Sufi metaphysics

Major ideas in Sufi metaphysics have surrounded the concept of Wahdat or "Unity". Two main Sufi philosophies prevail on this controversial topic. Wahdat-ul-Wujood (Unity of Being) essentially states that in God lies everything and God lies in everything. Wahdat-ul-Shuhud (Apparentism, or Unity of Witness), on the other hand, holds that God and his creation are entirely separate. Some Islamic reformers have claimed that the difference between the two philosophies differ only in semantics and that the entire debate is merely a collection of "verbal controversies" which have come about because of ambiguous language. However, the concept of the relationship between God and the universe is still actively debated both among Sufis and between Sufis and non-Sufi Muslims.

Wahdat-ul-Wujood

Wahdat-ul-Wujood or Wahdat al-Wajud (Arabic: وحدة الوجود) the "Unity of Being" is a Sufi philosophy emphasizing that 'there is no true existence except the Ultimate Truth (God)'. Or in other phrasing that the only truth within the universe is God, and that all things exist within God only. All of his creations emerge from `adim (عدم non-existence) to wujood (existence) out of his thought only. Hence the existence of God is the only truth (Haqq), and the concept of a separate created universe is a fallacy (Batil).

Ibn al-Arabi is most often characterized in Islamic texts as the originator of the doctrine of wahdat al-wujud, however, this expression is not found in his works. Although he frequently makes statements that approximate it, it cannot be claimed that "Oneness of Being" is a sufficient description of his ontology, since he affirms the "manyness of reality" with equal vigor. ^[1]

In his view, wujūd is the unknowable and inaccessible ground of everything that exists. God alone is true wujūd, while all things dwell in nonexistence, so also wujūd alone is nondelimited (mutlaq), while everything else is constrained, confined, and constricted. Wujūd is the absolute, infinite, nondelimited reality of God, while all others remain relative, finite, and delimited. ^[2]

Since wujūd is nondelimited, it is totally different from everything else. Whatever exists and can be known or grasped is a delimitation and definition, a constriction of the unlimited, a finite object accessible to a finite subject. In the same way, wujūd's self-consciousness is nondelimited, while every other consciousness is constrained and confined. But we need to be careful in asserting wujūd's nondelimitation. This must not be understood to mean that wujūd is different and only different from every delimitation. The Shaykh is quick to point out that wujūd's nondelimitation demands that it be able to assume every delimitation. If wujūd could not become delimited, it would be limited by its own nondelimitation. Thus "He possesses nondelimitation in delimitation" Or , "God possesses nondelimited wujūd, but no delimitation prevents delimitation. Rather, He possesses all delimitations, so He is nondelimited delimitation, since no single delimitation rather than another rules over Him.... Hence nothing is to be attributed to Him in preference to anything else" . Wujūd must have the power of assuming every delimitation on pain of being limited by those delimitations that it cannot assume. At the same time, it transcends the forms by which it becomes delimited and remains untouched by their constraints. ^[3]

Only He who possesses Being in Himself (wujûd dhâtî) and whose Being is His very essence (wujûduhu 'ayn dhâtihi), merits the name of Being. Only God can be like that. ^[4]

On the highest level, wujūd is the absolute and nondelimited reality of God, the "Necessary Being" (wājib al-wujūd) that cannot not exist. In this sense, wujūd designates the Essence of God or of the Real (dhāt al-haqq), the only reality that is real in every respect. On lower levels, wujūd is the underlying substance of "everything other than God" (mā siwā Allāh)—which is how Ibn al‐ 'Arabi and others define the "cosmos" or "universe" (al-'ālam). Hence, in a secondary meaning, the term wujūd is used as shorthand to refer to the whole cosmos, to everything that exists. It can also be employed to refer to the existence of each and every thing that is found in the universe. ^[5]

God's 'names' (asma') or 'attributes' (sifat), on the other hand, are the relationships which can be discerned between the Essence and the cosmos. They are known to God because he knows every object of knowledge, but they are not existent entities or ontological qualities, for this would imply plurality in the godhead. ^[6]

For the creatures, Being is not part of their essence. So a creature does not own its being, that it can never be independent in itself . I this sense, the created does not deserve the attribution of Being. Only God is Being, and all the rest is in reality a possibility (imkân), a relative, possible non-existence. ^[7]

Ibn 'Arabî used the term "effusion" (fayd) to denote the act of creation. His writings contain expressions which show different stages of creation, a distinction merely logical and not actual. The following gives details about his vision of creation in three stages: the Most Holy Effusion (al-fayd al-aqdas), the Holy Effusion (al-fayd al-muqaddas) and the Perpetual Effusion (al-fayd al-mustamirr). ^[8]

Wahdat-ul-Wujood spread through the teachings of the Sufis like Shaikh Abu Ali Sindhi and Bayazid Bistami. Sachal Sarmast and Bulleh Shah two Sufi poets from Pakistan, were also ardent followers of Wahdat-ul-Wujood.

This mystic sufi philosophy found conducive soil in many parts of South Asia as most of the saints and sages became dedicated disciples of Wahdat-ul-Wujood. It is also associated with the Hamah Ust (Persian meaning "He is the only one") philosophy in South Asia.

Today, some Sufi Orders, notably the Bektashi sect and the non-traditional sects of Universal Sufism, place much emphasis on the concept of wahdat-ul-wujood.

Pantheism, Panentheism, and Wahdat-ul-wujood

The English word Pantheism means All is God^[9] but the Arabic word wahdat ul-wujood emphasizes that there is just a single being in existence and this single being is God. However, wahdat ul-wujood maybe closer to panentheism, because it states that while the Universe is part of God or God's mind, God is still greater than his creation.

Criticism of the concept

Some Muslims, including both Sufis and Salafis, have made comparisons between wahdat ul-wujood and Pantheism, the concept that all is God. This criticism has come both from Salafis and from Sufis as well.^{[citation needed]}

Some, however, will counter that the two concepts differ in that wahdat ul-wujood states that God and the universe aren't identical.^[10] They hold that the real existence to be for God only and the universe to have no existence on its own or without God.

Salafi criticism

Some Salafis criticize the concept of wahdat ul-wujood on the grounds that it was a product of Arab interaction with Hindu philosophy, and is not a purely Islamic concept.^{[citation needed]} Others also cite similarities with Kabbalah.^{[citation needed]}

Sufi criticism

Some Sufis, such as Ahmad Sirhindi (Mujaddid Alif Sani), have criticised wahdat ul-wujood. Ahmad Sirhindi wrote about the sayings that universe has no existence of its own and is a shadow of the existence of the necessary being. He also wrote that one should discern the existence of universe from the absolute and that the absolute does not exist because of existence but because of his essence.^[11]

Similarity to other belief systems

It is also speculated that the concept of wahdat ul-wujood could be product of Arab interaction with Hindu mystics and literature, specifically in reference to the non-dualistic teachings of the Upanishads, which preaches very similar concepts in regards to reality being an illusion and the only true existence being Brahman. The Upanishads were translated into Arabic during Muslim rule of South Asia.^{[citation needed]} However this concept was developed in Spain during the Muslim rule, much before Muslim rule in India.^{[citation needed]}

Wahdat-ul-Shuhud

Wahdat-ul-Shuhud (or wah-dat-ul-shuhud, wahdat-ul-shuhud, or wahdatul shuhud) has often been translated into English as Apparentism. In Arabic it literally means "unity of witness".

One of the main proponents of Wahdat-ul-Shuhud was Ahmad Sirhindi of South Asia. According to his doctrine, any experience of unity between God and the created world is purely subjective and occurs only in the mind of the believer; it has no objective counterpart in the real world. The former position, Shaykh Ahmad felt, led to pantheism, which was contrary to the tenets of Sunnite Islam.^{[citation needed]}

Ahmad Sirhindi, another exponent of the doctrine of wahdat al-shuhud, held that God and creation are not identical; rather, the latter is a shadow or reflection of the Divines Name and Attributes when they are reflected in the mirrors of their opposite non-beings (a'dam al-mutaqabila).^{[citation needed]}

Abu Hafs Umar al-Suhrawardi, Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi and Abd-al-karim Jili were also proponents of apparentism.

Shah Waliullah's view of Wahdat

Shah Waliullah made the first attempt to reconcile the two (apparently) contradictory doctrines of wahdat al-wujud (unity of being) of Ibn al-'Arabi and wahdat al-shuhud (unity in conscience) of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi.

Shah Waliullah neatly resolved the conflict, calling these differences 'verbal controversies' which have come about because of ambiguous language. If we leave, he says, all the metaphors and similes used for the expression of ideas aside, the apparently opposite views of the two metaphysicians will agree. The positive result of Shah Wali Allah's reconciliatory efforts was twofold: it brought about harmony between the two opposing groups of metaphysicians, and it also legitimized the doctrine of wahdat al-wujud among the mutakallimun (theologians), who previously had not been ready to accept it.

In his books Lamahat and Sata'at, he discusses stages of being, the perceptive faculty, the relation of the abstract with the universe, the universal soul and the souls of man, after death, essence, miracles, the scope of man, the soul of the perfect, universal order, source of manifestation, and the transformation of mystics from quality to quality. He also demonstrated that the long-standing assumption that Sufi doctrine was divided between Apparentism and Unity of Being was a difference of expression alone, the latter doctrine being seen as merely a less-advanced stage of projection.

References

^ Imaginal worlds, William Chiittick(1994), pg.15
^ Imaginal worlds, William Chiittick(1994), pg.53
^ Imaginal worlds, William Chiittick(1994), pg.53
^ http://www.ibnarabisociety.org/articles/unityofbeing.html
^ Imaginal worlds, William Chiittick(1994), pg.15
^ http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/rep/H022
^ http://www.ibnarabisociety.org/articles/unityofbeing.html
^ http://www.ibnarabisociety.org/articles/unityofbeing.html
^ pantheism derives from Greek: πάν ( 'pan' ) = all and θεός ( 'theos' ) = God
^ Tehqiq ul Haq fi Kalamat ul Haq a book by Pir Meher Ali Shah
^ Maktoobat Rabbaniyah

God Speaks, The Theme and Purpose of Creation. Meher Baba, Dodd Meade, 1955. (second edition, p. 280)

External links

Wahdatul Wajood Kiya Hai by Sayyed Ahmad Saeed Kazmi (In Urdu)
Index of articles related to Wahdat-ul-Wujood
What is Wahdat al-Wujood
Wahdat-al-Wujud and the politics of polytheism
Marefat Allah by Allame Tehrani (In Arabic)
Tawhid Elmi va Eini by Allameh Tabatabaei and Allame Tehrani (In Persian)
Wahdat Wujud by Ruhollah Khomeini(In Persian)
Wahdat al-Wujood clarified

[1] Imaginal worlds, William Chiittick(1994), pg.15

[2] Imaginal worlds, William Chiittick(1994), pg.53

[3] Imaginal worlds, William Chiittick(1994), pg.53

[4] ttp://www.ibnarabisociety.org/articles/unityofbeing.html

[5] Imaginal worlds, William Chiittick(1994), pg.15

[6] ttp://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/rep/H022

[7] ttp://www.ibnarabisociety.org/articles/unityofbeing.html

[8] ttp://www.ibnarabisociety.org/articles/unityofbeing.html

[9] theism derives from Greek: πάν ( 'pan' ) = all and θεός ( 'theos' ) = God

[10] Tehqiq ul Haq fi Kalamat ul Haq a book by Pir Meher Ali Shah

[11] Maktoobat Rabbaniyah

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