Ẓāhir orzaher (Arabic:ظاهر) is anArabic term in sometafsir (interpretations of theQuran) for what is external and manifest.[1] Certain esoteric interpretations ofIslam maintain that the Quran has anexoteric or apparent meaning, known aszahir, but also an underlyingesoteric meaning, known asbatin (baten), which can be interpreted only by a figure of esoteric knowledge. ForShi'a Muslims, theImam of Time alone can understand the esoteric meaning.
InSufism, the actions of an individual are thezahir, and the intention in the heart is thebatin.[2]Zahir is the world of bodies whereasbatin is the world ofsouls. Sufis believe in the purification of thebatin by their spiritual guide to assure azahir that followsShariat.
Zahir is also the underlying principle of theẒāhiriyya, aschool of thought inIslamic jurisprudence andtheology that relies only on the manifest or apparent meaning of expressions in the Quran and theSunnah.
According to the "Epistle of the Right Path", a post-Mongol Persian-Ismaili treatise, thezahir (exoteric) form and thebatin (esoteric) essence co-exist, in that thezahir (exoteric) form is the manifestation of thebatin (esoteric) essence. Thezahir (outer form) without thebatin (essence) is just like a mirage or an illusion.[3]
ManyIsmailiMuslim thinkers have stressed the importance of the balance between the exoteric (ẓāhir) and the esoteric (batin) in the understanding of faith, and have explained that spiritual interpretation (ta’wil) entails elucidating the esoteric meaning (bātin) from the exoteric form (ẓāhir).[4]
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