The words zahir and batin are two Quranic terms that, while not too well known outside specialist circles, describe something highly important in the Islamic tradition. Zahir refers to the outer dimension, or the outer face, of the Islamic faith. Batin on the other hand refers to the inner, spiritual dimension. At its most simple level the former term refers to acts while the latter refers to the intention behind those acts. The common phrase among Muslims that "actions should be judged by their intentions" relates closely to the relationship between these two aspects of Islamic ethics.
The relationship between these two dimensions is important for various reasons. Firstly, it helps understand the relationship between Sufi and legal aspects of Islamic scholarship. Sufis have traditionally concentrated on the internal dimension, legal thinkers on the external dimension. The efforts of arguably Sunni Islam’s most important theologian, al-Ghazali, were dedicated primarily to reconciling these dimensions. He argued that individuals would never be able to act properly and achieve satisfaction unless the two 'sides' could find harmony.
These two dimensions also help us to understand the links with and differences between the three religions of Abraham. Judaism and Christianity both have ways of expressing this relationship, sometimes in terms of 'being circumcised in the flesh but not the heart.' In fact, Christianity is to a large extent founded upon St. Paul’s dissatisfaction with what he thought to be the legalistic, external focus of Judaism.[1]
In the Islamic context this relationship has its own particular form. Abdal-Hakim Murad, who is himself an expert in al-Ghazali, expresses it well in terms of ritual fasting. "Fasting has a zahir and a batin, an outward and an inward. And neither is of any use without the other. As a hadith says: "Many a fasting person gains nothing from his fast, apart from hunger and thirst." In other words, without a batin fast, an inward fast, the fast is only formally, mechanically correct. It is like a body without a spirit, which is nothing more than a corpse."
[1] For a useful discussion of this particularly difficult issue see Regina Schwartz, 'Revelation and Revolution' in Creston Davis, John Milbank and Slavoj Zizek (eds). Theology and the Political: The New Debate. Durham, NC: Duke University Press 2005, p. 102-124.
[2] Abdal-Hakim Murad, 'Seeing with both eyes,' 2000. Available on-line.
