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Ibrāhīm al-Kūrānī (d. 1101/1690), an Apologist for waḥdat al-wujūd
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 September 2009
Extract
Few Islamic teachings can boast the fame, if not the notoriety, enjoyed by the doctrine of “unity of existence”, also known as “unity of being” (waḥdat al-wujūd). This controversialphilosophical doctrine became intimately associated with the towering figure of the Arabmystic of al-Andalus, Muḥyī'l-Dīn Ibn 'Arabī (d. 638/1240). Although Ibn 'Arabī himselfdoes not seem to have applied this ambiguous term to his loosely structured meta physical speculations, it gained wide currency among his followers starting from the celebrated Anatolian thinker Ṣadr al-Dīh al-Qūnawī (d. 673/1274).
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References
1 See, e.g. Morris, J., “Ibn 'Arabī and his interpreters”, JAOS, CVI/3 (1986), pp. 539–64; CVI/4 (1986), pp. 733–56; CVII/1 (1987), pp. 101–20;Google Scholar Chittick, W., “Mysticism versus philosophy in earlier Islamic history: the al-Tūsī al-Qūnawī correspondence”, Religious Studies (Cambridge), XVII (1981), pp. 87–104.Google Scholar
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6 See e.g. Voll, , “Linking groups”, passim.Google Scholar Characteristically, the author of this article was apparently unaware of the history of the Mizjājī scholarly family, which he examines, prior to the seventeenth century. That the Mizjājī, played an active role in the religious life of Yemen at least two centuries earlier is evident from my “Ibn 'Arabī in the Yemen: his admirers and detractors”, Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn 'ArabT Society, XI (Oxford, 1992). pp. 38–63.Google Scholar
7 Al-Kūrānī was the author of more than 100 books and treatises, see Guillaume, Alfred, “Al-Lum'at al-saniya fi taḥqīq al-ilqā” fi-l-umniya”, BSOAS, VIII (1957), p. 291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8 Though A. H. Johns of the Australian National University promised to publish the text of its manuscript and to translate it (see Johns, A. H., “Al-Kūrānī”, Ei, 2nd. ed., v, pp. 432–3Google Scholar and idem, “Islam in Southeast Asia: problems and perspectives”, Southeast Asian History and Historiography. Essays presented to D. G. E. Hall (Ithaca, 1976), pp. 316–19), this has not yet been accomplished.Google Scholar
9 Ibid.
10 Johns, , “Islam in Southeast Asia”, p. 317.Google Scholar Al-Kūrānī's short treatises were probably written after the completion of the Itḥaf, since he often refers his reader to the text of this longer work, see e.g. Maslak al-ta'rīf bi-taḥqīq al-taklīf, in Majmū'a, Yahuda Collection, #3869, 65a.
11 See note 7.
12 This scandalous idea became emblematic of the school of Ibn 'Arabī, and was shared by the majority of its representatives and sympathizers. It was, for the first time, stated in Ibn 'Arabī's FuṢūṢ al-ḥikam, see Austin, R. W. J., Ibn al-ArabT: The Bezels of Wisdom (New York, Ramsey and Toronto, 1980), pp. 249–50 and 265–6, and has been reiterated by his opponents ever since. For the debate it aroused in Muslim scholarly circles see my forthcoming book, Ibn 'Arabī in the Later Islamic Tradition: History of a Polemic.Google Scholar
13 See Homerin, Th. Emil, “Ibn Arabi in the People's Assembly: religion, press, and politics in Sadat's Egypt”, The Middle East Journal, XL/3 (summer 1986), pp. 462–77.Google Scholar
14 The main stages and figures of anti-Ibn 'Arabī polemic are discussed in my forthcoming book, Ibn 'Arabī in the Later Islamic Tradition: History of a Polemic.
15 Cf. Johns, , “Islam in Southeast Asia”, p. 317.Google Scholar
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17 It should be noted that this distinction constitutes one of the hallmarks of Avicennan philosophy, which al-Kūrānī, following al-Qūnawī and his disciples, adopts as a starting point for his speculations. As in the case of Ibn 'Arabī, al-Kūrānī unequivocally recognises his indebtedness to the great Muslim thinker by quoting the titles of his writings, namely al-Shifā and al-Ishārāt, Johns, “Islam in Southeast Asia”, p. 317.
18 Al-Kūrānī Maslak al-ta'rīf 62b.
19 See Knysh, A., “Ibn 'Arabī in the later Islamic tradition”, in Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabī(A.D. 1165–1240): Volume of Translations and Studies Commemorating the 750th Anniversary of His Life and Work, ed. by Hirtenstein, S. and Tiernan, M. (Brisbane, 1993), pp. 307–27.Google Scholar
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21 al-Qushāshī, Ahmad, Al-Simṭ al-majīd (Haidarabad, A.H. 1327), p. 183.Google Scholar
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23 See al-Maqbalī, Ṣālih b. al-Mahdī, Al-'Alam al-shāmikh (Cairo, nd), passim. A detailed treatment of his attack on Ibn 'Arabī's outlook can be found in my forthcoming book.Google Scholar
24 Quoted in Cook, Michael. “On the origins of Wahhabism”, JRAS, Third Series, II (1992), pp. 191–202.Google Scholar
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