Asceticism as Renouncing and Embracing the World in Ibn ‘Arabī’s Radical Metaphysics
Religions August 24, 2023 DOI: 10.3390/rel14091092 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 4 |
| Key points | Argues that Ibn 'Arabī redefines asceticism (zuhd) to include not only world-renunciation but also world-embrace, since the cosmos manifests God's 'most beautiful Names' while God's apophatic essence remains beyond comprehension. Ibn 'Arabī presents the renunciant form through Prophet Idrīs and the world-embracing form through Prophet Ilyās in Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, then combines both in the chapter on Prophet Muḥammad. |
Abstract
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.