The Epistemic Status of Mystical Experience in Ibn ʻArabī’s Legal Reasoning
Religions November 2, 2022 DOI: 10.3390/rel13111051 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThe most influential Sufi thinker in Islam, Ibn ʻArabī, views mystical experience and revelatory knowledge, called 'spiritual unveiling' (kashf), as a form of continuing divine revelation given to saints. As the self-proclaimed 'Seal of Saints', he derives legal rulings from mystical experience, not just from textual sources. He emphasizes the inner aspect of worship and extracts legal rulings from visions, such as determining that hands should be raised during formal prayer because the Prophet Muḥammad commanded him in a mystical vision. This reveals the epistemic status of mystical experience and its interplay with textual evidence in his thought.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Law Philosophy |
| Key finding | Ibn ʻArabī derives legal rulings from mystical experience, as exemplified by his determination that hands should be raised during prayer because the Prophet commanded him in a vision. |
Abstract
Arguably the most influential Sufi thinker in Islam, Muḥyī l-Dīn Ibn ʻArabī (d. 638/1240), views revelatory knowledge and mystical experience, what he terms ‘spiritual unveiling’ (kashf), as a form of continuing divine revelation that is bequeathed to the spiritual elite or saints (awliyā’). As the self-proclaimed ‘Seal of Saints’ (Khātam al-awliyā’), who is the mystical heir to the wisdom of Muḥammad, the ‘Seal of Prophets’ (Khātam al-anbiyā’), Ibn ʻArabī has a unique method of deriving legal rulings. Not only does he emphasise the inner aspect (bāṭin) of all rituals and forms of worship, like many of his sufi counterparts; he, rather uniquely, extracts legal rulings from mystical experience. This study investigates the importance of revelatory experience and spiritual unveiling in the thought of Ibn ʻArabī and his followers. It then looks at what role these play in Ibn ʻArabī’s jurisprudence and, specifically, how he determines that hands should be raised (rafʻ al-yadayn) during formal prayer (ṣalāt) because he was commanded to by the Prophet Muḥammad in a mystical vision. By considering this issue, the deeper question of the epistemic status of mystical experience for Ibn ʻArabī, and the intricate interplay between mystical experience and textual evidence in his thought is explored.