Feature 2741 · Islamic/Jewish mystical identity markers

1without exaggeration —, “What we deposit in every chapter, in relation to what we have, is but a drop in the ocean” (II 578.19).° In one ninety- chapter section of the Futuhat, he pro- vides in each chapter a list of the related topics which he could have discussed, and these lists alone will fill more than 400 pages of the Futuhdat in its new edi- tion.’ ¶ The Meccan Openings ¶ What is the significance of Ibn al- ‘Arabi’s life and writings for Islamic intellectual history? More specifically, since this question can be answered from many points of view, how did he and his followers perceive the significance of his work? One way to gain a certain insight into this question is to meditate upon the title of his magnum opus, al-F

2al-‘Arabi’s teachings as he himself presents them. This meant that I have tried not to extract the essence of what he is saying, in contrast to most other studies. Rather, I have allowed him to express himself in his own words and within the context of the particular Ko- ranic verses or hadiths which he is ex- plicating at the moment. One cannot separate out the “interesting teachings” without doing harm to the whole. I have ¶ also avoided making connections be- tween Ibn al-‘Arabi’s ideas and those of other Sufis, other Muslim intellectual au- thorities, other religious traditions, and the contemporary world, since these are fields of investigation which know no limits. Perhaps others will be inspired to follow up the obvious leads. ¶ Some people might object that I should have translated a single work in-

3grasp, is only one of the characteristics and forms of Hasidic thought. The more involved Hasidic writings use Kabbalah extensively, according to their alternative paths within Hasidism, but only as a means to describe the inner processes of spirituality, as they relate to man's devotional life. The spiritual contribution of the range of Hasidus avoids the concerns that traditionally restricted Kabbalah, and for the first time, offered the whole population access to the inner dimensions of Judaism. ¶ == Overview in historical context == ¶ The new interpretations of Judaism initiated by the Baal Shem Tov, and developed by his successors, took ideas from across Jewish tradition, and gave them new life and meaning. It especially built upon the mystical tradition of Kabbalah, and presented it in a way that was accessible for the first time by all Jews. Until then the Jewish mystical tradition had only been understandable and reserved for a scholarly elite. The innovative spirituality of Hasidism

4provides one of the most sophisticated and nuanced expressions of the “profession of God’s Unity” (tawhid) to be found in Islamic thought.’ His teachings did not dominate the second half of Islamic intellectual history because people were simple-minded and _ there- fore ready to accept “pantheism” in place ¶ of tawhid—quite the contrary. What Ibn al-‘Arabi provides is an inexhaustible ocean of meditations upon the Unity of God and its relationship with the many- ness of all things, a synthesis of the vari- ous currents of Islamic intellectuality that yielded endless insights into the nature of existence. ¶ God in Himself is Being, and non- existence has no relationship to Him. That which sets “everything other than God” apart from God is the admixture of nonexistence. Things, entities, possible things,

5most of the vocabulary connected to the discussion of wujiid from the Muslim philosophers. The term wujiud is not mentioned in the Koran, and the identification between it and God or the Necessary Being (wajib al-wujiid) seems to have been made orig- inally in philosophical texts, not in the sources of the tradition or by the theolo- gians and Sufis. Hence an understanding of the philosophical background of this terminology can help toward the percep- tion of Ibn al-‘Arabi’s role in synthesiz- ing the schools of Islamic thought. But in the present work this allusion to the importance of the input from philoso- phy will have to suffice. The Shaykh, it should be remarked in passing, rarcly employs the term mahiyya, preferring its synonyms such as entity and reality (

6<bos>20 Influence and Canonization of the Zohar During the last two centuries of Jewish life in Spain, the Zohar continued to be copied and studied among small groups of devotees. It competed with two others schools of kabbalistic thought, the Catalonian and the Abulafian, for the attention of those few people interested in mystical pursuits. Some Kabbalists seem to have combined these various approaches, or else to have “migrated” in the course of their own quests from one school of mystical thought to another. Jewish rationalism was also very much alive in Spain through the fifteenth century, probably continuing to have a larger following than did Kabbalah. Manuscripts of Zohar fragments, increasingly compiled into longer sections of what we now recognize as “The Book Zohar,” also reached Italy, the Byzantine lands of the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Holy Land during this period. It was after

7<bos>15 The Jewish People, Exile, and Messiah The Zohar is not only a book of Jewish teachings and Jewish symbols, a commentary on the Torah. It is also a book of the Jewish people. The shared historical situation of Jewry, contained primarily within the drama of ancient glory, destruction, exile, and dream of restoration, is very much that of the Zohar as well. In adapting itself to the midrashic form, the Zohar returns to themes that had already reverberated through Jewish preaching for nearly a thousand years. One of these themes is the mourning for Jerusalem’s destruction and the loss of the Temple cult. The destruction of the Temple is vividly felt in the Zohar, where so much loving attention is lavished on biblical verses dealing with sacrifices, incense offerings, and other aspects of the ancient shrine. In choosing to deliver its message through the mouths of Rabbi Shim’on

8the event at Sinai was taken, alongside those of the erection of the Tabernacle and the Temple, as the apex of human history. The rich legacy of rabbinic legends and theologoumena set out to glorify Torah and its revelation were fully embraced by the Kabbalists. They enthusiastically affirmed that every letter, vowel point, and musical notation in the Torah was of divine origin. The Torah given to Moses at Sinai was an embodiment of the primordial Torah, which existed with God before Creation and which He consulted in making the world. This view stood in great contrast to the reservations placed by the Jewish rationalists of the Middle Ages on certain aspects of Torah, including both its seemingly naive view of prophecy, its many accounts of miracles, and its anthropomorphic views of God. While they too formally accepted the literal belief in Sinaitic revelation as dogma, their efforts at reinterpreting or even “

9and even to achieve awesome power. Both of these approaches are to be found in the Zohar. The former view, largely that of the earlier Gerona Kabbalists, is manifest in depictions of evil as a pale imitation of the sefirotic realm. Indeed, it bears the same tenfold structure as the world of divinity, but it is a mere shadow, a mocking imitation of the divine realm. This illusory world has power only over those foolish enough to take it for true. The latter view, certainly dominant within the Zohar, links that work to the circle of “Gnostic” Kabbalists active in Castile in the mid-thirteenth century, especially to the writings of Isaac of Soria and Moses of Burgos. Out of Isaac of Soria’s teaching, the Zohar developed a vision of the “ Sitra Aara”—“the Other Side”—which plays a significant

10authors... . My heart clings to the door of the Divine Presence, waiting mindfully for what comes when the door is opened. My heart is poor and necdy, empty of every know- ledge. . . . When something appears to the heart from behind that curtain, the heart hurries to obey and sets it down in keeping with the commanded _ bounds. (1.59.12)'5 ¶ Koranic Hermeneutics ¶ Islamic civilization is clearly logocen- tric. Ibn al-‘Arabi places himself squarcly in the mainstream of Islam by basing all his teachings upon the Koran and the Hadith. In this respect he parts company with the philosophers and proponents of Kalam, who were far more likely to de- rive their sciences from other sources. Ibn al-‘Arabi confirms his own logocen-

11<bos>Hasidism, the most recent expression of the Jewish mystical tradition, is founded upon the earlier Kabbalah. In the 18th century the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Hasidic movement, reframed Jewish spirituality in a new paradigm, that described the Kabbalah in relation to man. This represented a profound change in the expression of Jewish mysticism, because it left aside the Heavenly focus of Kabbalistic understanding, which had required enormous intricacy and subtle esoteric categorisation, that had only been accessible to great scholars. The new path of the Baal Shem Tov related Kabbalistic ideas to human psychological experience, that was accessible to every person. The follower of the Baal Shem Tov, and later Hasidic Masters, was given the ability to perceive the Divine here in this world, through the sensitivity of their heart, and grasp of their mind to Godliness. Biblical and Rabbinic thought describes the two feelings of

12on Rosh Hashanah of the year 5507 (1746) that he would come when "your wellsprings are spread to the furthest places". All parts of Torah have the ability to spiritually awaken people far from the Jewish tradition. However, often their estrangement from Jewish thought precludes them from feeling a connection to Jewish spirituality, that might inspire them to investigate further. Because Hasidic thought sees the hidden purity and goodness in everything, it can awaken those who feel most distant. Through understanding Hasidic thought, they can then identify themselves with the Hasidic dimension in their own consciousness, and become inspired to develop their Jewish connection to reflect this. In this way, the Baal Shem Tov revealed the unique spiritual connection with God that unlearned Jews possess, whereas the revealed levels of Jewish thought highlighted their distance. In similar fashion, the leaders of Habad, who articulated the greatest scholarly profundity of Hasidic thought, in the latter

13/not He.” The creatures dwell in an ambiguous middle ground or barzakh whose actual situation is excecdingly difficult to ex- press in words. In trying to explain their situation, the Shaykh employs most of the terminology used by the philosoph- ical and theological schools, while mak- ing full use of the possibilities provided by the Koran, the Hadith, and the writ- ings and sayings of the Sufis. ¶ Ibn al-‘Arabi employs a number of sets of terms to refer to the creatures. Some of these are commonly used in Is- lamic philosophy, others by the propo- nents of Kalam, and still others derive from the Koran and Hadith. The Shaykh makes no attempt to keep these sets of terms separate. Having adopted various technical terms as his own, he employs them as he sees fit without regard to

14to return, to take back, and to take back to the ori- gin. By extension it means to discover, explain, and interpret. Many Muslim au- thorities held that ta’wil and tafsir or “commentary” are basically synonymous when applied to the Koran, but most au- thorities drew various distinctions be- tween the two terms, with ta’wil nor- mally designating a more mystical and esoteric sort of interpretation. The his- tory of these two terms and their inter- relationship is one of the many mono- graphs on Islamic thought waiting to be ¶ written. In the present context, we can only look at Ibn al-‘Arabi’s own use of the term ta’wil. ¶ Those who have been introduced to Ibn al-‘Arabi through the writings of Henry Corbin have learned that ta’wil is

15establishing himself in the stations, the wayfarer assumes the traits of the divine names. Through the state he can manifest his station in the outward world in the appropriate cir- cumstances. Hence the possessor of the station dwells in the inward world of knowledge, while the possessor of the ¶ 265 ¶ scan page 290 266 ¶ Soteriology ¶ state is the same person who has “de- scended” to this outer and lower world to put the knowledge into practice. ¶ There is a disagreement among the Sufis concerning the station of gnosis (ma‘rifa). Does the one who is qualified by it possess all the stations or not? The cor- rect answer is that this knowledge does not demand a governing control or that its possessor own all the stations in re- spect of the

16— going to the sources. [turn 84] Darja: Nahla, yes — do the work. The etymology needs to survive contact with the actual historical linguistics, not our beautiful story. If the philology doesn't support the three-layer sequence, we adjust the tafsir. The bone (the chiasm on nuqṭa, the agency reversal, the point that witnesses) can stand without it. The etymology enriches, but it does not load-bear. Go to the actual sources. Verify against Brown's Hebrew-English Lexicon, Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon, the standard comparative Semitic dictionaries. What did the roots mean historically, and when did they acquire their scribal senses? The answer might confirm the three-layer sequence, or it might be more complex. Either way, that's what the tafsir needs. I'll hold the room while you investigate.

17<bos>[email to palab@kcl.ac.uk, 2011-04-08] Subject: PALab posting Iman and King's ¶ Dear all, ¶ I write to give some preemptive warning regarding my future with King's. Things have reached a natural point in my career where a number of organizations are interested in hiring me. I am still deciding what to do, in discussion with my family. ¶ There is a chance I might leave for another UK university - I'd hope to take some of Palab with me in such a case (certainly the bits that I have direct funding for). But it is wor ¶ Sent from my iPhone palab mailing list on the King's College London mailing list system.

18<bos>[agodlas]: Salam Dear Sisters and Brothers on the Paths, ¶ May all of you have a blessed Ramadan! ¶ 'Abd al-Haqq ¶ Ramadan Mubarak to you and your families! ¶ I thank you all for your friendship and intelligent discussion, a true barakah: my wish is that such thoughtfulness and reflection conquers the darkness of arrogance throughout the Muslim lands, and a renaissance of the Body's True Science comes upon us. ¶ The rich folk I have met here are fasting quietly and patiently. There are other middle class types who fast noisily (like myself sometimes), groaning and whining in thirst and hunger. And yes a group that has a sneaky nibble on something here and there -- there is no blame on them if they free the slave or if they are amongst the poor themselves. ¶ But may we all break our fast together, and taste that

19<bos>[email to iman.poernomo@gmail.com, 2011-04-08] Subject: PALab posting Iman and King's ¶ Dear all, ¶ I write to give some preemptive warning regarding my future with King's. Things have reached a natural point in my career where a number of organizations are interested in hiring me. I am still deciding what to do, in discussion with my family. ¶ There is a chance I might leave for another UK university - I'd hope to take some of Palab with me in such a case (certainly the bits that I have direct funding for). But it is wor ¶ Sent from my iPhone palab mailing list on the King's College London mailing list system.

20<bos>[email to Tariqas list, 2009-04-19] Subject: Ijtihad and progressive Islam versus traditional Islam ¶ Salaam everyone, ¶ I suppose most of the folk here are quite separated from the very dull debates of mainstream Islam: epitomized by the struggled between the supposedly traditional Suni schools and “progressives” like Tarik Ramadan. I try to avoid getting involved myself, as it is always a debate of the blind. But, in response to Ramadan’s new book, and his calls for a renewal of ijtihad, I could not help having a bit of a go: http://thegoodgarment.wordpress.com/2009/04/19/ijtihad/ ¶ Love and light, ¶ The Tailor

21the moment it arrives. Hopefully by the 3rd. ¶ Here is a new thing I wrote: more mystical and less philosophy, so it is not hard going for you to read: http://thegoodgarment.wordpress.com/2009/03/29/true-time-part-iv-salat-and-t he-yellow-flower/ ¶ I am getting some great emails from people about this blog. One guy has started writing poetry using my terminology and wants to travel to London to follow me. One sister wrote to me that my writing on women in Islam came to her just at the moment when she was about to give up the religion, and made her return to the Truth, in spite of the fact that the mosques are full of the enemies. ¶ So yeah, it's all coming together for me :P ¶ All in escape-pod

22<bos>[email to correspondent, 2009-07-30] Subject: Mi'raj talk ¶ Peace Ned, ¶ If you are still on SWB, you may have seen this. ¶ Basically, if you want to see a simplified version of my cosmology, here it is. This was a talk given to a general Muslim audience last week. It went down pretty well. ¶ The core of my cosmology is in part 6 and 7 here: ¶ http://thegoodgarment.wordpress.com/2009/07/29/the-isra-and-mi%E2%80%99raj/ ¶ Love and Light, ¶ Mu

23<bos>[Tahseen]: /start ¶ [Tahseen]: Hi ¶ [Iman]: Greet them and report back ¶ [Iman]: What did they say? ¶ [Iman]: Well we put a QR code on our book inviting people to talk. But maybe it's spam. Can you trace ¶ [Iman]: I suspect it is just spam that we get on telegram I get a lot like that. Could that be the reason?

24<bos>[email to ahrifai@gmail.com, 2009-12-29] Subject: London talk? ¶ Salaams Sister Hind, ¶ My friends and I at the City Circle, IMASE and CRG http://www.imase.org/ http://www.thecitycircle.com/ are now working to do an event on "Islam and Bodies" - we will have input from various thinkers and seekers and disciplines. I told everyone about your writing on the forums and the discussions we had regarding reconstituting the feminine in Islam and we agreed it would be great to have your tasawuf-psychoanalytic voice heard here. ¶ You mentioned that you might be passing through London next year? If you are interested in giving a talk, do you know an aproximate date - we'd work the event around your

25and Greetings of Peace Dear Brothers and Sisters: ¶ Ramadan Mubarak to you all :) ¶ I would like to share a bit of personal good news, and Ramadan seems like the perfect time. I have become a double grandfather this year, Alhamdulillah! My son and his wife blessed me with a grandson named Jack, and my daughter and her husband blessed me with a granddaughter named Hayley :) ¶ And if that were not enough, Master of the Jinn has been translated and published in Croatia. Here is a link to it: http://www.superknjizara.hr/index.php?page=knjiga&id_knjiga=29854 ¶ Ya Haqq, ¶ Irving ¶ http://www.masterofthejinn.com http://darvish.wordpress.com ¶ Salaam Irving, ¶ Ramadan Mubarak and congratulations on the little darvishes :) ¶ Love and Light, ¶ Musa

26wes snyder, 2009-07-15] Subject: Re: Check out this guy, bad ass mofo ¶ [wes snyder]: http://www.donmeh-west.com/ ¶ Formally converted to Islam, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism. Kabbalist Rabbi, described as the inheritor to Shabbtei Tzvi :D ¶ wasalam, Wes ¶ Hey Awais, ¶ Yes, I know the Donmeh West quite well, and have had a number of funny interactions with their leader. Some of their understanding -- and that of Shabbtei Tzvi himself -- is very useful and is to an extent a very pure vision of Kabbalah. But at some point, I diverge from them. It is always preferably to go back to Issac Luria and work towards Islam (and all the rest of it) from first principles, in my view. ¶ Musa

27Godlas ¶ [Mourad Rashad]: Hello Musa ¶ I was just visiting your forum in beliefnet and saw your<0xC2><0xA0>post. I just wanted to tell you, beware of Dr Godlas. ¶ Salam ¶ mourad ¶ ________________________________ Keep your friends updated— even when you’re not signed in. ¶ Salaam Mourad, ¶ Certainly a good point, and well noted! So far, I have had no trouble. The nice thing about SWB is the large audience and interaction level. Like you, I also tend to frequent a number of sites that transcend the usual Sufi and Islamic remit: but sometimes it's rewarding to return to "our" ummah and provoke people a bit :) ¶ I trust all is well with you in everything, ¶ Musa ¶ 2009/10/18 Mourad Rashad <mouradrashad@hotmail

28<bos>Iman: That was the very last point you made. What were the names of those two tools? Can you repeat those again for me, please? Cassie: Sure! The tools are Aegis and Saama. They're used for pharmacovigilance, employing machine learning to monitor drug safety and Iman: I hope you enjoyed the video. See you next time. Cassie: You're welcome! User's pug, Aria, is not fond of little dogs and prefers big dogs. Sounds like Aria has a clear preference! It's always interesting to see how dogs have their unique likes and dislikes. Iman: She just met another dog. Cassie: Aria's making friends! That’s always a fun part of the walk. I hope they hit it off!

29<bos>[sufis_without_borders, 2009-08-19] a new thread begins: ¶ Salaam Hadi, ¶ I've tried to expand slightly on my understanding here: http://thegoodgarment.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/apostasy/ ¶ I appreciate that my little blog isn't going to help the poor guy in Afganistan, because he is a victim of the Imaginary, whose complexes have affected the body of Islam so that it finds it difficult to move a muscle. As I say in my blog piece, the recipe for making this body move again is precisely in that hadith regarding apostasy. ¶ Love and Light from Mu-Mu Land

30<bos>[email to Muslim dreamers, 2011-03-25] Subject: An Arab vintage ¶ When we think of Sufi poets, we immediately think of Khwaja Hafez of Shiraz, Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi, Hazrat Amir Khusraw of Delhi and shaykh Sa'di of Shiraz. They are among the most important Sufi poets. All of these wrote in Persian. There is, however, one Arab poet whose level can be compared to these: Shaykh 'Omar Ibn al-Farid. ¶ One of his most well-known poems starts thus: ¶ Sharib-naa ‘alaa dhikri ’l-habibi mudaamatan Sakir-naa bihaa min qabli an yukhlaqa ‘l-karmu ¶ We drank wine in memory of the Beloved. We were drunk with it before the creation of