Madjdhub

("the attracted one"), in Ṣufī literature the name for the representative of a type of piety which is chiefly of a passive nature (munfaʿil : al-Rundī), in contradistinction to the more active ( fāʿil ) "striding one" ( sālik ), a characteristic which is expressed in numerous other pairs of opposition, like: mud̲j̲āhada-mus̲h̲āhada, makāsibmawāhib, maḳām-ḥāl, murīd-murād, muḥibb-maḥbūb, muk̲h̲liṣ-muk̲h̲laṣ. While the mad̲j̲d̲h̲ūb, on the way to God, may abandon himself to be drawn by divine attraction (d̲j̲ad̲h̲ba, d̲j̲ad̲h̲b, Persian kas̲h̲is̲h̲), the sālik depends on his own exertions (kūs̲h̲is̲h̲), which is, however, in the same way as the attraction, a gift (bak̲h̲s̲h̲īs̲h̲) of God.

Usually, mixed forms occur, as is clear from the works of Nad̲j̲m al-Dīn-i Kubrā [q.v.] and Nad̲j̲m al-Dīn-i Dāya, for whom the "strider" is the one who, while striding, is attracted gently, and the mad̲j̲d̲h̲ūb the one who, while striding, is attracted intensely. Others, like ʿUmar al Suhrawardī, Maḥmūd-i Kās̲h̲ānī and ʿAzīz-i Nasafī, speak of a "strider who is attracted" (sālik-i mad̲j̲d̲h̲ūb) when the striding came earlier in time, and of an "attracted one who is striding" (mad̲j̲d̲h̲ūb-i sālik) when the being attracted came earlier in time. The general principle is that neither the one who is merely striding, nor the one who is merely attracted, is qualified to be a s̲h̲ayk̲h̲ and to lead others on the mystical path, since the former has never arrived at his aim, while the second, as being only attracted, has never stridden along the path by himself.

With regard to personal progress, it is true, the word of the Prophet holds good: "One single attraction by God is equivalent to the activity of men and d̲j̲inn", but only the one who has personal experience of striding, its labours and dangers, is able to assist others in advancing.

In more recent literature in particular, mad̲j̲d̲h̲ūb is a frequently used extenuating and exculpating designation of eccentric ecstatics, love-maddened persons, holy fools, and despisers of the law. Occasionally, the term is also used as a nickname, like in Ibrāhīm-i Mad̲j̲d̲h̲ūb (7th/13th century).

~ R. Gramlich, EI2.

To speak of being a "practicing madjdhub" makes about as much sense as to speak of being a "practicing alcoholic."