The Seal of the Saints. Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctrine of Ibn 'Arabi (Islamic Texts Society) [Paperback]

Michel Chodkiewicz (Author), Liadain Sherrard (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1993 | Series: Islamic Texts Society

Ibn Arabi—born in 1165 in Andalusia and died in 1240 in Damascus—was recognised in his lifetime as al-Shaykh al-Akbar, the supreme spiritual Master. Over a period of eight centuries he has exerted a profound influence on Islamic mysticism. In recent years a number of important studies have helped acquaint the Western reader with Ibn Arabi's metaphysics and this process is now greatly enhanced by the present volume in which Michael Chodkiewicz explores for the first time, the Master's 'hagiology' or teaching on sainthood. Founded on a careful analysis of the relevant texts, Chodkiewicz's work examines this essential aspect of Ibn Arabi's doctrine of sainthood, defining the nature and function of sainthood, while also specifying the criteria for a typology of saints based on the notion of prophetic inheritance.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'This is by far the best available explanation of the central importance of sanctity for understanding both the practical and the theoretical teachings of Sufism.' William Chittick; 'An extraordinarily good book about an extremely difficult thinker...Chodkiewicz not only knows the texts remarkably well, but also avoids and rejects certain errors of perspective common among other scholars.' TLS.

About the Author

Michel Chodkiewicz is Director of Studies at l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Islamic Texts Society (December 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0946621403
• ISBN-13: 978-0946621408
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,349,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a clearly written book about a great sufi master, September 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Seal of the Saints: Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctrine of Ibn Arabi (Golden Palm) (Hardcover)

Of all the technical terms used in Suffism, Walayah seem to be playing a central and key role in the Sufi philosophy. This same word appears, over and over, in Shiism as well to such a degree that it would not be an exaggeration to claim that there would not be a Shiism if the word walayah was eliminated from it, just as Quran would fall apart as a divine book if one eliminated the word "Allah" and his Oneness from it. It was Shia understanding that while it is possible, and indeed necessary, for the cycle of prophecy to come to an end , but it is not possible, ontologically, for the cycle of Walayah to ever to come to an end. From the very early period of its development, Shia Imams put the entire foundation of Shiism on the notion of Walayah, without which the divine purpose of " I wish to appoint a Khalifah on earth" would be disrupted and become unrealizable. The Ontological reason for the necessity of Walayah, Imams tell us, is the very fact that one of Allah's Names is the Name "Wali" and this Name will always have its "manifestation" in all levels, including in our physical plane of existence. This manifestation is necessary for cosmos to continue and it is irrelevant whether people will recognize the Imam or "Perfect Man" as such or not, just as it makes no difference, in an ontological sense, whether people believe in "Allah" and his Ever-Presence or not . This is the secret behind the philosophy and function of the "hidden Imam" , Al-Mahdi, in Shiism. When Shia Imams were confronted with the question of what the use of a "hidden Imam" would be, their answer was " people still benefit from Sun whether it is behind the clouds or not". This provides a very interesting clue as the existential function of an Imam, from Shia point of view. Sun being behind the clouds, and visually absent from our eyes, is not the same as having Sun removed all together, in which case life as we know it will cease to exist on earth. It is important to notice that the earliest versions of shia documents, always emphasize on the trinity of Oneness of Allah, messenger-hood of Prophet and Walayah of Imams. In the teaching of Imams, Walayah is the differentiating factor between "Islam" and "Iman." The first one requires only a verbal admission of Oneness of Allah and prophecy of Prophet, and the second one is when one enters the sanctuary of Walayah, as Quran alludes to this in the verse " and they say we have Iman, say nay, rather you have become Moslems and Iman has not yet penetrated your hearts.." Once one examines these documents, it becomes clear how close the idea of walayah in Suffism is with that of Shiism and the influence of Shii teachings on the formulation of this key concepts among Sufis. However, one important distinction remains between that of Shia undersatnding of Walayah and that of Suffism. In Shiism, Walayah, or more precisely Imamt, is not comparable with Walayah of suffism, for Imams, according to Shia teachings, is a state of "Ismat" and difference between a sufi Wali and an Imam is the same as a sufi Wali and the Prophet himself. Many of Ibna-Al Arabi's comments in Futuhat reflects this if one is willing to read the text carefully enough. It seems to me that eventually suffism began to spread throughout rapidly expanding Islamic world, and with it, each culture injected their own background into suffism and it began to widen its gap with Shiism, and even with their own early masters. This may explain why Ibne-Al Arabi, the greatest master, felt he had to write as much as he did, or why so many other great sufis began distancing themselves from popular suffism. We can see this culturalization even at our own time with popularization of suffism in the west, and anyone who has had contact with some of the western or westernized sufism begins to wonder if Ibne-Al Arabi is not turning in his grave. But this kind of transformation from original happens all the time even to atheistic philosophies such as Marxism, with its popularization in third world countries which transformed it from a "philosophy" into a "religion". While this great book examines Walayah in our great Master's writings, it would be very constructive to have a book written on Walayah in Shiism.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Mahdi" philosophy in Islam, June 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Seal of the Saints. Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctrine of Ibn 'Arabi (Islamic Texts Society) (Paperback)

I find Sufism a fascinating dimension of Islam. More fascinating is the Shiism with their notion of Imams and the philosophy of the "absent Imam" usually referred to as Mahdi. From what I understand, Mahdiism is common between Sunni and Shia Islam and, as author of this book mentions, even Ibne' Al-Arabi mentions his name and claims to have had close encounter with him. What amazed me was the fact that even though there has been, among Sunni Moslems at least, many claims by different people to have been the promised Mahdi, there has been no such thing among Shies. I always wondered why and I think I have discovered the reason for it. The reason seems to be in the extraordinary attribute of the Imams of Shia, which is usually referred to by "Ismat". This attribute ,at first, seems to be equivalent to the "infallibility" familiar in the west. But as one looks closer,one realises that this means alot more than what the word " ifallible" means in the west. It seemed the "Ismat" qualification put such a stringent requirement on the "Imam" that is almost impossible for one to claim to possess such an attribute. For example, An Imam's knowledge, we are told, is so extraordinary that he can meet any challenge, at any age, put forth to him by the most powerful minds of his time regardless of their field of expertise. No wonder no one among Shia dares to claim to be the promised Mahdi, and one wonders if such a person can ever exist. But of course one never knows since we have seen many strange things in our time that defies human intuition and knowledge. I find it fascinating how Shiism came up with means of preventing promised "Mahdi's" popping up, all over the place, and hence cheapening the idea, by creating such a stringent qualification. Maybe that was the point, to create an everlasting hope for something impossible, a hope for an impossible perfection, a continuously forward-looking philosophy. Or maybe such a person does exist and is, in a sense, a divine masterpiece of genetic engineering or as a Sufi might put it a "Perfect Man" in its truest sense. Either way it is a fascinating philosophy.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, December 25, 1999

By 

C. King Khidr (Damascus, Syria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seal of the Saints: Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctrine of Ibn Arabi (Golden Palm) (Hardcover)

This is an excellent monograph on Ibn Arabi's doctrine of sainthood. Chodkiewicz lucidly presents the stages comprising the sufi path culminating in the Beatific Vision and the subsequent return via the double-ladder to the world of the senses: "Earthly as well as heavenly," writes Chodkiewicz, "the saint is he who brings together the high and the low...like the Muhammadan Reality...he forms the 'isthmus' of the two seas'".

Apart from enumerating the stages-on-the-way, Chodkiewicz explains the important role sainthood plays in sufi metaphysics, paying particular attention to the hierarchy of saints which reaches its apex in the gnostic invested with the station of the "pole" (qutb).

The presence of such a belief in Ibn Arabi led some to argue that the shaikh simply reconstructed the shiite doctrine of the imams mutating it into a sufi-sunni doctrine of sainthood. The fallacy of such a contention is like arguing that the Muslims usurped Divine Unity from the Jews, or the Jews from the ancient Egyptians, because a universal reality -- precisely because of its universality -- is independently accessible. Although hasty historicist speculations are expected from those who deny the existence of a supraphenomenol realm, the alam al-ghaib (the world of the unseen), it is a bit strange when it comes from purported believers in a spiritual domain, irregardless of their religiuos persuasion

To say that Ibn Arabi -- and by extension the sufis -- copied from the shiites is to deny the possibility that they both "drank from the same waters" -- Muhammadan waters that existed prior to both the sufis and the shi'ites, attested to by the Prophet's words: "I was a Prophet when Adam was between spirit and flesh".

Chodkiewicz has comprehensively covered a large terrain comprising the world of the batin or unseen as seen through the eyes of one of Islam's greatest mystical philosophers.