Meeting of Ibn Rushdi and Ibn Arabi (Part 1)

 

Meeting of Ibn Rushdi and Ibn Arabi

Ibn Rushdi and Ibn Arabi are two Muslim scholars who have had great influence in both the Arab and Western worlds. In the history of Islamic thought (especially the West, read: Andalusia or Spain), the disciplines of Sufism and philosophy have a quite unique relationship. This is not something surprising. Considering that in this area, two great figures have appeared who have scientific capacity in these two fields of science.

Yes, who does not know the great philosopher Ibn Rushdi as a representative of Islamic philosophers. And Sheikhul Akbar Ibn Arabi as a great Sufi even supposedly the greatest in the history of Andalusia.

The thoughts and works of these two great Muslim figures have always attracted the attention of scholars and academics. Both Muslim scholars themselves and Western scholars. However, it is still quite rare to find a special article that discusses the history of the encounter as well as the "debate" of these two great figures.

In fact, what has been written and studied by observers of Islamic thought is the debate between Imam al-Ghazali and Ibn Rushdi. Even though the two never met. Only because Imam al-Ghazali wrote the book Tahafut al-Falasifah (philosophical confusion) which Ibn Rushdi then responded to with a special book entitled Tahafut at-Tahafut (Confusion over confusion)

It should be noted here that Ibn Rushdi was born in the year 520 AH and died in the year 595 AH. While Ibn Arabi himself was born in the year 560 AH and died in the year 638 AH. That said, the meeting between the two took place around the year 576 AH to 578 AH. That means in when the meeting took place, Ibn Arabi was around 16 or 17 years old. Whereas Ibn Rushdi himself was 57 years old (three years after Ibn Rushdi wrote al-Kasyf 'an Manahij al-Adillah ).

The meeting between the two started from the closeness between Ibn Rushdi and his father Ibn Arabi (W. 590 H). The meeting that later opened a dialogue between Ibn Rushdi and Ibn Arabi was recorded in his magnum opus " al-Futuhat al-Makkiyyah" in a separate chapter entitled fi ma'rifat al-anfas wa ma'rifat aqthabiha al-muhaqqiqin biha wa Asrarihim .

In a short treatise entitled "Syarh al-Hiwar Bayna Ibn al-Arabi wa Ibn Rushdi aw Bayna Irfan al-Bashirah wa Ilm al-Aql" , Abd Baqi Miftah provides a fairly clear commentary. He said that the dialogue between the two indirectly confirmed that between these two great figures there were agreements as well as differences. Both agree that the mind and heart (intuition more precisely) are suggestions for achieving knowledge of God. He recounts the encounter of these two great figures contained in Ibn Arabi's work, Futuhat al-Makkiyyah , as follows:

"One day in the city of Cordoba, I came to see a Qadhi; Ibn Rushd. He has been wanting to meet me for a long time. He was amazed at the news that informed about my knowledge of the divinity that I got from the result of my solitude. My father, who happened to be a close friend of the Qadhi, asked me to visit his house to meet the philosopher. At that time, I was still quite young.

My face is pretty clean without a beard. When I entered his house he greeted me with love and warmth. He honors me so much.

Then he said to me, "yes". And I answered, "yes". He looked so happy at my answer. Then I told him, "No".

He was surprised. His face changed. He doubted what he had believed before. Then he asked me, "How can you know the divine revelation and divine radiance? Does it come from reason?” Then I answered, "Yes. No”. Hearing my answer, the philosopher's face changed. Full of questions."

While a similar story in a biographical novel of Ibn Arabi entitled "The Traveller" , Sadik Yalsizucanzar, tells of the encounter of these two figures and tells it beautifully:

One day Ibn Arabi (The Sufi) visited the house of Ibn Rushdi (The Philosopher) and was warmly welcomed. To show friendship and affection, he embraced his guest, the great Sufi. A young man who was only seventeen years old. "Welcome," said the philosopher, hugging the Sufi, warmly. The Sufi returned the greeting of the philosopher who was quite old, then sat on the couch.

The Philosopher sat across from this young Sufi, whose fame overshadowed his own. Silence attracts their essence, as if there were three existences in the room, the philosopher (the Host), the Sufi and silence.

The Philosopher perceives the Sufi and Silence as separate and distinct existences. Slowly, the feeling melted away and he could only feel the presence of the Sufi. He felt that he too had evaporated.

In that room, there was only the Sufi. While the host, the philosopher studied the young man's face and his green eyes that resembled the ocean. The Sufi's pupils dilated and his broad forehead began to glow. The young man's forehead caught the Philosopher's gaze. Now, the old man felt that the Sufi consisted only of foreheads.  

 The Sufi took a deep breath, breaking the silence. "Yes," he said. The Philosopher heaved a sigh of relief. "Yes," he repeated, his heart filled with joy. For years he had been waiting for the visit of the Sufi and wanted to hear the word. Now, with his hopes fulfilled, he is satisfied and happy. The burden of hope had been lifted from his shoulders and he felt as light as a bird.

The word "yes" from the Sufi becomes a validation of everything he has ever written or said. For the Philosopher, it is the most beautiful word in the whole world. But after saying "yes" the Sufi youth was lost in thought. A few minutes of silence passed, then the Sufi declared in a more firm, but mysterious tone, "no".