1st Edition
Ibn ‘Arabī’s Religious Pluralism Levels of Inclusivity
This book marks a significant contribution to the debate around Ibn ʿArabī’s religious pluralism, focusing on his multifaceted approach to non-Abrahamic religions.
For nearly eight hundred years, the writings and ideas of the great Spanish Sufi master Ibn ʿArabī have shaped Islamic intellectual and spiritual culture, from North and West Africa and France on the one hand, to Iran, the Levant, Central Asia, and the Far East on the other. Modern scholarship on the “Greatest Master” is consequently at an all-time high. This book weighs in on a well-known aspect of his religious worldview, namely his perspective on religious pluralism, but does so from an entirely different angle. Offering a very close reading of his major works, newly translated by the author, and paying particular attention to a highly developed celestial metaphor prompted by his encounter with a group of pagan sun-worshippers, the book offers new insights into the nature and scope of Ibn ʿArabī’s understanding of Islamic inclusivism. Ultimately, the book contributes to our understanding of both interfaith dialogue and the history of world religions through the prism of Ibn ʿArabī’s work.
The book will be of particular interest to students and scholars working in a range of fields, including Islamic philosophy, Sufism, and intellectual history.
Introduction: Ibn ʿArabī between Exclusivism and Inclusivism 1. The Muḥammadan Way 2. Mercy and the Jizya 3. Rethinking Ibn ʿArabī? 4. Sun-Worshippers and Polytheists 5. Non-Prophetic Laws and Ways Conclusion – Levels of Inclusivity
Biography
Faris Abdel-hadi is an independent researcher, writer and publisher. With a background in commercial law, Abdel-hadi delivers lectures, seminars and workshops around the world on the subject of Sufism, Islamic philosophy and intellectual history.
"Developed to answer an inquiry on the exact scope of the religious pluralism of 13th century Muslim Polymath and Sufi, Ibn ʿArabī, this valuable study unravels the strata of complexity in the trends of pluralism one finds in Ibn ʿArabī’s writings on religions. Acknowledging the taken-for-granted belief in his pluralism, the author invites us to reconsider the nature and extent of this pluralism from the perspective of the theology of religions’ tripod of ‘exclusivism-inclusivism-pluralism’, and he argues that this religious plurality can be better interpreted from the perspective of the notion of inclusivism: Ibn ʿArabī was, rather, inclusivist in his approach to other religions, as he believed that the Muhammadan Law includes all of them under its jurisdiction. Eventually, we are offered a fresh, inviting and far from simplistically reductionist examination of Ibn ʿArabī’s legacy into ‘pluralist-or-not-pluralist’ conundrum. The book will be quite useful to scholars and students, and will ably invite deeper explorations and greater intertextuality of the heritage of this very important Muslim scholar."
Najib George Awad, International Center for Comparative Theology and Social Issues (CTSI), Bonn University, Germany
"This book makes a significant contribution to the ongoing interpretative debate surrounding Ibn ‘Arabī's stance on religious pluralism, a key issue in the emerging field of Islamic Theology of Religions. It skillfully avoids simplistic, partial, or ideological interpretations, offering instead a more complex and nuanced perspective."
Adnane Mokrani, Pontificia Università Gregoriana, Italy
"A thought-provoking contribution to Akbarian studies that will generate much debate and discussion."
Mohammed Rustom, author of Inrushes of the Heart: The Sufi Philosophy of ʿAyn al-Quḍāt, Carleton University, Canada
