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An Analysis of the Content of Waḥdat al-Wujūd: the Relationship between Essence and Existence

Year 2014, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 189 - 215, 08.07.2015
https://doi.org/10.12730/13091719.2014.52.108

Abstract

Discussions about “the unity of existence” (waḥdat al-wujūd), which is always considered together with the name of Ibn ʿArabī, are common not only in Sufism but also in almost all domains of Islamic thought. In this respect, the problem of the unity of existence is a notable and much-debated issue in the history of Islamic philosophy, which results in countless comments on and approaches to the matter. Nevertheless, no solid conclusion or solution is attained. This is primarily because of the lack of a precise explanation of the nature and content of the unity of existence manifested by Ibn ʿArabī and his followers. The unity of existence seems to have two basic principles that can be formulated as follows: “Existence as such is God, and immutable entities (al-aʿyān al-thābita), the truth of contingencies, are not created and existence is subsequently attached to truth.” These two elements exclusively determine whether a doctrine is the unity of existence, whereas the principles abovementioned are entirely grounded on discussions about the relationship between essence and existence. The first and second principles are conclusions of the following opinions, respectively: “The existence of Allah is identical with His essence” and “among contingent beings, the existence is subsequently added to the essence.” In this context, this study therefore seeks an evaluation not only of what unity of existence is but also of the importance of the relationship between essence and existence in terms of the unity of existence as a notable discussion point in Islamic thought.

References

  • Afīfī, Abū l-ʿAlā, Naẓariyyāt al-Islāmiyyīn fī l-kalima (The Logos) (Cairo: Maṭbaʿat al-Maʿhad al-ʿIlmī al-Faransī li-l-Āthār al-Sharqiyya, 1934).
  • Atay, Hüseyin, İbn Sina’da Varlık Nazariyesi (Ankara: Gelişim Matbaası, 1983).
  • Atay, Hüseyin, "Mâhiyet-Varlık Ayırımı," in Müjgan Cunbur and Orhan Doğan (eds.), Uluslararası İbn Sina Sempozyumu (Bildiriler) (Ankara: Başbakanlık Basımevi, 1984), 139-166.
  • al-Būsnawī, ʿAbd Allāh ʿAbdī ibn Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh, Kitāb al-qirār al-rūḥī al-mamdūd li-l-aḍyāf al-wāridīn min marātib al-wujūd (MS Istanbul: Süleymaniye Library, Cârullah Efendi, no. 2129), fols. 1a-27b.
  • Corbin, Henry, History of Islamic Philosophy (translated into English by Liadain Sherrard and Philip Sherrard; London & New York: Kegan Paul International & The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 1993).
  • al-Ḥakīm, Suʿād, al-Muʿjam al-ṣūfī: al-Ḥikma fī ḥudūd al-kalima (Beirut: Dandara li-l-Ṭibāʿa wa-l-Nashr, 1981).
  • Ibn ʿArabī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥyī al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī, Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam (ed. Abū l-ʿAlā ʿAfīfī; Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1980).
  • Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūhāt al-Makkiyya, 14 vols., (ed. ʿUthmān Yaḥyā; 2nd edn., Cairo: al-Hayʾa al-Miṣriyya al-ʿĀmma li-l-Kitāb, 1985).
  • Ibn Sīnā, Abū ʿAlī Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlī, İşaretler ve Tembihler [= al-Ishārāt wa-l-tanbīhāt] (translated into Turkish, with the original text, by Ali Durusoy, Muhittin Macit, and Ekrem Demirli; Istanbul: Litera Yayıncılık, 2005).
  • ______ Kitâbu’ş-Şifâ: Metafizik [= Kitāb al-Shifāʾ: al-Ilāhiyyāt], 2 vols, (translated into Turkish, with the original text, by Ekrem Demirli and Ömer Türker; Istanbul: Litera Yayıncılık, 2005).
  • al-Imām al-Rabbānī, Abū l-Barakāt Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Aḥad ibn Zayn al-ʿābidīn al-Sirhindī, Mektûbât [al-Maktūbāt], 2 vols.,(translated into Turkish by Abdulkadir Akçiçek; Istanbul: Fatih Kitabevi, n.d.).
  • Izutsu, Toshihiko, Sufism and Taoism: A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts (Berkeley & Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1984).
  • Izutsu, Toshihiko, The Concept and Reality of Existence (Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust, 2007).
  • Jāmī, Abū l-Barakāt Nūr al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad, al-Durra al-fākhira fī taḥqīq madhāhib al-ṣūfiyya wa-l-mutakallimīn wa-l-ḥukamā al-mutaqaddimīn (eds. Nicolas Heer and ʿAlī Mūsawī Bahbahānī; Tehran: McGill University Institute of Islamic Studies & Dānishgāh-i Tehran, 1980).
  • ______ Nefahâtü’l-üns [= Nafaḥāt al-uns min ḥaḍarāt al-quds] (eds. Süleyman Uludağ and Mustafa Kara; Istanbul: Marifet Yayınları, 1995).
  • al-Jīlī, Quṭb al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm, al-Insān al-kāmil fī maʿrifat al-awākhir wa-l-awāʾil (Cairo: al-Maṭbaʿa al-Azhariyya, 1963).
  • ______ al-Kamālāt al-ilāhiyya fī l-ṣifāt al-Muḥammadiyya (ed. Saʿīd ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ; Cairo: Maktabat ʿĀlam al-Fikr, 1997).
  • ______ Marātib al-wujūd wa-ḥaqīqat kull mawjūd (Cairo: Maktabat al-Qāhira, 1999).
  • Kaya, Mahmut, "Mâhiyet ve Varlık Konusunda İbn Rüşd’ün İbn Sînâ’yı Eleştirmesi," in Aydın Sayılı (ed.), İbn Sînâ: Doğumunun Bininci Yılı Armağanı (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 1984), 453-459.
  • al-Nābulusī, ʿAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʿīl, Gerçek Varlık: Vahdet-i Vücûd’un Müdafaası [al-Wujūd al-ḥaqq wa-l-khiṭāb al-ṣidq](translated into Turkish by Ekrem Demirli; Istanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 2003).
  • al-Kāshānī (as al-Qāshānī), Kamāl al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Razzāq ibn Aḥmad, Laṭāʾif al-aʿlām fī ishārāt ahl al-ilhām (eds. Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Sāyiḥ, Tawfīq ʿAlī Wahba, and ʿĀmir al-Najjār; Cairo: Maktabat al-Thaqāfa al-Dīniyya, 2005).
  • al-Qayṣarī, Sharaf al-Dīn Dāwūd ibn Maḥmūd ibn Muḥammad, Sharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam (ed. Jalāl al-Dīn Āshtiyānī; Tehran: Sharikat-i Intishārāt-i ʿIlmī va-Farhangī, 1383 HS).
  • al-Qūnawī, Ṣadr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Muḥammad, al-Nafaḥāt al-ilāhiyya (along with al-Sirr al-rabbānī al-maʿrūf bi-l-Nuṣūṣ, ed. Aḥmad Farīd al-Mazīdī; Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2007).
  • ______ Fusûsü’l-Hikem’in Sırları: al-Fukūk fī asrār mustanidāt ḥikam al-Fuṣūṣ (translated into Turkish by Ekrem Demirli; Istanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 2002).
  • ______ Sadreddin Konevî ile Nasireddin Tûsî Arasında Yazışmalar: al-Murāsalāt (translated into Turkish by Ekrem Demirli; Istanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 2002).
  • ______ Tasavvuf Metafiziği: Miftāḥ ghayb al-jamʿ wa-l-wujūd (translated into Turkish by Ekrem Demirli; Istanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 2002).
  • al-Qushayrī, Abū l-Qāsim Zayn al-Islām ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Hawāzin, al-Risāla al-Qushayriyya (eds. Maʿrūf Muṣṭafā Zurayq and ʿAlī ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd Balṭajī; Beirut: Dār al-Khayr, 1991).
  • al-Rāzī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Fakhr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar, al-Maṭālib al-ʿāliya min al-ʿilm al-ilāhī, 9 vols. in 5 vols., (ed. Aḥmad Ḥijāzī al-Saqqā; Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1987).

An Analysis of the Content of Waḥdat al-Wujūd: the Relationship between Essence and Existence

Year 2014, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 189 - 215, 08.07.2015
https://doi.org/10.12730/13091719.2014.52.108

Abstract

Discussions about “the unity of existence” (waḥdat al-wujūd), which is always considered together with the name of Ibn ʿArabī, are common not only in Sufism but also in almost all domains of Islamic thought. In this respect, the problem of the unity of existence is a notable and much-debated issue in the history of Islamic philosophy, which results in countless comments on and approaches to the matter. Nevertheless, no solid conclusion or solution is attained. This is primarily because of the lack of a precise explanation of the nature and content of the unity of existence manifested by Ibn ʿArabī and his followers. The unity of existence seems to have two basic principles that can be formulated as follows: “Existence as such is God, and immutable entities (al-aʿyān al-thābita), the truth of contingencies, are not created and existence is subsequently attached to truth.” These two elements exclusively determine whether a doctrine is the unity of existence, whereas the principles abovementioned are entirely grounded on discussions about the relationship between essence and existence. The first and second principles are conclusions of the following opinions, respectively: “The existence of Allah is identical with His essence” and “among contingent beings, the existence is subsequently added to the essence.” In this context, this study therefore seeks an evaluation not only of what unity of existence is but also of the importance of the relationship between essence and existence in terms of the unity of existence as a notable discussion point in Islamic thought.

References

  • Afīfī, Abū l-ʿAlā, Naẓariyyāt al-Islāmiyyīn fī l-kalima (The Logos) (Cairo: Maṭbaʿat al-Maʿhad al-ʿIlmī al-Faransī li-l-Āthār al-Sharqiyya, 1934).
  • Atay, Hüseyin, İbn Sina’da Varlık Nazariyesi (Ankara: Gelişim Matbaası, 1983).
  • Atay, Hüseyin, "Mâhiyet-Varlık Ayırımı," in Müjgan Cunbur and Orhan Doğan (eds.), Uluslararası İbn Sina Sempozyumu (Bildiriler) (Ankara: Başbakanlık Basımevi, 1984), 139-166.
  • al-Būsnawī, ʿAbd Allāh ʿAbdī ibn Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh, Kitāb al-qirār al-rūḥī al-mamdūd li-l-aḍyāf al-wāridīn min marātib al-wujūd (MS Istanbul: Süleymaniye Library, Cârullah Efendi, no. 2129), fols. 1a-27b.
  • Corbin, Henry, History of Islamic Philosophy (translated into English by Liadain Sherrard and Philip Sherrard; London & New York: Kegan Paul International & The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 1993).
  • al-Ḥakīm, Suʿād, al-Muʿjam al-ṣūfī: al-Ḥikma fī ḥudūd al-kalima (Beirut: Dandara li-l-Ṭibāʿa wa-l-Nashr, 1981).
  • Ibn ʿArabī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥyī al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī, Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam (ed. Abū l-ʿAlā ʿAfīfī; Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1980).
  • Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūhāt al-Makkiyya, 14 vols., (ed. ʿUthmān Yaḥyā; 2nd edn., Cairo: al-Hayʾa al-Miṣriyya al-ʿĀmma li-l-Kitāb, 1985).
  • Ibn Sīnā, Abū ʿAlī Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlī, İşaretler ve Tembihler [= al-Ishārāt wa-l-tanbīhāt] (translated into Turkish, with the original text, by Ali Durusoy, Muhittin Macit, and Ekrem Demirli; Istanbul: Litera Yayıncılık, 2005).
  • ______ Kitâbu’ş-Şifâ: Metafizik [= Kitāb al-Shifāʾ: al-Ilāhiyyāt], 2 vols, (translated into Turkish, with the original text, by Ekrem Demirli and Ömer Türker; Istanbul: Litera Yayıncılık, 2005).
  • al-Imām al-Rabbānī, Abū l-Barakāt Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Aḥad ibn Zayn al-ʿābidīn al-Sirhindī, Mektûbât [al-Maktūbāt], 2 vols.,(translated into Turkish by Abdulkadir Akçiçek; Istanbul: Fatih Kitabevi, n.d.).
  • Izutsu, Toshihiko, Sufism and Taoism: A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts (Berkeley & Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1984).
  • Izutsu, Toshihiko, The Concept and Reality of Existence (Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust, 2007).
  • Jāmī, Abū l-Barakāt Nūr al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad, al-Durra al-fākhira fī taḥqīq madhāhib al-ṣūfiyya wa-l-mutakallimīn wa-l-ḥukamā al-mutaqaddimīn (eds. Nicolas Heer and ʿAlī Mūsawī Bahbahānī; Tehran: McGill University Institute of Islamic Studies & Dānishgāh-i Tehran, 1980).
  • ______ Nefahâtü’l-üns [= Nafaḥāt al-uns min ḥaḍarāt al-quds] (eds. Süleyman Uludağ and Mustafa Kara; Istanbul: Marifet Yayınları, 1995).
  • al-Jīlī, Quṭb al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm, al-Insān al-kāmil fī maʿrifat al-awākhir wa-l-awāʾil (Cairo: al-Maṭbaʿa al-Azhariyya, 1963).
  • ______ al-Kamālāt al-ilāhiyya fī l-ṣifāt al-Muḥammadiyya (ed. Saʿīd ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ; Cairo: Maktabat ʿĀlam al-Fikr, 1997).
  • ______ Marātib al-wujūd wa-ḥaqīqat kull mawjūd (Cairo: Maktabat al-Qāhira, 1999).
  • Kaya, Mahmut, "Mâhiyet ve Varlık Konusunda İbn Rüşd’ün İbn Sînâ’yı Eleştirmesi," in Aydın Sayılı (ed.), İbn Sînâ: Doğumunun Bininci Yılı Armağanı (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 1984), 453-459.
  • al-Nābulusī, ʿAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʿīl, Gerçek Varlık: Vahdet-i Vücûd’un Müdafaası [al-Wujūd al-ḥaqq wa-l-khiṭāb al-ṣidq](translated into Turkish by Ekrem Demirli; Istanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 2003).
  • al-Kāshānī (as al-Qāshānī), Kamāl al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Razzāq ibn Aḥmad, Laṭāʾif al-aʿlām fī ishārāt ahl al-ilhām (eds. Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Sāyiḥ, Tawfīq ʿAlī Wahba, and ʿĀmir al-Najjār; Cairo: Maktabat al-Thaqāfa al-Dīniyya, 2005).
  • al-Qayṣarī, Sharaf al-Dīn Dāwūd ibn Maḥmūd ibn Muḥammad, Sharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam (ed. Jalāl al-Dīn Āshtiyānī; Tehran: Sharikat-i Intishārāt-i ʿIlmī va-Farhangī, 1383 HS).
  • al-Qūnawī, Ṣadr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Muḥammad, al-Nafaḥāt al-ilāhiyya (along with al-Sirr al-rabbānī al-maʿrūf bi-l-Nuṣūṣ, ed. Aḥmad Farīd al-Mazīdī; Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2007).
  • ______ Fusûsü’l-Hikem’in Sırları: al-Fukūk fī asrār mustanidāt ḥikam al-Fuṣūṣ (translated into Turkish by Ekrem Demirli; Istanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 2002).
  • ______ Sadreddin Konevî ile Nasireddin Tûsî Arasında Yazışmalar: al-Murāsalāt (translated into Turkish by Ekrem Demirli; Istanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 2002).
  • ______ Tasavvuf Metafiziği: Miftāḥ ghayb al-jamʿ wa-l-wujūd (translated into Turkish by Ekrem Demirli; Istanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 2002).
  • al-Qushayrī, Abū l-Qāsim Zayn al-Islām ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Hawāzin, al-Risāla al-Qushayriyya (eds. Maʿrūf Muṣṭafā Zurayq and ʿAlī ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd Balṭajī; Beirut: Dār al-Khayr, 1991).
  • al-Rāzī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Fakhr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar, al-Maṭālib al-ʿāliya min al-ʿilm al-ilāhī, 9 vols. in 5 vols., (ed. Aḥmad Ḥijāzī al-Saqqā; Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1987).
There are 28 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Religious Studies
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

Abdullah Kartal 0000-0002-1075-0134

Publication Date July 8, 2015
Submission Date January 4, 2015
Published in Issue Year 2014 Volume: 5 Issue: 2

Cite

ISNAD Kartal, Abdullah. “An Analysis of the Content of Waḥdat Al-Wujūd: The Relationship Between Essence and Existence”. Ilahiyat Studies 5/2 (July 2015), 189-215. https://doi.org/10.12730/13091719.2014.52.108.
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