INTERPRETATION OF INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM IN EXISTENTIALISM AND SUFI ISLAM

The article provides a comparative analysis of the understanding of freedom in the history of Western philosophical thought and the Islamic cultural tradition. Particular attention is paid to the interpretation of freedom in the philosophy of existentialism, as well as a specific understanding of the phenomenon of freedom in Eastern philosophy, mainly in the philosophy of Sufism. The atheistic view of the problem of freedom is presented both by Western thinkers and the concept of the Arab thinker Abdurahman Badawi. The article also reveals the religious interpretation of the phenomenon of freedom, represented mainly by mystical concepts formed in the bosom of Sufism. The authors explain the reasons for the steady interest in the phenomenon of human freedom both in the history of Western philosophical thought and within the framework of modern social psychology and political science. The article shows that the relevance of the problem of freedom is associated with the deep existential needs of a person. At the same time, existential experience was comprehended and worked out not only in the categories of Western philosophy, but also within the framework of the religious and mystical ideas of the East, in particular in Sufism. The article shows that the ideas of Western existential philosophy have parallels in the Arab-Muslim philosophical tradition, primarily in the practices of Sufism. The comparative analysis undertaken by the authors of the article made it possible to reveal the universal intercultural significance of the concept of existential freedom. The article pays special attention to the methodological aspects of the conceptual representation of the problem of freedom by means of the Muslim philosophical tradition. The article also reveals the psychological prerequisites for the formation of human existential needs, including the need for freedom. Existential needs are considered in the context of the individual characteristics of a person and his belonging to a religious and cultural-historical tradition. The materials presented in the article make it possible to expand modern ideas about the specifics of understanding existential problems in Muslim philosophy. The article reveals the features of the adaptation of Western philosophical concepts to the spiritual experience of the East.