Ibnul Arabi Thoughts about God

Introduction:

Today we're talking about Islamic scholar, philosopher, mystic, and poet Ibnul Arabi (Ibn Al Arabi), and his ideas and concept of God, often summed up as the Unity of Being. Ibnul Arabi is called "The Greatest Sheikh" and he was both a revered and a controversial figure in Islamic history.

Ibnul Arabi was born in 1165 Murcia, Spain which was then called Andalusia. He has written hundreds of works, only some of which have been translated into English. Very few people could claim to have read them all and fewer still could claim to understand them; but his works are important because they've had an immense impact inside of, and outside of, the Islamic world. So what then is Ibnul Arabi's concept of God? Let’s start the topic.

Ibnul Arabi Thoughts about God

God in Islamic theology and for Ibnul Arabi is the Absolute, Eternal, Everlasting, Boundless, Omnipotent, and Omnipresent. God, in fact, has limitless Names and Attributes. God exists through his Essence which is largely unknown, there is nothing like God.

In Ibnul Arabi's cosmological perspective, God is the first existent within spiritual creation, in order to make manifest the Divine Attributes or the Divine Names. He brought the world into existence to make manifest the authority of the Names, since power without an object, a provider without one provided for, a helper without someone helped, and a possessor of compassion without an object of compassion, would be realities whose effects are nullified.

For Ibnul Arabi the Absolute is The Real, The Truth, and The One. You have the Absolute, and then the Essence is an aspect of the Absolute that has Attributes. The Divine Names are indicative of said Attributes. Creation is a reflection of those Divine Names, but Ibnul Arabi, like other Sufi philosophers, presents a stricter view of Islamic monotheism.

For Ibnul Arabi, God or the Real is the only necessary being that cannot exist, all else is in fact dependent on God. For the creation "being" is on loan. A creature does not own its "being" and can never be independent in itself or do without him who lends it "being". A creature is a mere potential contingent on the only real. Therefore nothing can be said to be truly real but God. Thus nothing truly exists but God.

What About Creation and the existence we experience around us?

If according to Ibnul Arabi only God exists then what about creation and the existence we experience around us? If only God exists then does that mean that creation is God as well? Yes, and no. Creation is but a reflection of the truly real. As per Ibnul Arabi what we perceive as reality in the sensible world around us can be likened to a dream or illusion, or rather a mere reflection or shadow of the real. To put it another way, all men are essentially asleep in this world until they pass away or attain a level of spiritual realization before death.

However, this dreamlike or illusory state of creation is not valueless nor is it false. It simply means being a "symbolic reflection of something truly real". Consider this Mirror Metaphor, Ibnul Arabi spoke of god as a mirror of the world. A mirror image is both the mirror and the object that it reflects, or the image is neither the mirror nor the object.

Thus creation can be viewed as God, or not Him. With respect to humanity, Ibn 'Arabi also spoke of man as a Mirror of God. The cosmic mirror reflects the divine names of which Adam, or mankind, is the spirit of reflection. And once this mirror is polished and flat, God can be reflected splendidly, and the "otherness" of the mirror can be totally effaced so divine reality and humanity can be perfectly aligned.

Is God Transcendent or Imminent?

Now is a question that is God than merely transcendent and separate from creation? Yes and no. God is both transcendent and immanent. God is self-sufficient and not reliant on any relationship with the cosmos or creation. Then what about God's immanence? The Absolute we are reminded of is both far and near to creation, incomparable and comparable to creatures. All creation is the direct self-disclosure and manifestation of the Real and the divine names.

The Quran for instance accentuates the nearness of God to his creatures and uses creaturely qualities to explain God. God is nearer to a man than his jugular vein. God is intimately aware of his creatures and everywhere you turn is the face of God. God is hearing and seeing and so on. God has breathed from his own spirit into Adam. In the Hadith, told that God made man in his own image. We are left therefore to embrace the paradox here. Each thing is at once far from god and near to God, incomparable to god and comparable to God, imbued with god's spirit and substance, yet differentiated from Him.

According to William Chittick, the world which appears as unreality and illusion is in fact nothing but the one real showing His signs. Rather than excluding all things, God's unity includes them. Suffice to say there is none like unto God. To add another layer of understanding we look at Ibnul Arabi's ideas on cosmic unification or rather an inter-penetration of attributes with the divine, especially in his treatment of the prophet Abraham.

Let me explain, for Ibnul Arabi God is light. The creature is also light but something added and individuated. The return of the creature to God through prayer and good actions can be described as "light upon light". Abraham therefore through his reaching to god and as a most intimate friend of God was able to enjoy an interpenetration of attributes with the divine or to experience the divine much like the dying of a garment where the color permeates the cloth.

Ibnul Arabi Says in the Bezels of Wisdom

Abraham was called the intimate of God because he had embraced and penetrated the Attributes of the divine Essence and then did not cease approaching God with good acts until God loved him. This love consists of the penetration by the divine spirit which courses through every organ and limb of the servant's body. Therefore the Real becomes his hearing and seeing and all faculties. The Real then becomes manifest in the form of his servant and vice versa.

Conclusion:

God in Islamic theology and for Ibnul Arabi is the Absolute, Eternal, Everlasting, Boundless, Omnipotent, and Omnipresent. God exists through his Essence which is largely unknown, there is nothing like God. For Ibnul Arabi the Absolute is The Real, The Truth, and The One. Ibnul Arabi, like other Sufi philosophers, presents a stricter view of Islamic monotheism. We cannot fully capture all his thoughts and ideas in one article, so do look at the other article on milliondollarknowledge.com, and never forget to share it with your friends. Thank you so much for tuning in and taking the time Peace.

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