He was born in Spain, under the Muslim rule, in the late 11 century. His religious education seems to be conservative; studying the Quran, hadith, grammar and fiqh. In his youth, he traveled seeking spiritual insights from a number of Sufi masters.[1]
The author of the Zahiris, Ignaz Goldziher, had written the following [2]
Among the Muslim theologians who joined the fiqh of the Zahirite school, which during the rule of the Almohades had achieved official recognition, the famous mystic Muhyi al-Din Ibn Arabi is also mentioned. Ibn Arabi was a Zahiri with respect to the ritual part of religion, but a Batini with respect to the article of faith (footnote is pointing to the book al-Maqqari, I, p. 567; Waraqat., p. 569).
Ignaz quoted a passage from ibn Arabi's book (futuhat) about the Mahdi. He added that Ibn Arabi went to great length to emphasize the Mahdi as someone who will frown the qiyas and ra'y, pretty much a follower of his sect, a Zahari.
Now, things are starting to get a little bit interesting. According to Ignaz, in one of Ibn Arabi's dreams, he (Ibn Arabi) saw the Holy Prophet (pbuh) embracing/hugging Ibn Hazam, the founder of Zahirite school. Ignaz concluded by saying
Thus the ardent champion of the Zahirite school (Ibn Hazm), branded and frowned upon by his contemporaries, was clothed with the halo of legend by the greatest mystic of a later era (Ibn Arabi) who himself was a Zahirite. All these incidents sufficiently illuminate the fact that the great theosopher (Ibn Arabi) followed the Zahirite in matters of jurisprudence. In this connection it is not surprising to learn that Ibn Arabi transmits with direct isnad statements which support this doctrine and in which ra'y, even from Abu Hanifah, is condemned.
Please continue reading part 2
Reference
[1] Campo, Juan E. (2009). Encyclopedia of Islam (Encyclopedia of World Religions). USA: Facts on File. ISBN 978-0-81-605454-1
[2] Ignaz Goldziher (2008). The Zahiris: Their Doctrine and their History. Brill. USA
As-salamu `alaykum.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting. JazakAllah Khayr for bringing this up, sister.
Coupled with Shaykh Hurr al-`Amuli's "Kitab al-Ithna `Ashariyya fi Radd `ala as-Sufiyya" (primarily his chapter on Ibn Arabi), this serves as an argument against Ibn Arabi from both the Shi`a and the `aamma.
salamulaykum
ReplyDeleteDo you have a link to this chapter (the refutation against Ibn Arabi and sufism)? I am interested to read it if I can find it somewhere.
Thanks for your note.
I goggled the title and found the material on the Tashayyu website. Please see this link http://www.tashayyu.org/kalam/radd-ala-s-sufiyya
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