Scope of Ibn Arabi's Pluralism - Degrees of Inclusivity

Abstract

This thesis investigates the relationship between religious pluralism and the writings of the Sufi philosopher Ibn ʿArabī, and to what extent he promotes them. Using a framework inspired by Muḥammad Legenhausen, it is argued that Ibn ʿArabī presents one form of a nonreductionist approach to religious plurality and inclusivism. There are thus three primary “inclusions” investigated: the inclusion of the divinely-revealed laws (sharāʾiʿ) under the Muḥammadan Law, the inclusion of all man-made laws (nawāmīs) likewise under Muḥammad’s Law, and the inclusion of all sects and factions regardless of their divine or human origins. It is the non-Abrahamic religions that are of particular concern for the purposes of our inquiry. The first two inclusions are indeed accepted by Ibn ʿArabī, within certain limitations. But the third inclusion, represented by Henry Corbin’s interpretation of Ḥaydar Āmulī, remains highly inconclusive given the exclusivist nature of the latter’s orthodoxy. In short, Ibn ʿArabī remains a strongly pluralistic writer once certain, specific exclusivist concerns of his are taken into account.