Necessary Existence and Necessary Mercy: Ibn ‘Arabī’s Reformulation of Ibn Sīnā’s Ontological Proof
Religions August 8, 2023 Ismail Lala, Reham Alwazzan 7 citations
The most influential philosopher in Islamic intellectual history, Ibn Sīnā, argued that only one being can be necessarily existent, and that all divine attributes in the Qur’an derive from this necessity. The mystic Ibn ‘Arabī reformulated this proof, proposing that God’s primary attribute is not existence but mercy—a necessary mercy that brings everything into existence, not mercy as forgiveness or favor. For Ibn ‘Arabī, all other divine attributes flow from this necessary mercy, mirroring how Ibn Sīnā derived attributes from necessary existence.