Zahir and Batin

The word batin means meaning, for things explicit is represented by perceived qualities or events, zahir is a sound or graphic shell. Two meanings can also be considered as explicit and hidden. They can constitute a condition for each other and justify each other, and neither one nor the other has the exclusive status of “truth” (hakika). Neither zahir nor batin should be understood as the authenticity of one thing in isolation from the other ^[1] .

In Arab-Muslim thought, a negative attitude is observed both to Zahirites , who preferred the explicit and did not allow the equalization of the transition to the hidden in the interpretations of the authoritative Koran and Sunnah, and to the Batinites , who believed that the hidden side can be considered more valuable than explicit. The explicit can also be associated with the external as being on the surface, and the hidden always assumes manifestation and this differs from “hidden” (hafiyy) or “hidden” (washers) as inaccessible to the eye, or knowledge, unattainable ^[1] .

In the theory of knowledge, the explicit does not need definitions, grasps directly and serves as the basis for clarifying other things. In Ismailism, of particular importance is the consideration of explicit and hidden worships that condition one another. A feature of the Ismaili methodology of cognition is the identification of hidden structures of the universe by explicit. In Ibn Arabi, the form as an obvious thing is stably opposed to its meaning as hidden ^[1] . In Islamic theology, zaire refers to open, clear, and unambiguous meanings of divine revelations (nassa) that do not require allegorical interpretation ^[2] .

Among the beautiful names of Allah ( asma al-husna ) are the names al-Zahir and al-Batin .

• Explicit / A.V. Smirnov // New Philosophical Encyclopedia : in 4 volumes / before. scientific ed. Council V. S. Styopin . - 2nd ed., Rev. and add. - M .: Thought , 2010 .-- 2816 p.