Shaykh Muhyiddin Ibn `Arabi - Texts Overview
1. Some Texts by Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi
A warning by Ibn `Arabi against a 'do-it-yourself' approach to his thought:
“We are a group whose works are unlawful to peruse, since the Sufis, one and all, use terms in technical senses by which they intend other than what is customarily meant by their usage among scholars, and those who interpret them according to their usual significance commit unbelief.”
And as Imam Ibn al-`Arabi also explicitly stated:
“It is unlawful to read [the Sufis'] books unless one attains to their level of character and learns the meaning of their work in conformity with their technical usages, neither of which is found except in someone who has worked assiduously, rolled up his sleeves, abandoned the wrong, tightened his belt, filled himself replete with the outward Islamic sciences, and purified himself from every low trait connected with this world and the next. It is just such a person who comprehends what is being said and is allowed to enter when he stands at the door.” RT1082
Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-'Arabi, Abu Bakr Muhyi al-Din al-Hatimi al-Ta'i al-Andalusi al-Mursi al-Dimashqi, known as Ibn 'Arabi to differentiate him from Abu Bakr Ibn al-'Arabi the Maliki jurist.
A scholar of Arabic letters at first, then tafsir and tasawwuf, nicknamed al-Qushayri and Sultan al-'Arifin in his time for his pre-eminence in tasawwuf, known in his lifetime for his devoutness to worship, asceticism, and generosity, Ibn 'Arabi was praised by al-Munawi as "a righteous friend of Allah and a faithful scholar of knowledge" (waliyyun salihun wa 'alimun nasih), by Ibn 'Imad al-Hanbali as "the absolute mujtahid without doubt," and by al-Fayruzabadi as "the Imam of the People of Shari'a both in knowledge and in legacy, the educator of the People of the Way in practice and in knowledge, and the shaykh of the shaykhs of the People of Truth through spiritual experience (dhawq) and understanding."1
His Teachers
He travelled East and West in the study of hadith, taking knowledge from over a thousand shaykhs, among them Abu al-Hasan ibn Hudhayl, Muhammad ibn Khalaf al-Lakhmi, Ibn Zarqun, Abu al-Walid al-Hadrami, al-Silafi, 'Abd al-Haqq al-Ishbili, Ibn 'Asakir, Ibn al-Jawzi, and Ibn Bushkuwal.
His principal shaykhs in tasawwuf were Abu Madyan al-Maghribi, Jamal al-Din Yunus ibn Yahya al-Qassar, Abu 'Abd Allah al-Tamimi al-Fasi, Abu al-Hasan ibn Jami', and al-Khidr (AS).2
He became known first as al-Shaykh al-Kabir ("The Great Shaykh") then al-Shaykh al-Akbar ("The Greatest Shaykh") with specific reference to the sciences of tasawwuf in which he authored hundreds of books.3
His Doctrine ('Aqida)
His greatest and best-known is his last work, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya ("The Meccan Conquests") which begins with a statement of doctrine - translated in forthcoming posts - about which al-Safadi said:
"I saw that from beginning to end it consists in the doctrine of Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari without any difference whatsoever."4
His Rank of Mujtahid Mutlaq
In jurisprudence Ibn 'Arabi is often said to follow the Zahiri school, but this is incorrect since he himself denies it, as quoted by Ibn 'Imad from Ibn 'Arabi's two poems al-Ra'iyya and al-Nuniyya, which state respectively:
Laqad harrama al-Rahmanu taqlida Malikin
wa Ahmada wa al-Nu'mani wa al-kulli fa'dhuru
The Merciful forbade me to imitate Malik, Ahmad,
Al-Nu'man [Abu Hanifa] and others, therefore pardon me.
Lastu mimman yaqulu qala Ibnu Hazmin
la wa la Ahmadu wa la al-Nu'manu
I am not of those who say: "Ibn Hazm said"-
Certainly not! Nor "Ahmad said" nor "al-Nu'man said."5
The Controversy Surrounding Him
The name of Ibn 'Arabi remains associated with controversy because of those who criticized him severely for the work attributed to him under the title Fusus al-Hikam ("The Precious Stones of the Wisdoms").
The attribution of this work in its present form[1] to Ibn 'Arabi is undoubtedly incorrect as the Fusus contradicts some of the most basic tenets of Islam[2] expounded by Ibn 'Arabi himself in his authentic works, such as the finality of Prophethood, the primacy of Prophets over non-Prophets, the abrogation of all religious creeds other than Islam, the everlastingness of the punishment of Hellfire and its dwellers, the abiding therein of anyone that does not accept the Prophet after his coming, Pharaoh's damnation, etc.
Nevertheless the Fusus have received commentaries by the following scholars among others: Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi (d. 671), 'Afif al-Din al-Tilimsani (d. 690), Mu'ayyid al-Din al-Jundi (d. 700), Sa'd al-Din al-Farghani (d. 700), Kamal al-Din al-Zamalkani (d. 727), Dawud al-Qaysari (d. 751), Kamal al-Din al-Qashani (d. 751), Sayyid 'Ali al-Hamadani (d. 766), Khwaja Muhammad Parsa (d. 822) the intimate friend of Shah Naqshband -- Allah be well-pleased with him --, Mawlana Jami (d. 898), Isma'il al-Anqarawi (d. 1042), 'Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi (d. 1144), and others.
Al-Suyuti's Response to al-Biqa'i
In response to an attack by Burhan al-Din al-Biqa'i (d. 885) entitled Tanbih al-Ghabi ila Takfir Ibn 'Arabi wa Tahdhir al-'Ibad min Ahl al-'Inad ("Warning to the Ignoramus Concerning the Declaration of Ibn 'Arabi's Disbelief, and Cautioning Allah's Servants Against Stubborn People") Sayyid 'Ali ibn Maymun al-Maghribi (d. 917) wrote a fatwa entitled Tanbih al-Ghabi fi Tanzih Ibn 'Arabi ("Warning to the Ignoramus Concerning Ibn 'Arabi's Vindication").
Al-Suyuti wrote a fatwa with the same title, in which he stated:
The scholars past and present have differed concerning Ibn 'Arabi, one group considering him a friend of Allah (wali) - and they are correct - such as Ibn 'Ata' Allah al-Sakandari and 'Afif al-Din al-Yafi'i, another considering him a heretic - such as a large number of the jurists - while others expressed doubts concerning him, among them al-Dhahabi in al-Mizan. Two opposed verdicts are reported from Shaykh 'Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam, one attacking him, and one describing him as the Spiritual Pole (al-qutb).
What reconciles them is indicated by Shaykh Taj al-Din ibn 'Ata' Allah in Lata'if al-Minan [fi Manaqib Abi al-'Abbas al-Mursi wa Shaykhihi Abi al-Hasan al-Shadhili], namely, that Shaykh 'Izz al-Din at the beginning acted in the fashion of jurists in passing quick judgment on the Sufis.
When Shaykh Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili went to pilgrimage and returned, he came to Shaykh 'Izz al-Din before entering his own house and conveyed to him the Prophet's greeting. After that, Shaykh 'Izz al-Din humbled himself and began to sit in al-Shadhili's gatherings....6
Our shaykh, Shaykh al-Islam, the last remnant of the mujtahids, Sharaf al-Din al-Munawi replied, concerning Ibn 'Arabi, that silence was safest. And this is the stance that befits every truly Godwary person who fears for himself. For me, the last word concerning Ibn 'Arabi - and this is accepted neither by his contemporary admirers nor by his detractors - is that he be considered a wali, but reading his books is forbidden.7
Whatever is transmitted and attributed to the [Sufi] Shaykhs - may Allah be well pleased with them - if it contradicts external knowledge, bears various possibilities:
First, we do not concede its attribution to them until it is established as authentic.
Second, after authenticity is established, it may have a figurative meaning; if not, then one should say: "Perhaps it has a figurative meaning for the people of internal knowledge and the knowers of Allah Almighty."
Third, this may have come from them in a state of intoxication and distraction, and the lawfully intoxicated person is not taken to task as he is not held responsible in such a state.
Holding a bad opinion about them after all these resolutions is a sign of deprivement of success. We seek refuge in Allah from failure and a terrible verdict, and from all evils!8
Ibn 'Arabi's Admirers
Al-Suyuti's attitude and what he reports from al-Munawi is echoed by Imam al-Safadi who said of Ibn 'Arabi:
"He was a very great man, and whatever can be understood from his words is excellent and upright; as for what we find difficult, we leave its matter to Allah, for we were not tasked with following him nor with doing all that he said."9
Similarly al-Qari admitted in one of his fatwas against Ibn 'Arabi and his works: "The safest course in Religion concerning the person of Ibn 'Arabi is silence, as the scholars differed about him."10
The hadith master Ibn al-Najjar (d. 643) wrote a long notice on him in his biographical history in which he said: "I met him in Damascus and copied some of his poetry. What a wonderful shaykh he was!"11
Among the famous authorities who held a good opinion of Ibn 'Arabi are the following:
1) The Qur'anic commentator and jurist Imam al-Baydawi who called him "the Imam of Verification in reality and outwardly";
2) The Qur'anic commentator Abu al-Su'ud;
3) Imam al-Safadi the author of al-Wafi bi al-Wafayat;12
4) Zayn al-Din al-Khafi al-Akbar Abadi;13
5) Ibn 'Imad al-Hanbali who called him "the Great Knower of Allah" (al-'arif al-kabir);14
6) Kamal al-Din 'Abd al-Wahid ibn 'Abd al-Karim Ibn al-Zamalkani (d. 651) who called him "the Ocean replete with all kinds of divine knowledges";
7) Safi al-Din al-Azdi al-Ansari in his epistle on the scholars of his time;
8) Shaykh Jalal al-Din al-Dawani (d. 907);15
9) Majd al-Din al-Shirazi al-Siddiqi in his fatwa entitled al-Ightibat bi Mu'alaja Ibn al-Khayyat;16
10) Al-Sayyid al-Jurjani whose Ta'rifat include Ibn 'Arabi's terminologies;
11) The lexicographer, hadith scholar and jurist al-Fayruzabadi who in his commentary on al-Bukhari's Sahih often quotes Ibn 'Arabi's explanations;
12) The lexicographer and hadith master Murtada al-Zabidi who often quotes Ibn 'Arabi in his Ithaf al-Sada al-Muttaqin.
13) Imam al-Yafi'i who called him in his Tarikh "the Paragon of Allah's Friends in knowledge and fiqh outwardly and inwardly";
14) Qadi al-Qudat Shams al-Din al-Bisati al-Maliki who opposed before the Sultan - in Ibn Hajar's presence - 'Ala' al-Din al-Bukhari's verdict of takfir of Ibn 'Arabi and whoever accepted him;17
15) Shaykh al-Islam Siraj al-Din al-Makhzumi who said:
"Our shaykh, Shaykh al-Islam Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini and likewise Shaykh Taqi al-Din al-Subki used to criticize the Shaykh in the beginning, then they changed their position after they realized what he was saying and the explanation of his intent."18
16) Al-Bulqini who was reported by his student al-Makhzumi as saying:
"We seek refuge in Allah from saying that he [Ibn 'Arabi] affirms indwelling (hulul) and communion-with-the-divine (ittihad)! He is far above that. Rather, he is one of the greatest imams and among those who have probed the oceans of the sciences of the Book and the Sunna."19
17) Shaykh al-Islam Zakariyya al-Ansari in the chapter of apostasy in his book Sharh Kitab al-Rawd fi al-Fiqh wa al-Fatwa;
18) Shaykh al-Islam al-Haytami in his Fatawa Hadithiyya;
19) Imam Shams al-Din Muhammad al-Bakri;
20) The hadith master and Qur'anic commentator Shaykh Isma'il Haqqi in his book al-Khitab;
21) The Ottoman writer Katib Celebi who devoted a chapter on him in his book Mizan al-Haqq fi Ikhtyar al-Ahaqq;
22) Shaykh Mulla al-Jami in Nafahat al-Uns;
23) The hadith master of Damascus and Renewer of the Thirteenth Islamic century, Shaykh Badr al-Din al-Hasani;20
24) Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi in his Qawa'id al-Tahdith;21
25) Shaykh al-Islam al-Munawi who cited him over two hundred times in Fayd al-Qadir and elsewhere declared:
A group of scholars professed suspension of judgment (waqf) and benefit of good opinion (al-taslim)... their Imam being Shaykh al-Islam al-Nawawi who replied, when asked about Ibn 'Arabi:
{Those are a people who have passed away. Theirs is that which they earned, and yours is that which you earn. And you will not be asked of what they used to do} (2:134). [The Maliki Imam Ahmad] Zarruq reported from his shaykh al-Nuri the words: "They differed about him from the verdict of disbelief to that of spiritual primacy (qutbaniyya), and giving the benefit of good opinion is therefore an obligation."22
See below Wahda al-Wujud and the Shaykh's critics
NOTES for pt.1
1 In al-Qari, Firr al-'Awn (p. 141-142).
2 Ibn al-Jawzi, Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad (p. 144). This narration is odd in view of Ibn al-Jawzi's extreme position - in his book 'Ujala al-Muntazir fi Sharh Hal al-Khadir - that to suggest that al-Khidr is alive contradicts the Shari'a (cf. Hajji Khalifa, Kashf al-Zunun (2:1125) and Abu Ghudda infra). For the view that al-Khidr died see Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Manar al-Munif (p. 67-76) with 'Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda's comprehensive notes. Ibn 'Ata' Allah in Lata'if al-Minan (1:84-98) flatly rejects this and showed that there is consensus among the Sufis that al-Khidr is alive. Among the strongest transmitted proofs to this effect are two reports, one narrated by Imam Ahmad in al-Zuhd whereby the Prophet said that Ilyas and al-Khidr meet every year and spend the month of Ramadan in al-Qudus, and the other narrated by Ya'qub ibn Sufyan from 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz whereby a man he was seen walking with was actually al-Khidr. Ibn Hajar declared the chain of the first fair and that of the second sound in Fath al-Bari (1959 ed. 6:435). He goes on to cite another sound report narrated by Ibn 'Asakir from Abu Zur'a al-Razi whereby the latter met al-Khidr twice, once in his young age, the other in his old age, but al-Khidr himself had not changed.
The hadith master al-Sakhawi stated:
"It is well-known that al-Nawawi used to meet with al-Khidr and converse with him among many other unveilings (mukashafat)."
Al-Sakhawi, Tarjima Shaykh al-Islam Qutb al-Awliya' al-Kiram wa Faqih al-Anam Muhyi al-Sunna wa Mumit al-Bid'a Abi Zakariyya Muhyi al-Din al-Nawawi ("Biography of the Shaykh of Islam, the Pole of the Noble Saints and Jurist of Mankind, the Reviver of the Sunna and Slayer of Innovation Abu Zakariyya Muhyiddin al-Nawawi") (Cairo: Jam'iyya al-Nashr wa al-Ta'lif al-Azhariyya, 1354/1935 p. 33).
Al-Barzanji in his book al-Isha'a li Ashrat al-Sa'a (1997 ed. p. 279-281; 1995 ed. p. 204-205) lists proofs to the effect that al-Khidr - peace upon him -- is alive and shall face and belie the Antichrist (al-Dajjal), as he is the one meant in the hadith whereby a man faces the Antichrist and belies him, whereupon the latter saws him in half then revives him only to be belied again.
Narrated from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri by Abu Ya'la in his Musnad (2:332) and al-Hakim (1984 ed. 4:581=orig. ed. 4:537), both with a chain containing 'Atiyya ibn Sa'd who is weak, and with another chain (by Abu Ya'la 2:535) containing Sufyan ibn Waki' who is weak;
also narrated from Abu Umama al-Bahili by Ibn Majah in his Sunan (book of Fitan) with a chain containing Isma'il ibn Rafi', who is weak in his memorization;
also narrated by Nu'aym ibn Hammad (d. 288) in Kitab al-Fitan (2:551) who said: al-Zuhri said: 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Abd Allah [ibn] 'Utba narrated to us that Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said... The latter is a sound chain but there are several unnamed links between Nu'aym and al-Zuhri. Also narrated by al-Dani (d. 444) in his book al-Sunan fi al-Fitan (6:1178) but with a chain that stops at the Tabi'i Abu Mijlaz.
None of the weakness mentioned above in the chains raised to the Prophet is grave. If the weak links are at the same levels of the narrators' biographical layers and are judged to strengthen each other, it would raise the grade of the hadith to "fair due to corroborative/witness chains" (hasan li ghayrih), and Allah knows best.
It is confirmed by the hadith related from Abu 'Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah whereby the Prophet said: "It may be that one of those who saw me and heard my speech shall meet the Dajjal."
Narrated by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih (15:181) with a weak chain according to Shaykh Shu'ayb Arna'ut, however, Imam al-Tirmidhi in his Sunan said it is also narrated from three other Companions and thus graded the hadith itself "fair and single-chained (hasan gharib) as narrated from Abu 'Ubayda."
3 See Hilmi's 284-entry bibliography in al-Burhan al-Azhar as well as the books of Prof. Michel Chodkiewicz (The Seal of Saints and An Ocean Without Shore) and his daughter Prof. Claude Addas (Quest for the Red Sulphur).
4 In al-Suyuti, Tanbih al-Ghabi (p. 71).
5 In Ibn 'Imad, Shadharat al-Dhahab (5:200).
6 Cf. al-Suyuti's Tanbih al-Ghabi (p. 52-54).
7 Al-Suyuti, Tanbih al-Ghabi fi Takhti'a Ibn 'Arabi (p. 17-21).
The correct title has tanzih instead of takhti'a as in Hajji Khalifa's Kashf al-Zunun (1:488) and al-Qari's works.
8 Al-Suyuti, Tanbih al-Ghabi (p. 59-60).
9 In al-Suyuti, Tanbih al-Ghabi (p. 70).
10. Al-Qari, Risala fi Wahda al-Shuhud (p. 62).
11 Ibn al-Najjar, Dhayl Tarikh Baghdad as quoted in al-Suyuti, Tanbih al-Ghabi (p. 64-66) and in Ibn Hajar, Lisan al-Mizan (5:311 #1038).
12. As related from al-Biqa'i by al-Suyuti in Tanbih al-Ghabi (p. 40-41).
13. As related from al-Biqa'i by al-Suyuti in Tanbih al-Ghabi (p. 42-43).
14. In Shadharat al-Dhahab (5:190).
15. Al-Qari wrote Firr al-'Awn in reply to him.
16. Al-Qari addresses it towards the end of Firr al-'Awn (p. 142f.).
17 See Ibn Hajar, Inba' al-Ghumr bi A'mar al-'Umr (3:403-404), year 831.
18. In Hilmi, al-Burhan al-Azhar (p. 32-33).
19Ibid. (p. 34).
20 As narrated from Mr. Orfan Rabbat from Shaykh Badr al-Din's grandson Muhammad Badr al-Din. On Shaykh Badr al-Din al-Hasani see the biography by his student Shaykh Mahmud al-Rankusi entitled al-Durar al-Lu'lu'iyya fi al-Nu'ut al-Badriyya (Damascus, 1951).
21Al-Qasimi, Qawa'id al-Tahdith (p. 348-351).
22In Ibn 'Imad, Shadharat al-Dhahab (5:192).
[2] Ibn `Arabi by GF Haddad ©
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