Ibn Arabi (1165-1240) is one of the greatest mystics and philosophers of the Muslim world, often regarded as Sheikh ul Akbar, i.e., the greatest Sheikh. He's among a few mystics who not only dived deep in the ocean of his individual spiritual experiences ('mushahidat'), i.e., divine manifestations, but also constructed a cosmos of his own. He has written more than 350 books on myriad themes like tafseer, hadith, sufism, philosophy, poetry, natural sciences, sociology, psychology and what not? He is widely known for his magnum opus Futuhat AI Makkiyah (The Meccan Revelations), Fusus Al Hikam (The Bezels of Wisdom), Tarjuman ul Ashwaq (The Interpreter of Desires), Al Tadbirat-Illahiyya, Mawaqi-un-Nujoom, Kitab ul Asfar, etc. He has written profusely on Tafseer, hadith, seerah, literature, and mystical poetry. He has written on physics and occult sciences with a fresh fervour.

Ibn Arabi is also one of a few widely read and sought-after Muslim mystic philosophers in the West today. In the postmodern digital age, his ideas have gained popularity, and like Rumi, he's become a household name in our intellectual discourse. His influence extended beyond the Islamic world; later Islamic philosophers like Mulla Sadra and Western thinkers such as Henry Corbin engaged deeply with his metaphysics, particularly his ideas about the imaginal realm and spiritual ontology. Syed Hussain Nasr writes in The Three Muslim Sages,
“With the emergence of Ibn Arabi, we suddenly come across such a broad and complete view of Sufism, both in terms of metaphysics and cosmology and also in terms of psychology and humanities, where at first glance the tradition of Sufism seems to be breaking down or taking a new turn within Sufism itself.”
How to engage with the people from other faiths? How to build a sustainable dialogue with other religious associations? Ibn Arabi's views on faith and its forms may be taken as a solution. In fact, some scholars, like the celebrated religious historian Karen Armstrong, in an interview with Aljazeera, said,
"Once I used to be a nun, and I left my convent, and I thought I had never wanted anything to do with religion ever again, but it was by encountering other traditions. I began to see what my Catholic tradition had been trying to do at its best, and I remember once coming across a quotation from Ibn Arabi, and I was absolutely struck by this...“Do not attach yourself to any particular creed exclusively, so that you may disbelieve all the rest; otherwise, you will lose much good; nay, you will fail to recognise the real truth of the matter. God, the omnipresent and omnipotent, is not limited by any one creed, for he says, 'Wheresoever ye turn, there is the face of Allah' (Koran 2:109). Everyone praises what he believes; his god is his own creature, and in praising it he praises himself. Consequently, he blames the disbelief of others, which he would not do if he were just, but his dislike is based on ignorance.”
Taking these things into consideration, we can say that Ibn Arabi is indispensable. He's highly relevant to those who have spiritual problems and find themselves intimidated by prevalent religious and communal jingoism. In interfaith dialogue his views are as relevant as ever. Expounding the special position of Ibn Arabi in the mystical domain, William Chittik writes,
“Certainly, there were important authors during the previous century who also expressed Sufi teachings with theoretical sophistication, but compared even to the greatest of these, such as Ghazali, Ibn ‘Arabi represents a radical break.
Ghazali speaks for much of the early Sufi tradition when he tells us that “unveiling”—that is, the unmediated knowledge that God bestows on his special friends—should not be set down in books (though he does not always follow his own advice). Ibn ‘Arabi sweeps this prohibition aside and spreads out the fruit of unveiling for all to see.”
Ibn Arabi revolutionised Islamic mysticism by philosophically articulating the unity of all existence with God and framing a holistic mystical path integrating theology, philosophy, and spiritual practice. His works and concepts continue to be central to understanding Islamic spirituality and metaphysical discourse. At the same time, Ibn Arabi is highly controversial among traditional Islamic scholars. Some do not even hesitate in declaring him a heretic, whereas a large majority considers him among one of the most prolific saints of the world. Thus, the scholars are divided in their opinions; there are the likes of Ibn Taymiya, Mulla Ali Qari, Imam Dhahbi, Ibn Hajar, Rashid Rida, Al Taftazani, and Sheikh Ahmad Sirhandi who are critical of his many views, including his idea of Unity of Being (wahdat-ul-wujud). Among those who admire him are almost all Sufis from all ages except a few, including scholars like Al Suyuti, Al Sherani, Abdul Ghani Nablisi, Shah Waliullah, Ismail Dehlvi, Allama Anwar Shah, Maulana Thanvi, Imam Ahmad Raza, Nazir Hussain Dehlvi, Dawood Ghaznawi, Shibli Nomani, etc., who have shown respect for his position on Tawhid and Sunnah. Actually, whatever he writes is grounded in his spiritual visions and experiences, which can only be discerned by those who are accustomed to his spiritual state. In the last section of his book Fusus Al Hikam, he writes that God manifests Himself in every atom of creation, and in Futuhat he writes, “Glory to God who brought all things into existence, being Himself their substance.” Statements like these have been taken as pantheistic views by many of his critics. He offers some kind of anthropocosmic vision of reality that looks at the universe and the human self as two sides of the same living reality. He celebrates the femininity of a woman and gives it a beautiful expression in his odes included in Tarjuma ul Ashwaq. These kinds of ideas cannot be digested by literalists and laypersons. At many places, Ibn Arabi has tried to clear certain doubts raised by some of his critics, which should be thoroughly considered while forming an opinion about him. At times a reader's own subjectivity and interpretation decide how to present his ideas. Al-Sharani adopts a balanced view while dealing with his views, and Suyuti maintains that one should regard Ibn Arabi as a great saint but refrain from reading his problematic works. They warn readers to avoid some of his "problematic books" that might cause confusion or be easily misinterpreted by the uninitiated.
Mostly Ibn Arabi is misunderstood, as Murtaza Mutahiri says that in every age there have been a few people who had the competence to understand him. He is often misunderstood and misinterpreted due to the following reasons:
Idiosyncratic Writing Style: Ibn Arabi is known for his distinct and eccentric writing style. His continuously changing writing style and vague expression have made him unfathomable. Besides, Ibn Arabi is one of the least understood and, at the same time, most misunderstood mystics in Islamic tradition, mostly due to his subjective approach and idiosyncratic writing style. Ibn Arabi creates his own universe out of his mushahidat and interprets almost everything from this lens. In the very first chapter of his Futuhat, he has described his aqeedah in detail, which is in full consonance with the Ashari school of Aqeedah. At times, it seems as if we are reading a fabulous commentary on Aqaid-i-Nasafi.
Difficulty in Terminology: Ibn Arabi seems very difficult and confusing, as most people are unaware of his terminology. He forms his own terminology, and many times he dresses the already existing ones with his own meanings. He uses spiritual and philosophical symbols profusely, which have led to many misunderstandings. On the basis of his wujudi doctrine, he seeks to interpret and understand the entire creation and comes up with some astounding results. In this process of interpretation, he at times coins his own terms and sometimes gives new meanings to already existing philosophical and mystical terms. The people like Javed Ahmad Ghamidi and others have not been able to understand the subtle use of some terms like 'wujud', 'nabuwwah', 'mushahidah', 'haqeeqah', etc., and have drawn some inadequate conclusions. One of the prominent philosophers of the subcontinent, Dr Suhail Umar, writes, “Our mystical tradition is a solar system whose orbit is Sheikh Akbar Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi. The concept of reality expressed by him, with all its details and applications, is our entire heritage. Whatever knowledge and experience we have of metaphysical realities, it is all provided by him. A great distinction of Sheikh Akbar is that an entire mystical universe was formed from the scientific and contextual levels of realities that he discovered. The determination of the ultimate validity and exact location of the Great Reality by completely classifying the acquisition and presence of realities is the achievement of Ibn Arabi, thanks to which our mystical principles and rules were established.”
Presence of Contradictions: Ibn Arabi continuously keeps on changing his viewpoints, and that is what makes him more difficult. Basically, his ideas are grounded in his spiritual experiences or epiphanies, which keep on changing depending upon his spiritual station. By keeping this point in mind, many of the problems in his books can be resolved. Moreover, he keeps on expanding his mental and spiritual horizons, which is essential for a growing inquisitive soul.
4. Interpolations and Distortions: At many places, one may encounter some problematic expressions in his books which apparently seem antithetical to the basics of the Islamic belief system. Keeping in view his other books, there are many contradictions and problematic expressions. Scholars like Nazir Hussain Dehlvi [in Maeyar-ul-Haq] have tried to solve these difficulties by saying that Futuhat Al Makkiyah is his last written book and it should be taken as a final criterion for judging his ideas. Abdul Wahab Serani writes in his Al Yaqut Wa Al Jawahir that Ibn Arabi was a strict follower of Quran and Sunnah, and he used to say that the person who throws away the balance of sharia from his hands will surely perish. The apparent anti-sharia expressions found in some of his books are basically interpolations and distortions done by some people with vested interests. He further writes that he came to this conclusion by clinically consulting and examining discordant manuscripts of his books. In authentic manuscripts he didn’t find these anti-sharia expressions and contradictions. A. E. Afeefi writes,
“To establish the identity and authenticity of all the works that have been ascribed to him is a task which has not been undertaken by any scholar yet. But we know within limits the genuineness of most of his major works, although doubt might arise with regard to certain parts of their contents.”
I remember when I showed 'Futuhati Makkiya' to my college professor for guidance at many places; he said, “This book of yours has baffled me.” To interpret him is just like walking on a razor's edge, as he mostly bases his ideas on 'shuhood', i.e., the divine presence, and in the modern age we lack the competence for perceiving such issues. Even the great philosopher-poet of the east, Allama Iqbal, wrote a letter to the great mystic of his time, Pir Meher Ali Shah (RA), to guide him in understanding Ibn Arabi. It is said that in all the ages a few people have understood him. So, it's better neither to ascribe self-constructed ideas to him nor to take him as everybody's cup of tea. If someone like Shykh Ahmad Sarhandi (RA) makes a critique of him, it is valid enough due to his spiritual and scholarly competence. Sheikh Ahmad Sirhandi proposed an alternate philosophy of existence, i.e., Wahdat ul shuhood. However, he expresses his reverence to the Sheikh by saying that whatever he has is based upon the edifice of the views of the Sheikh.
I would like to conclude with an abstract from The Sufis by Idries Shah in which he refers to an incident about Ibn Arabi related to one of the most respected scholars of his time, Sheikh ul Islam Izuddin Abdul Salam, who was also a contemporary of Ibn Arabi; he writes,
“On a famous occasion, the renowned teacher Sheikh Izuddin Abdul Salam was presiding over a group of students of the religious law (fiqh). During a discussion the question of defining hypocritical heretics arose. Someone cited Ibn Arabi as a prime example. The teacher did not challenge the assertion. Later, when dining with the teacher, Salahudin, who later became the Sheikh of Islam, asked him who was the most eminent sage of the age:
“He said, ‘What is that to you? Eat on.’ I realised that he knew, stopped eating and pressed him in God’s name to tell me who it was. He smiled, then said, ‘The Sheikh Mohiuddin Ibn Arabi. For a moment I was so amazed that I could say nothing. The Sheikh asked me what was the matter. I said, 'I am in wonderment that this very morning a man stated that he is a heretic.' On that occasion you did not contest it. Now you call Mohiuddin the Magnetic Pole of the Age, the greatest man alive, the teacher of the world.’ He said, ‘But it was in a meeting of scholars, legists.’” (p. 144)
Given the depth and complexity of Ibn Arabi’s writings, a cautious and respectful approach is essential. One must neither idolise him blindly nor dismiss him hastily. His metaphysical system is grounded in personal mystical experience (mushahidat) and demands a level of intellectual and spiritual readiness from the reader. For modern seekers navigating spiritual confusion or religious exclusivism, Ibn Arabi offers profound insights—but only if approached with humility, scholarly rigour, and the awareness that not every text is accessible to every reader. Thus, Ibn Arabi is not everyone’s cup of tea—but for those who can engage him properly, his works are transformative.

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