School of Islamic thought that interpreted religious texts exclusively on the basis of hidden rather than literal meanings.
Such interpretation gained currency around the 8th century among esoteric Sh 012B; ite sects, especially the schismatic Ism 0101; 012B; liyyah , who believed that beneath every obvious meaning lay a hidden, true meaning, which the imam was empowered to interpret. While influenced by speculative philosophy and theology, the B 0101; 1E6D; iniyyah remained proponents of esoteric knowledge. Sunnite Muslims condemned the B 0101; 1E6D; iniyyah as enemies of Islam for rejecting literal truth and producing confusion and controversy through their multiple textual readings.