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political islam 383– ma#rifa refers to the relationship that is perceived in the humanintellect between the different manifestations and properties ofthis existence, or—in a more philosophical sense—to the relationshipbetween objective reality and human consciousness.Knowledge (#ilm) is what feeds this relationship with data fromthe external social and objective reality. The Book never usesthe phrase ma#rifat All§h, only #ilm All§h, because God’s knowledgedoes not need to be fed with data since He already knowseverything. He does not need, as human do, a theory of knowledge(i.e., a methodology of how to acquire data and to perceiveknowledge). Knowledge itself can be either known (í§hir)or hidden (makhfiyy), for example, when states do not revealtheir intelligence to other states it is hidden knowledge, orwhen God does not lead anybody astray with His knowledge(i.e., by hiding it), only those He wants to.– #ir§fa means false knowledge such as that of fortune-tellers anddivinatory fraudsters, as among ‘åfÊ groups; some pretend toperform miracles while others claim to receive supernaturalknowledge by meditation, contemplation and other asceticpractices. Only very few can be considered true ‘knowers’(#§rifån); most of them are just fortune tellers (#ir§fån). Trueknowledge, on the one hand, is a deep longing whose subjectmatter exerts total control over the seeker who is never distractedby anything and who has no desire for wealth, rank,and power. On the other hand, producing false knowledge isperhaps the oldest trade in human history and is done by magicians,shamans, sages, sorcerers, and all the H§m§ns 51 of thisworld. It is a mistake to believe that #ir§fa knowledge died outwith the end of the age of idolatry, pagan worship, and ancienttribalism. This form of heathendom only changed its outwardappearance; it still exists and trades its old (false) knowledgeunder new names, wrapped up in a different cloak.51This is a reference to the chief minister of Pharaoh, H§m§n, who is mentionedsix times in the Qur"an (28:6, 28:8, 28:38, 29:39, 40:24, 40:36) and who has becomethe embodied symbol of an unjust, oppressive ruler’s ruthless and willing henchman.He finds his end ‘in the waters’ where he drowned with Pharaoh (29:40). See Encyclopaediaof the Qur"an, s.v. “H§m§n.” (A. H. John), 399–400.