Ibn ‘Arabi on Islamic mysticism

Abstract

Islamic mysticism (Sufism) is very complex phenomenon. It may be described in many ways. It is a main element of Islamic religion, a spiritual component of the Muslim culture, an ascetical-mystical movement, a spiritual discipline, a one of the main school of medieval Islamic philosophy, a mystical world view, a social and political organization, a form of self-expression and behavior, etc. The teaching of mystical cognition is a principal postulate of Sufi ideology that combines all tendencies within Sufism. In this respect, Sufism is Islamic mysticism, which leads to direct cognition of God beyond thought and image through purification of self and discipline.

Three phases or stages of Sufism can be distinguished. The earliest form of Sufism was wide ascetic movement (in the 8th and 9th centuries). Other significant developments soon followed, including self-control, mystical insights and annihilation of the self (in the 9th and 10th centuries). During this period, two trends (“drunken” and “sober”) of doctrinal Sufism emerged. The next phase in Sufi history was development of fraternal Sufi orders (11th century) and formation of philosophical Sufism embodied in Ibn ‘Arabi’s teaching of “waḥdat al-wujūd” (Unity of Being) (13th century).

The life-giving impulse of Sufism began to weaken from the 15th century. Since the middle of the 19th century Sufism has ceased to have a serious impact on the Muslim community. Sufism today is in deep crisis. So, the question arise: why did Sufism fall into decline?

The problem of understanding the real cause of Sufism’s decline has become the most important one for historians of Islamic mysticism, and it has not yet found a satisfactory solution. There is a stereotype that the reason for the decline of Islamic Mysticism (Sufism) was famous medieval Islamic thinker Ibn ‘Arabi (1165–1240).

Ibn ‘Arabi was one of the prominent and the most controversial Islamic thinker. It is generally accepted that speculative teachings of Ibn ‘Arabi and his followers have led to the erosion of true Sufism.

The author examines conceptual framework and essence of key principles of Ibn ‘Arabi’s doctrine and shows that there is no link between his intellectual activity and the decline of Sufism. The article focuses an attention on exposition of Ibn ‘Arabi’s doctrines in the context of the paradigm of medieval Muslim philosophical thought.

An approach, which the author proposes here, is to assert that early phase of Sufism (or asceticism)) and doctrinal Sufism (“drunken” and “sober”) share a common set of a problems which all generations of Sufis had to solve in order to achieve their main goal which is comprehension of Truth (God). The early phase of Sufism, or asceticism, had already been realized not only as renunciation of temporal, but also as mode of mystical knowledge. As a result of the Islamic ascetics’ activity the prerequisites of the Sufi teaching of “tariqa” (Way) with the aim seeking “ḥaqiqa” (absolute truth) emerged.

The driving force of Islamic Mysticism’s development were attempts to solve the problem of relationship between sensible and intelligible or between unity and multiplicity (relation between God and the world) and the possibility of mystical knowledge. The prominent Sufi thinkers like ’Abu Sa‘id al-Kharraz, Sahl al-Tustari, ’Abu Yazid al-Bistami, al‑Junayd and others played a significant role in the formation of two trends (“drunken” and “sober”) of the doctrinal Sufism. The adherents of both trends supposed that the ultimate aim can be achieved through the annihilation of the self (fanā’) and dissolution in the divine reality. Al‑Ghazali (d. 1111), the prominent Muslim theologian and mystic, also considered that mystical union with God or “the pure oneness [of God]” (tawhīd) is the vision of only God through annihilation of the self.

Nevertheless, by 12–13 centuries Islamic mystics understood that their practices cannot help them in the realization of divine knowledge, neither ascetical discipline nor dissolution in the divine reality. During the evolution of Islamic mystical tradition, the philosophical Sufism emerged. It was most completely realized in Ibn ‘Arabi’ doctrine of the Oneness or Unity of Being (waḥdat al‑wujūd). His philosophical innovation consists in the radical reconsideration of the view on knowledge and its subject. Other schools of medieval Islamic philosophy relied on the ontological idea that conceives the relationship between God and world as dualistic. On the contrary, the ontological ground of philosophical Sufism knowledge consists in understanding of two ontological levels of being as different aspects of one reality, not different realities. Ibn ‘Arabi considers the mystical knowledge as self-knowledge of God. Man is a place of self-knowledge of God in the course of His eternal self-disclosure.

Thereafter Islamic mystical tradition lost its continuity. Sufism developed into two main forms: the “practical”, or the moderate and the philosophical. The adherents of the “practical” Sufism insist that mystical experience is realized by Sufi discipline (asceticism, poverty, meditation, etc.) while their opponents consider it useless. The supporters of philosophical Sufism argued that direct access to the divine reality is guaranteed by the ontological being of man.

There is no evidence to support the claim that the erosion of Sufism is due to metaphysical teachings of Ibn ‘Arabi and his pupils. The decline of Sufism can be explained by political, economic, social and other causes. Several factors directly and indirectly contributed to the Islamic mystical tradition crisis: bureaucratization of Sufism, modernization and secularization in the Islamic East, etc.