2.3 - Entering the Way of Sufism (~ 580/1184)

A bright future was waiting for Muhammad Ibn al-Arabi in the court of the Sultan, like his father Ali, where he was promised the position of a writer in the Diwan as Ibn al-Abbar mentioned in the “Sequel.”footnote(Look in the Quest for Red Sulfur: p. 31. Shaykh Muhyiddin also stated in Presenting the Righteous [c. 2, p. 11] that some sultans asked him for ministry, not only for the position of clerk as mentioned by Ibn al-Abbar, but we do not know exactly when this happened nor the place or the country or the Sultan. This could have been offered by Yaqoub al-Mansour who met Shaykh Muhyiddin after he returned from Fez, or may be by Sultan Kikaus, who had a close relationship with him, or may be one of the Ayyubid kings in Aleppo or in Damascus as we will see later. However, Muhammad was not heading in this direction, as if another future, brighter and happier, in this World and in the Hereafter, was being painted from where he does not know, which is Sufism and asceticism, and devotion to worshiping Allah Almighty.

As we have seen above, the tendencies of Muhammad, since his childhood, were directed towards the people of God, of the poor and worshipers, and he was defending them and sheltering them. With the accompanying of these poor people such as Abdullah al-Qattan and his companion Mohammed al-Khayyat, who also entered the Way of Sufism maybe following the example of his brother Ahmed as we noted above.

However, despite his early inclination to the Way of Sufism, we do not know precisely when or how Shaykh Muhyiddin actually entered this Way. In spite of what some stories reveal about him and even some of his words in the Meccan Revelations and other books, Ibn al-Arabi did not turn to mysticism suddenly through what is known as “Attraction” (Jadhbah) after escaping from a concert where alcohol was served, as some narrators say. Even if this story is true, this does not contradict that the shaykh often had a desire for asceticism and isolation with himself, but he may have hesitated a bit before taking such a bold step. Such reluctance is natural because man cannot cut his attachment to the world and his pleasures and desires, especially when he has been raised in such a luxurious society. Imam Abu Hamed al-Ghazali, for example, states that for many years he has hesitated to enter the Way of Allah and to retire from people, prestige and money, until he finally did so. It is true that Shaykh Muhyiddin says that his opening was a result of attraction as we shall see shortly, but that, as we said, does not mean that he has entered the Way of Sufism in this way, but it is likely that he was preparing for it since his early childhood.

However, we know from the texts left by Shaykh Muhyiddin that he entered the Way of Sufism before the second decade of his life, that is, before the year 580/1184, as he himself mentioned in the Meccan Revelations while talking about some of the stations of the righteous saints. He said, “I gained these stations in the year five hundred and eighty, in a short time after I entered this Way.” [Futuhat: II.425]. This also happened after the death of his uncle Abdullah, as we noted above, who entered the Way of Sufism at the age of eighty years, and then died after three years, before Muhammad entered Sufism. Nevertheless, although he received these stations quickly, this does not mean that the entry of Ibn al-Arabi was a result of attraction, but he arrived at these openings a the result of such attraction, as we will discuss the meaning of this in sections 2.3.2 and2.3.4 shortly.

In her Quest for the Red Sulfur [pp. 33-43.], Claudia Adass suggested that Shaykh Muhyiddin’s entry to Sufism might have been well before 580/1184, especially since he recalls that his famous meeting with Ibn Rushd, which we will mention in section 2.5.2 later in this chapter, took place at some point in his life when he was still a boy whose face has not been matured yet and his mustache has not been grown.” This may suggest that this happened several years before 580/1184. However, this analysis does not seem convincing despite some strong evidence, because we do not find a real activity of Shaykh Muhyiddin before the year 586/1191, and he says about himself that when Allah called him to this Way, he answered but then some relaxation happened to him for a period of time, as we shall explain further below. Therefore, if he had received the mentioned stations in 580/1184, as he said about himself, this does not seem to have happened after the period of relaxation, which seems to have occurred between the years 580 and 585, where there is no activity at all. If the period was before 580, then we expect to find at least some important events after that and before 585.

When the book of his contemporary hagiographer Ibn al-Sha’aar (d. 654/1256) "Joman Necklaces" was published in 2005, it became more evident that Shaykh Muhyiddin actually entered the way of Sufism in 580/1184, and not before, as he verbally declared to Ibn al-Sha’aar, when he met him at Aleppo in 635/1238, as we shall describe in section 6.5.24 of Chapter VI, and he also stated the direct reason for abandoning the military and political life:

His family were soldiers in the service of those who were ruling the country, and himself remained a soldier for some period, but he left the service in 580. He told me that in his own words, and said: “the reason why I left the military service, and thus abandoned it and resorted to this Way, and became inclined to it, was that I went one day in the company of my master the prince Abu Bakr Yusuf Ibn Abdul-Momin Ibn Ali [whom we mentioned in section 1.7.1.3 of Chapter I] to Cordoba, heading to the grand Mosque. There, I saw him kneeling and prostrating with sincerity, with fully emptied to Allah Almighty. Thus it occurred to me and I said to myself: This is the king of the country obeying and cringing to Allah Almighty, what is then the value of this Lower World but nothing! Then, from that day, I left him, never to see him again [and this prince had actually been martyred in this year 580/1184 as we mention in section 1.7.1.3 of Chapter I], then I became attached to this Way.”

citep[p. VII.182](joman2005.

In chapter IV, we will also find another strong evidence confirming that Shaykh Muhyiddin’s entry into the Way of Sufism could not have been in the year 580/1184 because he says that he remained for 38 years refraining from women and marriage until he read about a particular Hadith of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in which he says that three things in this world, including women. This was in Mecca in 598/1201, after he met Nizam, the daughter of Shaykh Abu Shuja al-Isfahani, whom he wrote to her the Interpreter of Desires and may have married her, or at least they were engaged, as we will talk about in section 4.5.2 of Chapter IV.

In either case, Muhammad had a great tendency to Sufism since his early childhood, and when it was time and God Almighty realized what He has already estimated, Ibn al-Arabi retired in one of the tombs outside the city, and there, without any lengthy introductions that are normally required and experienced by many, the opening from Allah Almighty suddenly came without jihad or contemplation, and without going through the long way as this is usually the case with most Sufis. Some of his disciples later mentioned such a story as we shall see shortly. For example, in the Meccan Revelations, Shaykh Muhyiddin himself clearly stated that his opening had advanced before contemplation, although he then committed himself to some Sufi Shaykhs, even though he did not really have a relationship with them as is usually the case of any seeker with his guiding Shaykh, that is usually an education and follow-up until Allah opens for him. However, since Shaykh Muhyiddin was really sought before he was a seeker, he achieved the opening quickly, and very shortly he reached the ranks of shaykhs despite his young age. Therefore, his relationship with his shaykhs was one of mutual benefit and he learned from them and taught them, at the same time. For example, he explained his relation with Shaykh Abu Yaqoub Yusuf al-Kumi by saying:

I was not satisfied with any of my shaykhs other than him, so I benefited from him in contemplation, and he benefited from us in his findings. I was a student and a teacher (of him), and I was like that. People were wondering about this, and none of them knew why! This was in the year 586 AH, because my opening preceded my contemplation, which is usually extremely dangerous thing to happen, but then Allah rewarded me with contemplation on the at the hands of this Shaykh may Allah reward him the best.

[Futuhat: I.616].

Also, we find that Shaykh Muhyiddin was from the beginning in the ranks of senior shaykhs, despite his young age and modernity. Some people who have no feet in the way of Sufism used to trust him more than other shaykhs, as was the case of al-Khatib Abu al-Qasim Ibn Aafir when Shaykh Abu Imran al-Mertelli, whom we will shortly mention, tries to convince him of the conditions of the Sufis:

And I heard our Shaykh Abu Imran Mousa Ibn Imran al-Mertli at his home in the mosque of Radhi in Seville, he was saying to the preacher Abu al-Qasim Ibn Aafir, who denied what the people of this way are claiming (of their mystical stations): O Abu al-Qasim do not do that, otherwise you will combine two denials: one that you don’t have that by yourself, and the other is that you don’t believe it in others, while there is no proof against that and we cannot deny it by logic. Then Shaykh Abu Imran asked me to testify on what he was saying, and Abu al-Qasim used to believed in me, so I approved that and explained it to him according to his evidence since he was a narrator, and thus he accepted and the Shaykh thanks me.

[Futuhat: II.6].

2.3.1- The Motives

2.3.2- The Opening

2.3.3- The Seeker and the Sought

2.3.4- Attraction

2.3.5- His First Guide, Jesus peace be upon him

2.3.6- His Asceticism and Abandoning His Belongings

2.3.7- Self-Accounting and Taking Notes of His Thoughts

2.3.8- The Period 580/1184 - 585/1190

2.3.9- Learning Hadith and Sirah (before 586/1190)

2.3.10- Jurisprudence and Theoretical Sciences

2.3.11- Retiring in Tombs and Accompanying the Dead (586/1190)

2.3.12- His Meeting with Spirits

2.3.13- Seeing the Prophets peace be upon them