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52 pages, 4877 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Black Mirror of the Pupil of the Eye: Around the Eye that Sees and Is Seen: Ibn al-ʿArabī, Bill Viola

by Antoni Gonzalo Carbó

Religions 2023, 14(8), 994; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14080994 - 02 Aug 2023

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The present article traces the symbols of the eye (Greek: κόρη [maiden, concubine, pupil of the eye]; Latin: pūpilla; Hebrew: īshōn bath ʿāyin (‘apple of the eye’ or the ‘pupil of the eye’ [lit. ‘daughter of an eye’], i.e., the feminine [...] Read more.

The present article traces the symbols of the eye (Greek: κόρη [maiden, concubine, pupil of the eye]; Latin: pūpilla; Hebrew: īshōn bath ʿāyin (‘apple of the eye’ or the ‘pupil of the eye’ [lit. ‘daughter of an eye’], i.e., the feminine divine Presence [Shĕkhīnāh]); Arabic: ʿayn; Persian: chashm) and the black pupil of the eye (Arabic: insān al-ʿayn; Persian: mardum-i chashm) in Sufism, both—in the context of Andalusian Sufism, specifically in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s poem entitled ‘I saw a Girl…’, in whose dark pupil or abyssal blackness (Arabic: ḥawar; Hebrew: īshōn), pleasure of the gaze (naẓar) and repository of the secret (sirr), resides the Beloved—as in the medieval Persian gnosis of the followers of al-Sahykh al-Akbar—Fakhr al-Dīn ʿIrāqī and Maḥmūd Shabistarī—, and the mystical poet Ḥāfiẓ Shīrāzī. Ibn al-ʿArabī and Shabistarī have had an explicit influence on the work of the reputed American video artist Bill Viola (Queens, New York, 1951), specifically in his two video/sound installations—He Weeps for You (1976) and I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like (1986), in which the common image of the mirror pupil of the eye summarizes the entire ancient Neoplatonic conception of the θεωρία (contemplatio, speculatio). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sufi Thought in the Light of Ibn Arabi: The Akbarian Tradition Up to the Present)

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17 pages, 753 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Transimmanence of the Real: Ontological Pluralism in the School of Ibn ʻArabī

by Bharatwaj Iyer

Religions 2023, 14(7), 923; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14070923 - 17 Jul 2023

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Abstract

This paper studies the concept of “ontological pluralism”, developed by Heidegger scholar Iain Thomson, in relation to the waḥdat al-wujūd framework of Ibn ʻArabī’s school. Heidegger’s ontological difference between being and entities, and the definition of being in excess of any particular entitative [...] Read more.

This paper studies the concept of “ontological pluralism”, developed by Heidegger scholar Iain Thomson, in relation to the waḥdat al-wujūd framework of Ibn ʻArabī’s school. Heidegger’s ontological difference between being and entities, and the definition of being in excess of any particular entitative determination, calls for an ethic of pluralism and acceptance of the myriad ways in which being is encountered and understood. In my paper, this pluralism—and its conceptual foundation on the meaning and reality of being—is developed further through Ibn ʻArabī’s complex distinction and interpenetration between the Real’s transcendence (tanzīh) and immanence (tashbīh). The pluralistic and polysemic possibilities of this Akbarian “transimmanence” is compared with Heideggerian ontological pluralism, using Milad Milani’s recent Heideggerian approach to the study of Sufism. This comparison asks if elements of a robust pluralism cannot be found in an avowedly premodern metaphysical framework like that of Ibn ʻArabī, thereby attempting to trouble the uniqueness of the critical breaks in the history of modern Western thought. An attempt to develop a decolonial approach to the study of pluralism sees waḥdat al-wujūd and its later development not just as an object of historical analysis but as a theoretical framework that can positively inform our political and ethical concerns. This is why this paper brings together Heideggerian and Akbarian approaches to pluralism in their own terms. This combined conceptual framework is then used to bring to light the Akbarian pluralism in the life, death, and writings of subcontinental Sufis like Dārā Shikōh and Sarmad Kāshānī. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sufi Thought in the Light of Ibn Arabi: The Akbarian Tradition Up to the Present)

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14 pages, 1046 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Science of Letters and Alchemy in Ibn ʿArabī’s Jesus

by Jaime Flaquer

Religions 2023, 14(7), 897; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14070897 - 11 Jul 2023

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Abstract

This article briefly presents what the science of letters and alchemy meant for Ibn ʿArabī and explains why this Sufi mystic attributes the highest degree of these sciences to Jesus. We will see how the science of letters is a knowledge of God’s [...] Read more.

This article briefly presents what the science of letters and alchemy meant for Ibn ʿArabī and explains why this Sufi mystic attributes the highest degree of these sciences to Jesus. We will see how the science of letters is a knowledge of God’s creation, which He creates with His Word, where the existentiation verb, Kun (Be!), plays a fundamental role. This imperative pronounced by God when He wants something to exist appears in the Qurʾān in reference to Jesus. This prophet, being a word and a breath that have their origin in God, receives the knowledge of every word, which is formed by letters. Through this knowledge, Jesus can participate in God’s creative power with His permission, and with the knowledge of alchemy, he will have transformative and healing powers. As this is a science of healthy proportions, Ibn ʿArabī credits Jesus with the knowledge of alchemy due to the impeccable balance he maintained between his human and spiritual natures. This article results from reading his immense work, approached from both theological and religious science methodologies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sufi Thought in the Light of Ibn Arabi: The Akbarian Tradition Up to the Present)

13 pages, 329 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Munājāt and Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Unity of Being

by Amanda Tapp

Religions 2023, 14(6), 693; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060693 - 23 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1854

Abstract

This paper looks at the mystical topic of munājāt, or intimate dialogue, typically between a worshipper and their Lord, and how it relates to Ibn al-‘Arabī’s waḥdat al-wujūd (Unity of Being). The paper first works to situate munājāt within the current surrounding [...] Read more.

This paper looks at the mystical topic of munājāt, or intimate dialogue, typically between a worshipper and their Lord, and how it relates to Ibn al-‘Arabī’s waḥdat al-wujūd (Unity of Being). The paper first works to situate munājāt within the current surrounding body of Sufi devotional literature and within the Islamic intellectual tradition. Then the paper goes on to examine how munājāt as prayer reflects and relates to Ibn al-‘Arabī’s larger metaphysical treatises, particularly waḥdat al-wujūd, using crucial concepts such as Barzakh, Imagination, and dhikr (remembrance). From this it may be understood that munājāt is direct communication occurring from God to Himself through the form of man. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sufi Thought in the Light of Ibn Arabi: The Akbarian Tradition Up to the Present)

17 pages, 713 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Desiring the Sweet Perfume of Closeness in the Oscillating Tawajjuh of the Letter Rāʾ

by Kris Ramlan and Ana Ludovico

Religions 2023, 14(6), 692; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060692 - 23 May 2023

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Abstract

This article delves into the concept of tawajjuh through a poem and a prayer ascribed to the Arabic letter rāʾ, which expresses key themes in the Akbarian tradition. Using the hermeneutical approach of Ibn ʿArabī to interpret word polysemy in the texts, [...] Read more.

This article delves into the concept of tawajjuh through a poem and a prayer ascribed to the Arabic letter rāʾ, which expresses key themes in the Akbarian tradition. Using the hermeneutical approach of Ibn ʿArabī to interpret word polysemy in the texts, the article sheds light on the science of letters and key metaphysical ideas cultivated in this tradition. The letter rāʾ represents various aspects of cosmic duality and hence a strong desire for intimacy. The Arabic word tawajjuh, meaning the projection of spiritual energy, orientation, or attentiveness, refers to turning to face God. There is contemplation and continuous turning, like the phases of the moon facing the sun. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sufi Thought in the Light of Ibn Arabi: The Akbarian Tradition Up to the Present)

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14 pages, 1085 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Challenge of Muhammad Iqbal’s Philosophy of Khudi to Ibn ‘Arabi’s Metaphysical Anthropology

by Antonio De Diego González

Religions 2023, 14(5), 683; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14050683 - 22 May 2023

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Abstract

The period between the publication of Asrār-i Khūdī (Secrets of the Self) in 1915 and The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam in 1930 marked the consolidation of the philosophy of khūdī (self) from the perspective of the Indian philosopher Muhammad Iqbal. A [...] Read more.

The period between the publication of Asrār-i Khūdī (Secrets of the Self) in 1915 and The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam in 1930 marked the consolidation of the philosophy of khūdī (self) from the perspective of the Indian philosopher Muhammad Iqbal. A philosophical project for the contemporary Islamic world that sought to overcome, from the acceptance of science and few elements of Western philosophy, the limitations of the Islamic tradition and, above all, of Sufism, which the author labels as pantheism. Among the deep dialogues he maintains with Islamic tradition, Iqbal carried out a very special one with Muḥyī l-Dīn Ibn ʻArabī (1165–1240), who was one of the most notorious mystics and philosophers of Islam. A metahistorical dialogue, in the form of a critique, that invites us to see the convergences and divergences in metaphysical and anthropological aspects of both authors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sufi Thought in the Light of Ibn Arabi: The Akbarian Tradition Up to the Present)

25 pages, 508 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Epistemic Status of Mystical Experience in Ibn ʻArabī’s Legal Reasoning

by Ismail Lala

Religions 2022, 13(11), 1051; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13111051 - 02 Nov 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2166

Abstract

Arguably the most influential Sufi thinker in Islam, Muḥyī l-Dīn Ibn ʻArabī (d. 638/1240), views revelatory knowledge and mystical experience, what he terms ‘spiritual unveiling’ (kashf), as a form of continuing divine revelation that is bequeathed to the spiritual elite or [...] Read more.

Arguably the most influential Sufi thinker in Islam, Muḥyī l-Dīn Ibn ʻArabī (d. 638/1240), views revelatory knowledge and mystical experience, what he terms ‘spiritual unveiling’ (kashf), as a form of continuing divine revelation that is bequeathed to the spiritual elite or saints (awliyā’). As the self-proclaimed ‘Seal of Saints’ (Khātam al-awliyā’), who is the mystical heir to the wisdom of Muḥammad, the ‘Seal of Prophets’ (Khātam al-anbiyā’), Ibn ʻArabī has a unique method of deriving legal rulings. Not only does he emphasise the inner aspect (bāṭin) of all rituals and forms of worship, like many of his sufi counterparts; he, rather uniquely, extracts legal rulings from mystical experience. This study investigates the importance of revelatory experience and spiritual unveiling in the thought of Ibn ʻArabī and his followers. It then looks at what role these play in Ibn ʻArabī’s jurisprudence and, specifically, how he determines that hands should be raised (rafʻ al-yadayn) during formal prayer (ṣalāt) because he was commanded to by the Prophet Muḥammad in a mystical vision. By considering this issue, the deeper question of the epistemic status of mystical experience for Ibn ʻArabī, and the intricate interplay between mystical experience and textual evidence in his thought is explored. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sufi Thought in the Light of Ibn Arabi: The Akbarian Tradition Up to the Present)

13 pages, 885 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Music of the Spheres in Akbarian Sufism

by Dunja Rašić

Religions 2022, 13(10), 928; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100928 - 03 Oct 2022

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Abstract

As per tradition, no human could hear the music of the spheres save for Pythagoras. Ibn ʿArabī, however, claimed he heard this music each time he prayed sincerely. This article examines how the Pythagorean concept of the music of the spheres came to [...] Read more.

As per tradition, no human could hear the music of the spheres save for Pythagoras. Ibn ʿArabī, however, claimed he heard this music each time he prayed sincerely. This article examines how the Pythagorean concept of the music of the spheres came to be integrated and reinterpreted in Akbarian Sufism, with a special emphasis on Ibn ʿArabī’s notion of samāʻ and the modes of recreating the music of the spheres in Sufi gatherings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sufi Thought in the Light of Ibn Arabi: The Akbarian Tradition Up to the Present)

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0 pages, 5937 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Knowledge and Causality in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Book of Giving, and the Buddhist Notion of Dependent Origination

by Aydogan Kars and Ashkan Bahrani

Religions 2022, 13(9), 768; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13090768 - 23 Aug 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2220 | Correction

Abstract

This paper introduces the otherwise unstudied Arabic treatise on knowledge, the Book of Giving, penned by the influential Muslim mystic, Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 1240). It presents a critical edition, English translation, and initial analysis of this short yet original work. It authenticates [...] Read more.

This paper introduces the otherwise unstudied Arabic treatise on knowledge, the Book of Giving, penned by the influential Muslim mystic, Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 1240). It presents a critical edition, English translation, and initial analysis of this short yet original work. It authenticates this work, situates it in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s career, and analyzes its content. Combining textual scholarship and intellectual history with a comparative perspective, it discusses some outstanding features of the Book of Giving in light of Buddhism in order to provide an initial philosophical bridge between the two intellectual traditions. It argues that knowledge is presented in the Book of Giving as a causal relationship constructed in the mind. Ibn al-ʿArabī’s approach to causality is one of philosophical idealism, and it contains significant parallels with the notion of dependent origination in Buddhism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sufi Thought in the Light of Ibn Arabi: The Akbarian Tradition Up to the Present)

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2 pages, 153 KiB

Open AccessCorrection

Correction: Kars, Aydogan, and Ashkan Bahrani. 2022. Knowledge and Causality in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Book of Giving, and the Buddhist Notion of Dependent Origination. Religions 13: 768

by Aydogan Kars and Ashkan Bahrani

Religions 2024, 15(1), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010091 - 11 Jan 2024

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Abstract

At the beginning of our article (Kars and Bahrani 2022), we mentioned that the Book of Giving [Kitāb al-Ifāda] “appears in the List of Writings [Fihris al-Muʾallafāt] compiled by Ibn al-ʿArabī [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sufi Thought in the Light of Ibn Arabi: The Akbarian Tradition Up to the Present)

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