July 28
July 28
Events
- 1808 – Mahmud II became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
- 2010 – Airblue Flight 202 crashes into the Margalla Hills north of Islamabad, Pakistan, killing all 152 people aboard. It is the deadliest aviation accident in Pakistan history and the first involving an Airbus A321.
- 2017 – Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif was disqualified from office for life by Supreme Court of Pakistan after finding him guilty of corruption charges.
Births
- 1863 – Huseyn Khan Nakhchivanski, Russian general (d. 1919)
- 1946 – Fahmida Riaz, Pakistani poet and activist
- 1950 – Shahyar Ghanbari, Iranian singer-songwriter
- 1971 – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Iraqi leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- 1983 – Sam Dastyari, Iranian-Australian politician
- 1986 – Dulquer Salmaan, Indian actor
Deaths
- 1935 – Meletius IV of Constantinople (b. 1871)
- 1965 – Attallah Suheimat, Jordanian politician (b. 1875)
- 2001 – Ahmed Sofa, Bangladeshi poet, author, and critic (b. 1943)
- 2011 – Abdul Fatah Younis, Libyan general (b. 1944)
- 2013 – Mustafa Adrisi, Ugandan general and politician, 3rd Vice President of Uganda (b. 1922)
- 2014 – Alakbar Mammadov, Azerbaijani footballer and manager (b. 1930)
Holidays and Observances
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17 Ramadan, 560 AH (July 28, 1165) -- Ibn 'Arabi, an Andalusian Muslim scholar, mystic, poet, and philosopher, was born.
Ibn 'Arabi, full name Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-'Arabi al-Hatimi al-Ta'i al-Andalusi al-Mursi al-Dimashqi (b. 17 Ramadan, 560 AH [July 28, 1165 CC], Murcia, Taifa of Murcia, [now Murcia, Region of Murcia, Spain] - d. 22 Rabi' al-Thani, 638 AH [November 8, 1240 CC], Salihiyya, Damascus, Ayyubid dynasty), was extremely influential within Islamic thought. Out of the 850 works attributed to him, some 700 are authentic while over 400 are still extant. His cosmological teachings became the dominant worldview in many parts of the Muslim world.
Ibn 'Arabi is renowned among practitioners of Sufism by the names al-Shaykj al-Akbar ("The Greatest Shaykh", from whom the Akbariyya or Akbarian school derives its name) and Muhyiddin ibn 'Arabi. Ibn 'Arabi is also known as Shaikh-e-Akbar Mohi-ud-Din Ibn-e-Arabi throughout the Middle East. By any of these names, he is considered a saint.
'Abd 'Abdullah Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn 'Arabi al-Hatimi at-Ta'i was born in Murcia, Spain on the 17th of Ramadan, 560 AH. Ibn 'Arabi was Sunni, although his writings on the Twelve Imams were also popularly received among the Shi'a.
After his death, Ibn 'Arabi's teachings quickly spread throughout the Islamic world. His writings were not limited to the Muslim elites, but made their way into other ranks of society through the widespread reach of the Sufi orders. 'Arabi's work also popularly spread through works in Persian, Turkish, and Urdu. Many popular poets were trained in the Sufi orders and were inspired by 'Arabi's concepts.
Other scholars in his time, like al-Munawi, Ibn 'Imad al-Hanbali and al-Fayruzabadi, all praised Ibn 'Arabi as "A righteous friend of Allah and faithful scholar of knowledge", "the absolute mujtahid without doubt" and "the imam of the people of shari'a both in knowledge and in legacy, the educator of the people of the way in practice and in knowledge, and the shaykh of the shaykhs of the people of truth through spiritual experience (dhawq) and understanding."
Ibn 'Arabi's paternal ancestry was from the South Arabian tribe of Tayy, and his maternal ancestry was North African Berber. Al-Arabi writes of a deceased maternal uncle, Yahya ibn Yughan al-Sanhaji, a prince of Tlemcen, who abandoned wealth for an ascetic life after encountering a Sufi mystic. His father, 'Ali ibn Muhammad, served in the Army of Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Sa'd ibn Mardanish, the ruler of Murcia. When Ibn Mardanish died in 1172 CC, his father shifted allegiance to the Almohad Sultan, Abu Ya'qub Yusuf I, and returned to government service. His family then relocated from Murcia to Seville. Ibn 'Arabi grew up at the ruling court and received military training.
As a young man, Ibn 'Arabi became secretary to the governor of Seville. He married Maryam, a woman from an influential family.
As a child, Ibn 'Arabi preferred playing with his friends to spending time on religious education. He had his first vision of God in his teens and later wrote of the experience as "the differentiation of the universal reality comprised by that look". Later he had several more visions of Jesus and called him his "first guide to the path of God". His father, on noticing the change in him, had mentioned this to philosopher and judge, Ibn Rushd (Averroes), who asked to meet Ibn 'Arabi. Ibn 'Arabi said that from this first meeting, he had learned to perceive a distinction between formal knowledge of rational thought and the unveiling insights into the nature of things. He then adopted Sufism and dedicated his life to the spiritual path. When he later moved to Fez, in Morocco, where Mohammed ibn Qasim al-Tamimi became his spiritual mentor. In 1200, Ibn 'Arabi took final leave from his master Yusuf al-Kumi, then living in the town of Sale.
Ibn 'Arabi left Andalusia for the first time at the age of 36 and arrived in Tunis in 1193. After a year in Tunisia, he returned to Andalusia in 1194. His father died soon after Ibn 'Arabi arrived at Seville. When his mother died some months later he left Andalusia for the second time and travelled with his two sisters to Fez, Morocco, in 1195. He returned to Cordoba, Andalusia, in 1198, and left Andalusia crossing from Gibraltar for the last time in 1200. While there, he received a vision instructing him to journey east. After visiting some places in the Maghreb, he left Tunisia in 1201 and arrived for the Hajj in 1202. He lived in Mecca for three years, and there began writing his work Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya -- "The Meccan Illuminations".
After spending time in Mecca, Ibn 'Arabi traveled throughout Syria, Palestine, Iraq and Anatolia. In 1204, Ibn 'Arabi met Shaykh Majduddin Ishaq ibn Yusuf, a native of Malatya and a man of great standing at the Seljuk court. At that time, Ibn 'Arabi was traveling north. Ibn 'Arabi and Shaykh Majduddin visited Medina and, in 1205, they entered Baghdad. This visit offered him a chance to meet the direct disciples of Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir Jilani.
Ibn 'Arabi stayed in Baghdad only for twelve days because he wanted to visit Mosul to see his friend 'Ali ibn 'Abdallah ibn Jami, a disciple of the mystic Qadib al-Ban (471-573 AH/1079-1177 CC). In Mosul, Ibn 'Arabi spent the month of Ramadan and composed Tanazzulat al-Mawsiliyya, Kitab al-Jalal wa'l-Jamal ("The Book of Majesty and Beauty") and Kunh ma la Budda lil-MuridMinhu.
In the year 1206, Ibn 'Arabi visited Jerusalem, Mecca and Egypt. It was his first time that he passed through Syria, visiting Aleppo and Damascus. Later, in 1207, Ibn 'Arabi returned to Mecca where he continued to study and write, spending his time with his friend Abu Shuja bin Rustem and family, including Nizam. The next four to five years of Ibn 'Arabi's life were spent in these lands and he also kept traveling and holding reading sessions of his works.
On 22 Rabi' al-Thani, 638 AH (November 8, 1240 CC), Ibn 'Arabi died in Damascus.
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On Islamic Law
Although Ibn 'Arabi stated on more than one occasion that he did not blindly follow any one of the schools of Islamic jurisprudence, he was responsible for copying and preserving books of the Zahirite or literalist school.
Ibn 'Arabi did delve into specific details at times, and was known for his view that religiously binding consensus could only serve as a source of sacred law if it was the consensus of the first generation of Muslims who had witnessed revelation directly.
Ibn 'Arabi also expounded on Sufi Allegories of the Sharia, building upon previous work by Al-Ghazali and al-Hakim al-Timidhi.
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Al-Insan al-Kamil
The doctrine of the perfect man -- Al-Insan al-Kamil -- is popularly considered an honorific title attibuted to Muhammad having its origins in Islamic mysticism, although the concepts' origion is controversial and disputed. Ibn 'Arabi may have first coined this term in referring to Adam as found in his work Fusus al-hikam, explained as an individual who binds himself with the Divine and creation.
Taking an idea already common within Sufi culture, Ibn 'Arabi applied deep analysis and reflection on the concept of a perfect human and one's pursuit in fulfilling this goal. In developing his explanation of the perfect being, Ibn 'Arabi first discusses the issue of oneness through the metaphor of the mirror.
In this philosophical metaphor, Ibn 'Arabi compares an object being reflected in countless mirrors to the relationship between God and his creatures. God's essences is seen in the existent human being, as God is the object and human beings the mirrors. Meaning two things; that since humans are mere reflections of God there can be no distinction or separation between the two and, without God the creatures would be non-existent. When an individual understands that there is no separation between human and God they begin on the path of ultimate oneness. The one who decides to walk in this oneness pursues the true reality and responds to God's longing to be known. The search within for this reality of oneness causes one to be reunited with God, as well as, improve self-consciousness.
The perfect human, through this developed self-consciousness and self-realization, prompts divine self-manifestation. This causes the perfect human to be of both divine and earthly origin. Ibn 'Arabi expressed that through self-manifestation one acquires divine knowledge, which he called the primordial spirit of Muhammad and all its perfection. Ibn 'Arabi details that the perfect human is of the cosmos to the divine and conveys the divine spirit to the cosmos.
Ibn 'Arabi further explained the perfect man concept using at least twenty-two different descriptions and various aspects when considering the Logos. He contemplated the Logos, or "Universal Man", as a mediation between the individual human and the divine essence.
Ibn 'Arabi believed Muhammad to be the primary perfect man who exemplifies the morality of God. He regarded the first entity brought into existence was the reality or essence of Muhammad (al-haqiqa al-Muhammadiyya), master of all creatures, and a primary role-model for human beings to emulate. Ibn 'Arabi believed that God's attributes and names are manifested in this world, with the most complete and perfect display of these divine attributes and names seen in Muhammad. Ibn 'Arabi believed that one may see God in the mirror of Muhammad. He maintained that Muhammad was the best proof of God and, by knowing Muhammad, one knows God.
Ibn 'Arabi also described Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and all other prophets and various Anbiya' Allah (Muslim messengers) as perfect men, but never tires of attibuting lordship, inspirational source, and highest rank to Muhammad. Ibn 'Arabi compares his own status as a perfect man as being but a single dimension to the comprehensive perfection of Muhammad.
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Works of Ibn 'Arabi
Some 800 works are attributed to Ibn 'Arabi, although only some have been authenticated. Over 100 of his works have survived in manuscript form, although most printed versions have not yet been critically edited and include many errors. Some of Ibn 'Arabi's most notable works include:
* The Meccan Illuminations (Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya), Ibn 'Arabi's largest work in 37 volumes originally and published in four or eight volumes in modern times, discussing a wide range of topics from mystical philosophy to Sufi practices and records of his dreams/visions. It totals 560 chapters. In modern editiong, it amounts to some 15,000 pages.
{Ibn 'Arabi began writing Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya after he arrived in Mecca in 1202 CC. After almost thirty years, the first draft of Futuhat was completed in December 1231 CC (629 AH), and Ibn 'Arabi bequeathed it to his son. Two years before his death, Ibn 'Arabi embarked on a second draft of the Futuhat in 1238 CC (636 AH), which included a number of additions and deletions as compared with the previous draft. It was the second draft which became the most widely circulated and used. The second draft was bequeathed to Ibn 'Arabi's disciple, Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi. Although many scholars have attempt to translate the Futuhat from Arabic into other languages, but there is no complete translation of Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya to this day.}
* The Ringstones of Wisdom (also translated as The Bezels of Wisdom), or Fusus al-Hikam. Composed during the later period of Ibn 'Arabi's life, the work is sometimes considered his most important and can be characterized as a summary of his teachings and mystical beliefs. It deals with the role played by various prophets in divine revelation.
* The Diwan, his collection of poetry spanning five volumes, mostly unedited. The printed versions available are based on only one volume of the original work.
* The Holy Spirit in the Counseling of the Soul (Ruh al-quds), a treatise on the soul which includes a summary of his experience from different spiritual masters in the Maghrib. Part of this has been translated as Sufis of Andalusia, reminiscences and spiritual anecdotes about many interesting people who Ibn 'Arabi met in al-Andalus.
* Contemplation of the Holy Mysteries (Mashahid al-Asrar), probably his first major work, consisting of fourteen visions and dialogues with God.
* Divine Sayings (Mishkat al-Anwar), an important collection made by Ibn 'Arabi of 101 hadith qudsi -- "sacred sayings" which some Muslims regard as the words of God.
* The Book of Annihilation in Contemplation (Kitab al-Fana' fi'l-Mushahada), a short treatise on the meaning of mystical annihilation (fana).
* Devotional Prayers (Awrad), a widely read collection of fourteen prayers for each day and night of the week.
* Journey to the Lord of Power (Risalat al-Anwar), a detailed technical manual and roadmap for the "journey without distance".
* The Book of God's Days (Ayyam al-Sha'n), a work on the nature of time and the different kinds of days experienced by gnostics.
* The Fabulous Gryphon of the West ('Unqa' Mughrib), a book on the meaning of sainthood and its culmination in Jesus and the Mahdi.
* The Universal Tree amd the Four Birds (Al-Ittihad al-Kawni), a poetic book on the Complete Human and the four principles of existence.
* Prayer for Spiritual Elevation and Protection ('al-Dawr al-A'la), a short prayer which is still widely used in the Muslim world.
*The Interpreter of Desires (Tarjuman al-Ashwaq), a collection of nasibs (erotic or amatory preludes to the type of long poem called a qasidah) which, in response to critics, Ibn 'Arabi republished with a commentary explaining the meaning of the poetic symbols.
* Divine Governance of the Human Kingdom (At-Tadbidrat al-ilahiyyah fi islah al-mamlakat al-insaniyyah).
* The Four Pillars of Spiritual Transformation (Hilyat al-abdal), a short work on the essentials of the spiritual path.
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Ibn 'Arabi Quotes
"How can the heart travel to God, when it is chained by its desires?"
"I believe in the religion of Love, whatever direction its caravans may take, for Love is my religion and my faith."
"Do not praise your own faith exclusively so that you disbelieve all the rest. If you do this you will miss much good. Nay, you will miss the whole truth of the matter. God, the Omniscient and the Omnipresent, cannot be confined to any one creed, for He says in the Qur'an, wheresoever ye turn, there is the face of Allah. Everybody praises what he knows. His God is his own creature, and in praising it, he praises himself. Which he would not do if he were just, for his dislike is based on ignorance."
"God sleeps in the rock, dreams in the plant, stirs in the animal, and awakens in man."
"The ignorant one does not see his ignorance as he basks in its darkness; nor does the knowledgeable one see his own knowledge, for he basks in its light."
"Beware of confining yourself to a particular belief and denying all else, for much good would elude you -- indeed, the knowledge of reality would elude you. Be in yourself a matter for all forms of belief, for God is too vast and tremendous to be restricted to one belief rather than another."
"If you find it complicated to answer someone's question, do not answer it, for his container is already full and does not have room for the answer."
"When you know yourself, your "I"ness vanishes and you know that you and Allah are one and the same."
"Whoever builds his faith exclusively on demonstrative proofs and deductive arguments, builds a faith on which it is impossible to rely. For he is affected by the negativities of constant objections. Certainty (al-yaqin) does not derive from the evidences of the mind but pours out from the depths of the heart."
"I am in love with no other than myself, and my very separation is my union ... I am my beloved and my lover; I am my knight and my maiden."
"There was a time, when I blamed my companion if his religion did not resemble mine. Now, however, my heart accepts every form ... Love alone is my religion."
"Your personal nature seeks its paradise."
"It is He who is revealed in every face, sought in every sign, gazed upon by every eye, worshiped in every object of worship, and pursued in the unseen and the visible. Not a single one of His creatures can fail to find Him in its primordial and original nature."
"Oh, Lord, nourish me not with love, but with the desire for love."
"My heart has become capable of every form: It is a pasture for gazelles and a monastery for Christian monks, and the pilgrim's Ka'ba, and the tablets of Torah, and the book of the Qur'an. I follow the religion of Love: Whatever way Love's camel takes, that is my religion, my faith."
"I follow the Way of Love, and where Love's caravan takes its path, there is my religion, my faith."
"You are My sight, so have faith. You are My Face, so veil yourself. "
"While you are alive, your worldly self is like a collector of benefits from Allah's bounties, which come to you from myriads of hands."
"Each person is oriented toward a quest for his personal invisible guide, or ... he entrusts himself to the collective, magisterial authority as the intermediary between himself and Revelation."
"None but God is loved in the exist-ent things. It is He who is manifest within every beloved to the eye of every lover -- and there is nothing in the existent realm that is not a lover."
"My heart can be pasture for deer and a convent for monks, a temple for idols and a Ka'ba for the pilgrims. It is both the tables of the Torah and the Qur'an. It professes the religion of Love wherever its caravans are heading. Love is my law. Love is my faith."
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Poetry of Ibn 'Arabi
My heart can take on any form:
A meadow for gazelles,
A cloister for monks,
For the idols, sacred ground,
Ka'ba for the circling pilgrim,
The tables of the Torah,
The scrools of the Qur'an.
My creed is Love;
Wherever its caravan turns along the way,
That is my belief,
My faith.
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Major Ideas Attributed to Ibn 'Arabi
God is simultaneously beyond all names and logical categories and immanent in God's own self-revelation through them.
God cannot be known dualistically, as an object by a subject.
Human consciousness is the prism and mirror in which the undifferentiated God reveals and refracts God's self into God's attributes.
God can only be known insofar as the human ego (self) passes away and God reveals God's self at the moment that the self passes away.
God in God's transcendent identity is beyond polarities of lord and servant, divine and non-divine.
The manifestations of God are in common flux.
God cannot be delimited or fixed in any single manifestation.
True understanding occurs only to those who are themselves in a state of constant self-transformation.
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Addas, Claude; Ibn Arabi: The Voyage of No Return; Islamic Texts Society, 2019.
Chittick, William C.; Ibn 'Arabi: Heir to the Prophets; Oneworld Publications, 2007.
Chodkiewicz, Michel; An Ocean Without Shore: Ibn Arabi, the Book, and the Law; SUNY Press, 1993.
Fitzpatrick, Coeli and Walker, Adam; Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture, ABC-CLIO, 2014.
Hirtenstein, Stephen; The Unlimited Mercifier: The Spiritual Life and Thought of Ibn 'Arabi; Anqa Publishing, 1999.
Khan, Muhammad Mojlum; The Muslim 100: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of the Most Influential Muslims in History; Kube Publishing Ltd., 2008.
Knysh, Alexander D.; Ibn 'Arabi in the Later Islamic Tradition: The Making of a Polemical Image in Medieval Islam; State University of New York Press, 2018.
Lipton, Gregory A.; Rethinking Ibn 'Arabi; Oxford University Press, 2018.
McGreal, Ian P., ed.; Greath Thinkers of the Eastern World; Harper Collins, 1995.
Renard, John; Tales of God's Friends: Islamic Hagiography in Translation; University of California Press, 2009.
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