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Shath
Sufi term referring to ecstatic expression or utterance, often of an apparently blasphemous nature. An example cited in the ninth century is Abu Yazid al-Bistami 's exclamation of “Glory be to me, how great is my majesty,” viewed by some Sufi authors as evidence of profound experience of the divine but attributed by others to intoxication, immaturity, or madness; some, such as al-Ghazali , are ambivalent about the apparent blasphemy of shath but admire the spiritual status of their authors. Due to the ambiguous definition of blasphemy in Islamic law, shath utterances are treated variously by legal authorities as beyond shariah jurisdiction or as a clear indication of heresy.
