Interpreting Ibn ?Arabi

Philosophy, Theology, and Exegesis, in Later Islam
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-041-09127-1
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 260 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Islamic Philosophy

Ibn 'Arabi (d. 638/1240) is perhaps the most challenging intellectual figure of later Islamic history, being at once highly celebrated and highly vilified. This book explores an interpretive and commentary tradition around his controversial ideas.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Nair, Arjun

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam: Koran, Heilige Texte & Traditionsliteratur
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Religionsphilosophie, Philosophische Theologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam: Theologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islamische Gruppen: Sufis

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments
Note on Transliteration and Translation

Introduction
The Problems (mushkilat) of the Fusus: Interpretive Divergences
From the Lack of Understanding ('adam al-fahm): Solving the Problems of the Fusus
The Present Study: Interpreting Ibn 'Arabi

1 “All is He, All is Not He”: The Vision of Huwa-la Huwa
The Entities (a'yan) are Not Made (ghayr maj'ul) and Non-Existent (ma'dum)
The Mirror-Entities and the Color-Entities
The Pre-Existent Forms (suwar) of the Entities: The Cloud, the Barzakh, the Creator-Real

2 Divine Power and Human Freedom
The Essence (Dhat) and the Divinity (Ilah), Determination (taqdir) and Creation (khalq)
Freedom and Compulsion, Responsibility (taklif) and Predestination (qadar)

3 Incomparability and Similarity
To Affirm Incomparability is to Affirm Limitation (tahdid) and Restriction (taqyid)
Transcending the God of Beliefs (al-ilah al-mu'taqadat)
The Divinity Clothed in Forms of Belief: Worshiping the Idols of Belief

4 “Created in his/His Form”: The All-Comprehensive Form of Man
Originated and Beginningless (hadith azali), Perpetual and Endless (da'im abadi)
The Problem of Man’s Firstness (awwaliyya)
Creation (khalaqa) in Two Senses: Determination (taqdir) and Existentiation (ijad)

5 Becoming a Form of God (surat al-Haqq)
The False Form (sura batila) of the Pharaoh of Moses (Fir'awn Musa)
The Form of al-Kharraz, One of the Tongues of God (lisan min alsinat al-Haqq)

6 The Messenger takes his Knowledge from the Seal of the Saints
The Prophets (anbiya') in the Fusus al-hikam
The Seal of the Saints: “the space for two bricks” (mawdi' labinatayn)

7 Interpreting the Qur'an
Between ta'wil, ishara, and 'ubur: Ibn 'Arabi’s Qur'anic Hermeneutics
Abraham’s Sacrifice (dhabh), God’s Deception (makr), Drowning in Knowledge

8 The Hermeneutics of Mercy
The Faith of Pharaoh (iman Fir'awn) in Q. 10:90-92

From Torments ('adhab) to the Sweetness of Torments ('udhuba)

Conclusion: Interpreting the Shaykh al-Akbar
“He/not He” Revisited: Ambiguity and Knowledge as Perplexity (hayra)
“He who does not know the status of imagination has no knowledge”

Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Arjun Nair is Assistant Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California