Asceticism as Renouncing and Embracing the World in Ibn 'Arabī's Radical Metaphysics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3454264 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ismail Lala (0000-0002-1089-7478, Gulf University for Science & Technology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 9 |
| Pages | 1092 |
| Publication date | 2023-08-24 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel14091092 |
| OpenAlex | W4386119503 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 27 |
Asceticism or renunciation (zuhd) is generally viewed as turning away from the world and all it has to offer in order to connect to the divine. The well-known mystical theorist, Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn 'Arabī (d. 638/1240), adds a denotation of asceticism to this conventional definition. Ibn 'Arabī argues that the impetus for the creation of the cosmos was the divine wish to be known by something other than Itself. As the fulfilment of this wish, the universe is nothing but a manifestation of the cataphatic aspect of God described as His 'most beautiful Names' (al-Asmā' al-ḥusnā) in the Qur'an, which is not God as He truly is in His apophatic essence that can never be comprehended, much less manifested. This means that there are two forms of asceticism or connecting to the divine: one is to assert God's transcendence and His true apophatic nature by renouncing the world, while the other is to emphasise His comparability by embracing the world as a manifestation of God's most beautiful Names. Ibn 'Arabī presents the world-renouncing form of asceticism through the chapter of Prophet Idrīs in his most popular work, Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, and he presents the world-embracing from of asceticism through the chapter of Prophet Ilyās. He then combines both forms of asceticism in the chapter of Prophet Muḥammad
Art · Asceticism · Epistemology · Literature · Metaphysics · Mysticism · Nothing · Renunciation · Theology · Islamic Studies and History · Islamic Thought and Society Studies · Medieval and Classical Philosophy · Philosophy
Ethico-Religious Concepts in the Qur’ān
Knowing God
The Sufi Doctrine of Man
Introduction
The Existential Breath of al-rahmān and the Munificent Grace of al-rahīm
Exaltation of Women in the Chapter on Muḥammad in Ibn ʿArabī’s Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam
Muḥammad as the Qur’an in Ibn ‘Arabī’s Metaphysics
Transmigration in Plato
The Hanābila and the Early Sufis
On Fakhr al-Din al-Razi's Life and the Patronage He Received
What Is Meant by Zuhd
"Imam Ghazali's Cosmology Reconsidered with Special Reference to the Concept of "Jabarut
The Transition from Asceticism to Mysticism at the Middle of the Ninth Century C.E
The Second Coming of ‘Isa
The Five Divine Presences
Early Renunciants as Hadīth Transmitters
Notes on Ibn Al‐'arab?'s Influence in the Subcontinent
The Isnād and the Production of Cultural Memory
"An Analysis of Ibn ʿArabī's inshāʾ al-dawāʿ ir with Particular Reference to the Doctrine of the "Third Entity
The Spiritual Ascension
The Epistemic Status of Mystical Experience in Ibn ʻArabī's Legal Reasoning
Ibn ʿArabi and His Interpreters Part II (Conclusion)
| Citations per year | 0.67 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2023 - 2025 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |