Devil Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === In Sufism and mysticism === {{See also|Nafs}} In contrast to Occidental philosophy, the Sufi idea of seeing "Many as One", and considering the creation in its essence as the Absolute, leads to the idea of the dissolution of any dualism between the ego substance and the "external" substantial objects. The rebellion against God, mentioned in the Quran, takes place on the level of the [[Nafs|psyche]], that must be trained and disciplined for its union with the [[Ruh|spirit]] that is pure. Since psyche drives the body, ''flesh'' is not the obstacle to humans but rather an unawareness that allows the impulsive forces to cause rebellion against God on the level of the psyche. Yet it is not a dualism between body, psyche and spirit, since the spirit embraces both psyche and corporeal aspects of humanity.<ref>Fereshteh Ahmadi, Nader Ahmadi ''Iranian Islam: The Concept of the Individual'' Springer 1998 {{ISBN|978-0-230-37349-5}} p. 81-82</ref> Since the world is held to be the mirror in which God's attributes are reflected, participation in worldly affairs is not necessarily seen as opposed to God.<ref name="ReferenceI"/> The devil activates the selfish desires of the psyche, leading the human astray from the Divine.<ref>John O'Kane, Bernd Radtke ''The Concept of Sainthood in Early Islamic Mysticism: Two Works by Al-Hakim Al-Tirmidhi β An Annotated Translation with Introduction'' Routledge 2013 {{ISBN|978-1-136-79309-7}} p. 48</ref> Thus it is the ''[[I (pronoun)|I]]'' that is regarded as evil, and both Iblis and [[Pharaohs in the Bible|''Pharao'']] are present as symbols for uttering "I" in ones own behavior. Therefore it is recommended to use the term ''I'' as little as possible. It is only God who has the right to say "I", since it is only God who is self-subsistent. Uttering "I" is therefore a way to compare oneself to God, regarded as ''[[Shirk (Islam)|shirk]]''.<ref>Peter J. Awn Satan's Tragedy and Redemption: Iblis in Sufi Psychology BRILL 1983 {{ISBN|978-90-04-06906-0}} p. 93</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page