, altruistic ideas and movements 

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also began to develop. Altruism (French: altruisme, Latin: alter - from another) is a 
moral concept, which is based on the selfless service to others, sacrificing their own 
interests for their own happiness O.Kont entered concept of altruism into philosophy 
as the opposite sense of the concept of egoism. [4:246]. 
The idea of altruism was formed as a socio-humanitarian idea at the time of the 
emergence of early Islam. It is the highest human value for a person to give
what he needs (or help, support, compassion, etc.) to others who need it more than 
he needs, and Islam values this quality. At the same time, the economic and mental 
difficulties of the early Muslims of that time necessitated the wider dissemination 
of this idea. 
The scientific and historical-philosophical conclusions of the researchers show 
that in the first centuries of the emergence and development of mysticism, especially 
Islamic mysticism, concept of zuhd (asceticism) was one of the leading religious and 
philosophical trends. The ontological and epistemological substantiation of mysticism 
is used to reveal the inner religious-philosophical logic of the evolution of Sufism, i.e. 
it serves as an important methodological basis for substantiating the move towards 
philosophical Sufism from asceticism. 
Asceticism and mystical thinking have been an integral part of mysticism and 
a form of practical movement since the early spread of Islam in Central Asia.
During this period, communities and associations of Muslim monks were formed in 
the central and eastern parts of the Caliphate, mainly in Mesopotamia, Syria and 
Eastern Iran. [5:6]. By the thirteenth century, such communities had spread 
throughout the Muslim world, and new religious institutions began to take shape. 
These institutions were orders consisted of Sufi fraternity organizations. They
were named differently in some Muslim regions like orders, mystics, scholars and 
other names. In Central Asia, mystic people are described as “wise” or
“scholarly”, “knowing Allah,” gnostic (knowing). In some areas it is called 
"fuqaro", "faqr" (in Arabic), "dervish", "zuhd" or "zahid" (in Persian). At the end of 
the eighth century, in the eastern provinces of the caliphate, they were called " the 

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poor" and "zahids". 
In mystic movements of Central Asia, ascetics were supported by representatives 
of the local religious movement. The Karamatis in Khorasan and Movarounnahr, and 
the Malomats in Khorasan and Nishapur, followed such a way that they were later 
completely abolished by the Seljuk dynasty. Majid Fahri also mentions this in his 
book “A Brief Introduction to the Islamic philosophy and Sufism”, the economic 
situation in the region and the current system made the ascetic movements developed. 
[6:114]. 
The first stage of mysticism in the whole Islamic world, especially in Central Asia, 
dates back to the VII-X centuries. At this time it was separated from asceticism and 
established as an independent religious-philosophical-moral doctrine. After all, if 
theoretical mysticism is the object of oriental philosophers and theologians, practical 
asceticism should be the subject of comprehensive study of psychologists, 
ethnopsychologists, psychiatrists, explains Dj.S.Trimingham. 
If we look at the history of Central Asia at that time, the social basis of mysticism 
in the region was formed by poor peasants, middle urban class, merchants, artisans, 
officials, representatives of the lower religious classes - students, religious students, 
murids, teachers of madrassas, and the disciples of the sheikhs. Well-known Islamic 
scholar E.E. Bertels points out that at the initial stage the ascetic movement had a 
democratic-humanistic orientation, and it was also retained later. [7:18,31]. 
The ascetic movement formed in Central Asia is associated with voluntary and 
systematic self-limitation (self-restraint), the renunciation of emotional and worldly 
pleasures, stating the pious's desire to attain a higher state of mind, and as a result 
Muslims decline worldly desires, surplus ornaments and food. 
Many Central Asian mystics supported and followed the ideas of asceticism. 
Asceticism was one of the most effective ways to cultivate selfishness at that time. This 
can also be seen in the views and teachings of Ahmad Yassavi and Najmiddin Kubro. 
Turkish mystic Selcuk Eraydin, in his book “Sufism and Orders”, interprets asceticism 
through the category of "zuhd" and gives the meanings of abandoning it, turning away 

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from what is considered bad, and being refrained. [2:173]. 
According to the Sufi scholars of Central Asia, the heart is the link between the 
two spiritual and material worlds. Sufism is associated with asceticism through its ideas 
and actions. But as the great scholars and thinkers have pointed out, a Sufi is an ascetic 
and a mystic is not a man who leaves the world altogether, but a man who gives up the 
material pleasures of this world in order to reach Allah, and to sacrifice the needs of 
his body in the way of God. The next stage of status is asceticism. According to the 
Turkish mystic Selcuk Eraydin, asceticism is the ability to take the world out of the 
heart, to hold it in one's hand, or to put it back. [2:175]. 
The Sufi way of life is interpreted differently in the ideas on the mystical and 
philosophical teachings of Central Asia. Their humane ideas and appeals were aimed 
at ordinary peasants and artisans. The goal was to turn them into devoted disciples. The 
call to endure poverty and starvation was in fact an expression of a certain aspect of 
the interests of the upper class, the sheikhs. Academician B.G. Gafurov writes: "Sufism 
was mainly the ideology of middle-class peasants, urban artisans, but the rich ruling 
class used the humane ideas of mysticism to enslave the most vulnerable". [8:445]. 
Therefore, the ideas of mysticism were also supported by the rulers, and it gave the 
chance to keep the territories under their control in obedience. 
In short, the expression of the ideas of asceticism and altruism formed in Central 
Asia was in a sense formed as a practical significance of mystical philosophy and under 
the influence of Western philosophy and religious worldview had a strong impact on 
the socio-political and economic situation. In general, the high moral qualities and 
humanistic ideas formed under the influence of Islam in the philosophical thought of 
the East estimating the high humanity are also reflected in the teachings.