(wahdat ash-shuhūd) and (wahdat al-wujūd)

Oneness of appearance (wahdat ash-shuhūd) and Oneness of being (wahdat al-wujūd)

Sirhindi advanced the notion of wahdat ash-shuhūd (oneness of appearance).[17] According to this doctrine, the experience of unity between God and creation is purely subjective and occurs only in the mind of the Sufi who has reached the state of fana' fi Allah (to forget about everything except Almighty Allah).[18] Sirhindi considered wahdat ash-shuhūd to be superior to wahdat al-wujūd,[2] which he understood to be a preliminary step on the way to the Absolute Truth.[19]

Despite this, Sirhindi still used Ibn al-'Arabi's vocabulary without hesitation.[20]

Sirhindi writes:

I wonder that Shaykh Muhyī 'l-Dīn appears in vision to be one of those with whom God is pleased, while most of his ideas which differ from the doctrines of the People of truth appear to be wrong and mistaken. It seems that since they are due to error in kashf, he has been forgiven... I consider him as one of those with whom God is well-pleased; on the other hand, I believe that all his ideas in which he opposes (the people of truth) are wrong and harmful.[21]

Further information: Sufi metaphysics

Wahda al-Wujud or Oneness of Being

Perhaps the most famous misrepresentation of the Shaykh that resulted from the Fusus is the attribution to him of the doctrine of "oneness of being" (wahda al-wujud) in the pantheistic sense of the immanence of the Deity in everything that exists.

Al-Qari cites, for example, a verse of poetry which he references to the Fusus, stating:

Subhana man azhara al-ashya'a wa huwa `aynuha
Glory to Him Who caused things to appear and is those very things!1

This attribution and others of its type are evidently spurious, and Ibn `Arabi's `Aqida flatly contradicts them.

Furthermore, verifying scholars such as Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi in his epistles, Shaykh `Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi in al-Radd al-Matin `ala Muntaqid al-`Arif Billah Muhyi al-Din and Idah al-Maqsud min Wahda al-Wujud, and al-Sha`rani in al-Yawaqit wa al-Jawahir and Tanbih al-Aghbiya' `ala Qatratin min Bahri `Ulum al-Awliya have rephrased Ibn `Arabi's expression of "oneness of being" (wahda al-wujud) as "oneness of perception" (wahda al-shuhud) in the sense in which the Prophet  defined excellence (ihsan) as "worshipping Allah as if you see Him."2

Al-Buti said:

What is the meaning of the expression "oneness of perception"?
When I interact with causes with full respect to Allah's ways, His orders, and His Law, knowing that the sustenance that comes to me is from Allah; the felicity that enters my home is from Allah Almighty; my food is readied for me by Allah - I mean even the smallest details; the wealth with which I have been graced, comes from Allah; the illness that has been put in my being or that of a relative of mine comes from Allah Almighty; the cure that followed it is from Allah Almighty; my success in my studies is by Allah Almighty's grant; the results which I have attained after obtaining my degrees and so forth, are from Allah Almighty's grant - when the efficacy of causes melts away in my sight and I no longer see, behind them, other than the Causator Who is Allah Almighty:
at that time, when you look right, you do not see except Allah's Attributes, and when you look left, you do not see other than Allah's Attributes. As much as you evolve in the world of causes, you do not see, through them, other than the Causator, Who is Allah.

At that time you have become raised to what the spiritual masters have called oneness of perception. And this oneness of perception is what Allah's Messenger expressed by the word ihsan [which he defined to mean]: "That you worship Allah as if you see him." You do not see the causes as a barrier between you and Allah. Rather, you see causes, in the context of this doctrine, very much like pure, transparent glass: the glass pane is present - no one denies it - but as much as you stare at it, you do not see anything except what is behind it. Is it not so? You only see what is behind it. The world is entirely made of glass panes in this fashion. You see in them Allah's efficacy in permanence, so you are always with Allah Almighty. None has tasted the sweetness of belief unless he has reached that level of perception.3