Adil S. Dhanidina: Experiencing Tawhid: ibn ‘Arabi and the power of imagination

This thesis will examine how the Islamic concept of tawḥid (“monotheism”) was understood, and perhaps more importantly, experienced by the 12th/13th Sufi, Ibn ‘Arabi (1165-1240), also known as al-Shaykh al-Akbar (“The Greatest Master”).

It has been argued that tawḥid is not simply a belief but also an operation, that is to say, a continual process whereby the literal meaning of tawḥid (“asserting oneness”) is upheld. This understanding of tawḥid implies a certain dualism which for Ibn ‘Arabi is a reflection of the two perspectives which express God’s oneness, namely, tanzih (“transcendence”), which literally means “declaring something to be pure and free of something else,” and tashbih (“immanence”), of which the literal meaning is “declaring something to be similar to something else.”

As can be seen, tanzih and tashbih are mutually contradictory and thus present tawḥid as a paradox.

However, for Ibn ‘Arabi, it is essential to not ignore any one perspective in favor of the other. For him, the paradox can and must be reconciled through the power of khayal, or imagination, which alone has the ability to combine opposites and thus, bridge the gap between tanzih and tashbih , thereby allowing for the experience of tawḥid.

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via McGill Library

Image via Abdur Rahman’s Corner – William Chittick: Ibn ‘Arabi – ‘The Breath of the All- Merciful’