Mysticism and Rational Inquiry in the School of Ibn ʿArabī

Abstract

Despite the fact that some of the main followers of the famous Spanish Muslim mystic Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240) were well-versed in the discipline of philosophy, the school of Ibn ‘Arabī is often not regarded in Western scholarship as a philosophical school in the usual sense of the term. This is because Ibn ʿArabī’s followers tend to tackle the central problems of philosophy through the medium of mystical and religious symbolism (all here positively understood). In order to properly present the teachings of the school of Ibn ʿArabī as a unified philosophical perspective, therefore, I will argue that their emphasis upon symbolic formulations are largely a means by which they can present well-known rational concepts, but in accessible and concrete language.

Keywords

• ibn ʿarabī
• mysticism
• religious symbolism
• rational inquiry