Mirushe Hoxha - Professor of Philosophy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia

This paper aims to present Friedrich Nietzsche’s critique of Christianity as a Western example that reconfirms the necessity for man’s inner development up to the stage of the Completest Self (nafs-i safiyya). With the advent of Christianity and the resultant triumph of its “morality of slave” (۱۸۸۶, sec. ۲۶۰), the “death of God” (۱۸۸۲) becomes the “fundamental event of Western history” and its “intrinsic law” so far (Heidegger ۱۹۷۷, ۶۷). The central question is how the West shall return the lost God, and so answer adequately to the drive of the eternal return? Nietzsche’s answer is expressed within the concepts of the “death before death,” the “man of Greek tragedy,” the “nomad” (“traveler”), and the “overman,” while this paper identifies their essence in the teachings of Sufism. The “death before death” declared by Prophet Mohammad (s), the Sufi exercise Stop, the background of Sufi teaching, and the seven stages of nafs, including the Completest Self, are juxtaposed to the concepts of the German philosopher. It results that according to Nietzsche, what the West should bring from the state of absence to the state of presence is the summarizing truth of Sufism.

“Death of God, ” Nihilism, “Death before Death, ” Sufism, Overman, Completest Self