A Sufi’s Interpretation of Ḥadīth: The Case of Ibn ʿArabī and the Ḥadīths about Holding up the hands during the prayer (Raf‘ al-yadain)

Abstract

This paper studies the understanding and interpretation of a specific ḥadīth by Muhy al-dīn Ibn ʿArabī . His view on the ḥadīthabout ‘holding up the hands during ṣalāh(raf‘ al-yadain)’ is explained in the light of his well-known book, Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya. Besides the general knowledge and terminology of fiqhand ḥadīth, Ibn ʿArabī also utilized his unique methods and methodologies of taṣawwufto interpret the ḥadīth. It is concluded that in interpretation of a ḥadīth, Ibn ʿArabī differed from other scholars as he skillfully used these three areas of knowledge (fiqh, ḥadīth, and taṣawwuf) as a trivet and by synthesizing these three sciences, he approached to the issue in a comprehensive way. The dreams, one of Ibn ʿArabī’s special methods and one of Sufism’s wisdom sources, are presented within the context of the interpretation of ḥadīth. While Ibn ʿArabī was inspired the ḥadīthby a dream, he also stated its place and status in ḥadīth sources. Moreover, he derived several conclusions by critically reviewing the related ḥadīths.

Keywords

• Hadith
• Fiqh
• Ṣufism
• Ibn ʿArabī
• Futūḥāt
• Futūḥāt
• Futūḥāt
• Prayer
• Holding up the hands
• Interpretation
• Hadis
• Fıkıh
• Tasavvuf
• İbn Arabî
• Namaz
• Ellerin Kaldırılması
• Futūḥāt
• Yorum