A Study On Ibn Arabi's Theory Of Knowledg

Ibn Arabi is one of the most well-known figures in Islamic studies.He was a prolific scholar who wrote hundreds of books comprising tens of thousands of pages.He has written on Quran exegesis,hadith,Islamic Jurisprudence,poetry as well as philosophy,ontology,epistemology,mysticism etc.In this study,we aim to focus on Ibn Arabi’s epistemology,placing it within the context of Islamic Epistemology,making extensive use of Ibn Arabi’s works in their original language(Arabic).Chapter Ⅰ will just serve as an introduction to Ibn Arabi’s life and social background for his thoughts,including his works.In Chapter Ⅱ,we will be introducing Islamic Epistemology,in order to lay the foundation for Ibn Arabi’s thoughts on epistemological concepts.It is common practice among modern scholars of Islamic thought to divide Islamic thought into Islamic Philosophy,Kalam and Islamic Mysticism(i.e.,Sufism).Ibn Arabi is a distinct scholar who wrote on all three of these,among others.Throughout his works,Ibn Arabi cites,analyzes and,more often than not,criticizes the thoughts of Muslim philosophers,Kalam scholars and,sometimes,other Sufis.Therefore,we deem it impossible to study Ibn Arabi without reference to Islamic thought prior to Ibn Arabi.Chapter Ⅱ will thus provide the context for Ibn Arabi’s epistemology.A more comprehensive work about Ibn Arabi’s thought would have called for a broader philosophical context that would comprise other aspects of Muslim philosophy;however,it would be beyond the limits of our study that aims to focus on and expound Ibn Arabi’s epistemology within the context of Islamic Epistemology before him.Chapter Ⅲ,tightly connected with the context provided by Chapter Ⅱ,consists of the focal point of the thesis;namely,Ibn Arabi’s thoughts on epistemology.In this chapter,core concepts in Islamic epistemology will be presented in a certain order.This part will mainly talk about sources of knowledge,and their reliability.Tasnif al-’Ulum(Taxonomy of Islamic Sciences),one of the most important discussion in this chapter,will be basically about categorization of knowledge.And finally,we will be exploring Ibn Arabi’s opinions on philosophy,for,even though many people consider him to be a philosopher and present him as the originator of "Philosophical Mysticism",he himself talks about philosophers in the 3rd person.In Chapter Ⅲ we will also explore mystical terminology that are found in Ibn Arabi’s epistemological thought.The mystical concepts presented in this section of the thesis follow no particular order,since they are the very embodiment of mystical thought,that(as Ibn Arabi himself insistently stresses)are not subject to rational analysis.What Ibn Arabi says is beyond the limits of rationality,have been hard to organize rationally,thus we will only be relating the "epistemologico-mystic" terminology as they are told by Ibn Arabi.