SavioursOfIslamicSpirit-Volume3 ... - WordPress.com

UNITY OF BEING VERSUS UNITY OF MANIFESTATION 2 3 1judg" between mankind, that ye judge justly/'1 Comparing Ibn‘Arabi with his disciples and followers, he writes :“Ibn ‘Arabi is nearest to Islam amongst them. Hiswritings are comparatively seemly because he makes adistinction between manifestation and exteriority and paysdue regard to the commands and prohibitions and thelaw. He commends moral behaviour and devotions prescribedby the earlier mystic seers and that is why a numberof puritans and sufts adopt the mystical excercisesrecommended in his writings. A number of them areunable to comprehend these realities but those who cometo understand and appreciate them, fathom the true meaningof his teachings.”*Ibn Taimiyah was conscious of the grave responsibilityinvolved in passing a judgement on an eminent Muslim heldin esteem by others. He writes in the same letter:“Only God is aware how one will end one’s life’sjourney. May God grant salvation to every Muslim manor woman, dead or alive; Our Lord! Forgive us and ourbrethren who were before us in the faith, and place not inour hearts any rancour toward those who believe. Our Lord!Thou art Full of Pity, Merciful.''9Corroding Influence of Wahdat-ul-WujodHowever, it seems that the spirit of ascetical-mysticaldiscipline, its popularity among the masses and the little regardpaid to religious obligations by the enthusiastic propagatorsof Ibn ‘Arabi’s doctrine had given rise to an intellectual andmoral confusion in Syria, then a part of the kingdom of Egyptruled by the Turks. Its followers had developed antinomiantendencies taking up the performance of acts which1. Q. IV : 482. Letter to Shaikh Nasr al-Munjabi, Jala ul-‘Aynain, p. 573. Ibid (Q. 59 : 10)