THE ONTOLOGICAL, SPIRITUAL AND SOCIAL POSITION OF WOMEN

IN THE LIFE AND THOUGHT OF MUHYIDDIN IBN ‘ARABI

“Engendered being is only imagination,

yet in truth it is the Real.
He who has understood this point
He has grasped the mysteries of the Path.”
Fuṣūṣ al- hikam

“Love of women belongs to the perfection of the

gnostics, for it is inherited from the Prophet and is
a Divine love.” Fuṣūṣ al-hikam

Muhammad b. ‘Ali b. Ibn ‘Arabi al-Taī al- Hātimi is one of the most

influential and controversial spiritual teachers in the history of Islamic intellectual

thought. His systemization of Islamic philosophical and theological concepts is

both highly regarded as the work of the Qutb of his time by his admirers, and

denigrated as the work of a kafir by his detractors. Known as Muhyiddin

(Revivalist of Religion) and Shaykh al-Akbar (the Greatest Master) Ibn ‘Arabi was

born on the 27th of Ramadan, 560/1165 in Murcia, Spain, into the rich Moorish

culture of Andalusia. In Seville, he received a classical education in the Islamic

sciences and was exposed to Zoraoastrianism, Manichaean lore, Jewish and

Christian theology, Greek philosophy and mathematics. Ibn ‘Arabi traveled

throughout Andalusia seeking learned teachers. He reported having met Khidr

along the way and was given a khirka by him.1 He traveled extensively

throughout the Muslim world, dying in Damascus in 630/1240, but not before

1
Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina
Press, 1975.
having written over three hundred fifty works, including Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam (Bezels of

Wisdom) in 1229, in which he presents the inner meaning of select Prophets,

from Adam to Muhammad2. According to Ibn ‘Arabi, it was inspired by “a vision of

the Prophet Muhammad, who commanded him to take a book from the Prophet’s

hand and transmit it to the world for the benefit of mankind.” 3 It is within the

chapter entitled, “The Wisdom of Singularity in the Word of Muhammad” that Ibn

‘Arabi presents his interpretation of the Prophetic Hadith, “Three things have

been made beloved to me in this world of yours: women, perfume, and prayer,”

upon which he predicates his assertion that the best and most perfect

contemplation of God is through woman.4

A full exposition of Ibn ‘Arabi’s theosophical mysticism is far beyond the

scope of this paper, or the full comprehension of this writer. Consequently, this

paper offers a description of the role of women in the intellectual and spiritual

development of Ibn ‘Arabi, and a glimpse into his theophanic system, to which

they have arguably contributed significantly.

Women figure positively and prominently in Ibn ‘Arabi’s metaphysical

writings and in his personal spiritual life. It becomes clear that he was profoundly

influenced by his female Sufi masters, as well as by one extraordinarily beautiful

2
i.e, Adam, Seth, Noah, Enoch, Abaham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Joseph, Hūū d, Ṣāliḥ, Shu’aib, Lot,
Ezra, Jesus, Solomon, David, Jonah, Job, John, Zakariah, Elias, Luqman, Aaron, Moses, Khālid,(AS)
Muhammad (SAW).

3
Sa’diyya, Shaikh, Sufi Narratives of Intimacy: Ibn ‘Arabi, Gender and Sexuality, Chapel Hill:
University f North Carolina Press, 2012, p. 15.

4
Ibn ‘Arabi, The Bezels of Wisdom,Translation and Introdūction by R.W. J. Aūstin, Preface by Titūs
Būrckhardt, New York: Paūlist Press, 1980 p. 275.

2
and intelligent young Persian woman whom he met while on Hajj in 1201, and

who was the inspiration for his Diwān, the expression of his transcendent love for

God.5 About this encounter, Annemarie Schimmel writes, “ A first and decisive

meeting with a woman who radiated divine beauty as if she were transparent

may have prepared the ground for Ibn ‘Arabi’s inclination to perceive the divine

through the medium of female beauty and to see the female as the true reflection

of God’s mercy and creativity. He composed his love lyrics in Mecca under the

spell of a young Persian lady.”6

Arguably the most influential of the women in Ibn ‘Arabi’s life was Faṭima

bint al-Muthammā de Cordaba, a woman of gnosis from Seville. Ibn ‘Arabi

served her for two years, a longer period of time than he spent with any other

Sufi master, male or female. “When Ibn ‘Arabi says ‘I served,’ it means he took

the person as his shaykh, his spiritual guide and a spiritual teacher. Therefore,

Faṭima al-Mathannā was for Ibn ‘Arabi all that a shaykh is to a murid”.7 Ibn ‘Arabi

took his ‘spiritual descent’ (silsilah) from her, which he did not do with any other

of the spiritual masters he accompanied in his life. He was her disciple in “an
8
intimate mentoring and nurturing teaching relationship.” Ibn ‘Arabi writes, “ I

5
Jamal Elias J., “Female and Feminine in Islamic Mysticism,” Muslim World Journal, Volūme 78,
Issūe 3-4, October, 1988, 209-224.

6
Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1975.

7
Sa’diyya Shaikh, “In Search of al- Iḥsan: Sūfism, Islamic Law and Gender,” Journal of the American
Academy of Religion, 77, No. 4, 2000, 781-822.

8
Sa’diyya Shaikh, Sufi Narratives of Intimacy: Ibn ‘Arabi, Gender and Sexuality, Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2012.

3
served as a disciple of one of the lovers of God, a gnostic lady of Seveille called

Fatima bint al-Muthannā, who lived in Cordoba. I served her for several years,

she being over 95 years of age. With my own hands I built a hut for her of reeds,

as high as she was, in which she lived until she died. She used to say to me, ‘I

am your spiritual mother and the light of your earthly mother.” 9 The impact of

Faṭima al-Mathannā of Cordoba on the life and thought of Ibn ‘Arabi cannot be

overstated. “Ibn ‘Arabi became aware of her station when she told him that the

Fatiha of the Qur’an served her. He learned first hand when she recited Fatiha

for the matter she desired and he read with her. As a result of her recitation, she

created a three dimensional ethereal image of the Fatiha, and asked it to carry

out such and such an order.”10 Ibn ‘Arabi writes of benefitting from her

knowledge of the science of letters, one of the sciences known to Sufi saints.

“That he learned from her and surrendered to her leadership and knowledge

without embarrassment is practical proof of Ibn ‘Arabi’s declaration that, ‘a

woman can be a shaykh and a spiritual guide and that men are allowed to be

among her disciples.”11

Yasmina Umm al-Fuqara (Shams) was a woman in her eighties who lived

in Marchena of the Olives. Ibn ‘Arabi said of her, “Among people of our kind, I

have never met one like her with respect to the control she had over her soul. In

9
‘Arabi, Ibn, The Bezels of Wisdom, Translation by R.W.J. Aūstin, Preface by Titūs Būrckhardt, New
York: Paūlist Press. 1980.

10
Soūad Hakim, “Ibn ‘Arabi’s Twofold Perception of Woman As Hūman Being and Cosmic
Principle,” Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society, Volūm XXXI, 2002, 1-29.

11
Ibid
4
her spiritual activities and communications, she was among the greatest. She

had a strong and pure heart, a noble spiritual power and a fine discrimination.

Her spiritual state was characterized by her fear of God and His good pleasure in

her.”12 She revealed a glimpse of her spiritual attainment such as her ability to

see events in far away places, and the power to articulate the thoughts of

others.13

Another prominent Sufi woman who lived in Seville and whom Ibn ‘Arabi

visited there and in Mecca was Zaynab al-Qal’iya. While gifted with both beauty

and wealth, she renounced the world. “Ibn ‘Arabi described her as ‘a foremost

ascetic of her day, she was known to levitate in the air during meditation.” 14

The beautiful Persian Sufi woman who was the inspiration for Ibn ‘Arabi’s

spirtual love poetry is Nizām ‘Ayn Shams wa l’Bahā 15, about whose spiritual

mastery, intellect, wisdom, beauty and sensuality Ibn ‘Arabi wrote, as well as of

her social behavior. She was unmarried, spoke in public, had friendships with

unrelated males, didn’t wear hijab and dressed in a way in which her beauty was

apparent, yet was modest, independent and self-assured. 16 Another of Ibn

12
Op Cit.

13
Sa’diyya Shaikh, “In Search of al-Iḥsan: Sūfism, Islamic Law and Gender, Journal of the American
Academy of Religion, 77, No.4, 2000, 781-822.

14
Maria Massi Dūkake, “Walking Upon the Path of God Like Men? Women and the Feminine in
the Islamic Mystical Tradition,” World Wisdom Online Library,
www.worldwisdom.com/pūblic/library/defaūlt.aspx.

15
Alternately identified as Nizaū m Bint Makinūddin

16
Jamal J. Elias, “Female and Feminine in Islamic Mysticism, “The Muslim World Journal, Volūme
78, Issūe 3-4, 209-224.

5
‘Arabi’s gnostic teachers is Fakh al-Nisa Bin Rustam, who is alternately identified

as Nizām’s mother17, or aunt18.

In addition to the Sufi women from whom Ibn ‘Arabi derived spiritual

knowledge and guidance, numerous women were among his own disciples. In

his Diwān, Ibn ‘Arabi provides the names of fourteen people to whom he has

given the khirka (Sufi cloak), thirteen of whom were women. 19 Here is but one of

the Sufi women immortalized in his Diwān.

I wrapped Siti al-‘Aysh in the

Same khirqa of God’s friends
Which the people of piety and bounty
Had enveloped me within.
The one who wears
The honorable khirqa of God’s friends
Is beyond reproach,
On condition that she wears it
In the manner of the virtuous ones.
Her station is one that
Recaps felicity, success, and prosperity
In all that she seeks.20

Significantly, throughout his writing Ibn ‘Arabi confirms women’s aptitude

for knowledge, learning and teaching, asserting their equal spiritual potential to

that of men and recognizing their equal agency, ability and value. 21 Ibn ‘Arabi’s

17
Ibid.

18
Sa’diyya Shaikh, Sufi Narratives of Intimacy: Ibn ‘Arabi, Gender and Sexuality, Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2012.

19
Ibid.

20
Ibid.

21
Ibid.

6
high regard for the spiritual capacity of women is not theoretical. Rather, when

he describes women’s spiritual aptitude and acknowledges their spiritual equality

with that of men, he is remembering the women at whose feet he studied and the

spiritual powers and aptitudes they revealed to him. Well steeped in Qur’an, Ibn

‘Arabi refers to the Qu’ranic description of Bilqis’ acceptance of Islam, in which

she did not become a follower of Sulaiman or submit to his guidance or that of

any other intermediary. Rather, she possessed direct belief in God, stating, “ I

submit with Sulaiman to Allah, Lord of the Worlds”. 22 Making the distinction

between this declaration and that of Fir’awn, who claimed to believe in the God

of Musa and Haruna, Ibn ‘Arabi bestowed the rank of laqiahā (direct

understanding) on Bilqis.23 Ibn ‘Arabi strongly opposes those who refuse to

acknowledge the Sainthood (waliya) of women as well as men. He understands

the Prophet’s statement that, “men and women are siblings (shaqīlq) to mean in

aptitude for all the stations of sainthood.” 24 The same source continues, “As for

the ceiling that limits woman and that she cannot pierce, it is that of envoyship

and prophetic mission (risala wa-ba’tha). Ibn ‘Arabi says that a woman shares

the degree of perfection with man, and that man is favored by superlative

perfection: envoyship and prophetic mission. In that sense, she is equal to all

Muslim men after prophethood and envoyship has been sealed by the person of

Muhammad, peace be upon him.” Ibn ‘Arabi holds that both men and women

22
Qūr’an 27:44

23
Op. Cit.

24
Soūad Hakim, “Ibn ‘Arabi’s Twofold Perception of Woman as a Hūman Being and Cosmic
Principle,” Journal of the Muhyiddin Society, Volūme XXXI, 2002, 1-29.
7
share all the ranks of Sainthood, even that of the Pole (Qutb), “ ….the greatest

friend of God in any given era and acts as the primary means whereby the worlds

are interconnected.”25 Further, she “……is the perfect human being par

excellence, the true servant of the name that embraces all divine names,

‘Servanthood’….”26

Although for the most part, Sufi circles were open to both genders, and

there have been significant female gnostics on the Sufi path throughout the

history and development of Sufism, there has also been an ambivalent attitude of

Sufism toward women. On the one hand, the idealized woman has played a

major role in the development of Sufi theosophy, on the other women have been

associated with the nafs, the lower self, representing dunya, the world and its

temptations, seeking to ensnare the pure spirit, as Zulaika sought to entrap Yusuf
27
in worldly desire. Consequently, Ibn ‘Arabi’s assertion that both men and

women share all the ranks of Sainthood, even that of the Qutb, is controversial

within Sufi discourse. Equally as controversial is Ibn ‘Arabi’s view that a woman

could be an imam leading both men and women in prayer, stating, “ There are

people who permit women to lead the prayer unconditionally, for both men and I

agree with that.”28 Arguably, Ibn ‘Arabi’s assertion of women’s ontological and
25
Sachiko Mūrata, The Tao of Islam, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992.

26
Ibid.

27
Maria Massi Dūkake, “Walking Upon the Path of God Like Men? Women and the Feminine in
the Islamic Mystical Tradition. World Wisdom Online Library, www.worldwisdomcom/pubic
library/default.aspx.

28
Soūad Hakim, “Ibn ‘Arabi’s Twofold Perception of Woman As Hūman Being and Cosmic
Principle”, Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society, Volume XXXI, 2002, 1-29.

8
social equality with men is considered as radical today in many quarters within

the Ummah as it was in the 7th/13th century. In Murata’s exploration of

cosmological gender she argues for women’s complete spiritual equality with

men, but embraces gender hierarchy at the social level, as reflected in her

statement, “Islamic spirituality…places divine mercy and compassion, the divine

yin, at the pinnacle of value. Again, this primacy of yin cannot function on the

social level since it undermines the authority of the law. 29 Nevertheless, Ibn

‘Arabi argues that “Eve was created from Adam, and so she has two

determinations (hukum), that of male by virtue of origin and that of female by

virtue of contingency. Based upon this gender equality as human being, woman

is qualified to work in all the same occupations as a man does and possesses

the aptitude for the performance of all intellectual and spiritual activities.” 30

Ibn ‘Arabi’s argument that femaleness and maleness are ontologically

equal is a compelling one. For him, femaleness and maleness are contingent

states in the human essence. “Humanity unites male and female and in it

maleness and femaleness are contingencies, not a human reality. 31 Ibn ‘Arabi

asserts that femaleness has a degree of receptivity, i.e., of being acted upon,

while maleness has a degree of actor and acted upon. Therefore, for Ibn ‘Arabi,

the best way to understand the essential human essence in its dual role as active

29
Sachiko Mūrata, The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought,
Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992.

30
Op. Cit.

31
Soūad Hakim, “Ibn ‘Arabi’s Twofold Perception of Woman As Hūman Being and Cosmic
Principle,” Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society. Volūme SSSI, 2002, 1-29.

9
and passive (fāl and mafūl) is to contemplate woman. Further, since both the

receptive and the acted upon have a degree of female, even if it is male, Ibn

‘Arabi concludes that every creature in the universe is ‘female’ on both the

ontological and the gnostic planes. He states, “ We are females for what He

impregnates in us. Praise be to God. There is not in this universe a male.

Those men who custom designates, they are really females. They are my soul.” 32

This is a particularly interesting perspective in contrast to the widely held Sufi

notion that a spiritually adept woman becomes a man. Ibn ‘Arabi’s approach to

the ontological degree that belongs to man is to make it equivalent to a spiritual

degree belonging to women. Ibn ‘Arabi removes the degree out of a social,

human context and places it into a context of Being. “God was prior to man. Man

was prior to woman. God does not manifest in the same image twice, does not

manifest to two people in the same image. This is the degree that man has over

woman.33 His insistence on placing woman on the same footing as man is based

on his belief that, “the universe depends on two orders,” i.e., on man and

woman.34 Ibn ‘Arabic employs two linguistic arguments in his Futuhat, one that

puts men and women on equal footing, and one that implies women’s

superiority.35

“Do you not observe God’s wisdom in giving an increase to woman

32
Ibid.
33
Sa’diyya Shaikh, Sufi Narratives: Ibn ‘Arabi, Gender, and Sexuality, Chapel Hill: The University
of North Carolina Press, 2012

34
Ibid.

35
Ibid.

10
 to woman over man in terms of name? He says of man al-marī,
while He says of woman al-marīah. Thus, He increased her by ha
in pause (gram.) and by ta in conjunction (gram.) when compared t
to the name ‘man.’ So she has a degree over that of man’s in that
station, which corresponds to His saying, ‘Men have degrees over
them (women)’ so He filled this gap with that increase for women.”

“……and had there been no honor paid to the feminine other than
the fact that both the Divine Essence (dhat) and Quality (sifa) are
feminine [in gender], that would have been sufficient.”

Rabia Terri Harris asserts, “Women take precedence only because they

are the focus of receptivity, just as nature takes precedence over everyone that

takes from her. And nature in reality is none other than the breath of the

Merciful.”36 Woman, as “the breath of the Merciful (nafas al-Raḥman) brings

humanity into existence, thereby constituting a, “unique theophanic location

combining receptive and active modes.” 37 Within this paradigm, the best way to

understand the essential human essence in its dual role as active and passive is

to contemplate woman in whom the perfect image of God is embodied.

The notion of the sacred and the profane woman has been explored in

Judeo-Christian literature as the virgin-whore dichotomy. The Islamic corollary of

the sacred and profane woman binary distinguishes between the celestial,

glorified feminine, the ideal, symbolizing virtue and Divine Compassion, and the

human female, associated with the lower soul inclined toward evil and

possessing animal qualities.38 Ibn ‘Arabi introduces the idea of veils into the
36
Rabia Terri Harris, “One Degree: The Bezel of Mūhammad and the Gender Dilemma, Paper
presented at the Ibn ‘Arabi Society Symposiūm, New York, 1992.

37
Jamal J. Elias, “Female and Feminine in Islamic Mysticism”, Mūslim World Joūrnal, Volūme 78,
Issūe 3-4, October, 1988, 209-224.

38
Sa’diyya Shaikh, Sufi Narratives of Intimacy: Ibn ‘Arabi, Gender and Sexuality, Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2012.
11
discourse, through which discussion dichotomy is unified. First, that God

possesses two opposite dimensions, i.e., the Essence who remained the

eternally hidden treasure, eluding human knowledge, and God’s manifestation in

human beings through relationships with His attributes. Stating that the Divine

names are “veils surrounding God,” 39 Ibn ‘Arabi describes the Divine Essence as

a veiled reality. He then describes the “veil of the lower self (nafs) through which

evil emanates, explaining that both what is shameful (the nafs, a veil for deceit)

and that which is sublime ( the Divine Essence, a veiled reality) are veiled. 40

Sa’diyya Shaikh continues this argument, “ Thus, both the passionate soul and

the Divine Essence are connected to the feminine. Human woman serves the

dual function of being symbolic of what is lowest in man, and at the same time,

what is the most sublime in God.” 41 In addition to the concept of the Glorified

Celestial Woman, Ibn ‘Arabi writes about the “Divine Feminine,” in which he

provides a “hermeneutical analysis of engendered words that provide explicit

recognition of the Feminine qualities of God.” 42 Maria Massi Dakake sums it up

nicely, “Like all created beings, men are surrounded by the feminine element of

39
Ibid.

40
Ibid.

41
Ibid.

42
Meena Sharify-Fūnk, “Peace and the Feminine in Islam,” Peace and Conflict Resolution in Islam,
Edited by Abdūl Aziz Said, Nathan C. Fūnk, Ayse S. Kakayifci, Lanham, Maryland: University Press of
America, 2001.

12
Divine Mercy. As a result, men are situated between the two roles of femininity,

the nafs and the Dḥat, both of which are feminine in the Arabic language.” 43

Another fascinating aspect of Ibn ‘Arabi’s discourse concerns his

metaphorical notion of a mirror (maẓhar) as a significant means of self-reflection

for God and for man: The world is a mirror of God’s manifestations (tajalliyat),

i.e., the mediator between the names and the named ones 44; God becomes the

mirror in which the spiritual man contemplates his own reality and man in turn

becomes the mirror in which God contemplates His Names and Qualities 45; It is

important to point out as Annemarie Schimmel does, that “God is above all

qualities – they are neither He nor other than He and He manifests Himself only

by means of the names, not by His Essence. He is inconceivable (transcending

concepts) and non-experiential (transcending even non-rational cognition). That

means in their actual existence the creatures are not identical with God, but only

reflections of His attributes”.46 Adam is a mirror in which God can contemplate

Himself47; Spiritual woman is a mirror in which man can contemplate his inner

43
Maria Massi Dūkake, “Walking Upon The Path of God Like Men? Women and the Feminine in
the Islamic Mystical Tradition, Sufism, Love and Wisdom, Edited by Jean-Loūis Michon and Roger
Gaetani, World Wisdom, Inc., 2006 www.worldwisdom.com

44
AnneMarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1975.

45
Meena Sharify-Fūnk, “Peace and the Feminine in Islam”, Peace and Conflict Resolution in Islam,
Edited by Abdūl Aziz Said, Nathan C. Fūnk, Ayse S. Kadayifci, Lanham, Maryland: University Press of
America, 2001.

46
Op Cit.

47
Jamal J. Elias, “Female and Feminine in Islamic Mysticism”, Muslim World Journal, Volūme 78,
Issūe 3-4, October, 1988, 209-224.

13
self, just as the function of Adam is a mirror in which God can contemplate His

own image, an image that reveals the Divine feminine attributes. 48 Sa’diyya

Shaikh writes,

“For men, women potentially mirror the image of God. Ibn

‘Arabi emphasizes that if a man loves a woman with the
prophetic insight of the comprehensive nature of woman’s
reality, he has loved God. Women reflect that pervasive
dimension of reality, a creative reality though which all
knowledge and love become possible.” 49

It is noteworthy that not one of the discourses regarding self-reflection provided a

mirror through which woman can contemplate herself or God. Significantly, while

some of the greatest early female mystics lived celibate lives, their contemplation

of God was intimate and many were blessed with miracles (karāmat), pre-

cognition (baṣīra), an aura of spirituality (sakīna) and insight into another person

(firāsā).50 Perhaps this is due to the spiritual degree over men that Ibn ‘Arabi

attributes to women, as mentioned above.

Ibn ‘Arabi’s premise is heavily dependent upon acceptance of an account

of Adam and Eve that is inclusive of several essential elements: first, that Adam

represents the archetypal human being and is neither merely a prophet nor just a

male human being;51 second, that Eve was created from Adam; third, the

48
Hūda Lūfti, “The Feminine Element in Ibn ‘Arabi’s Mystical Philosophy”, Alif: Journal of
Comparative Poetics, 5, 1985, 7-19.

49
Sa’diyya Shaikh, Sufi Narratives of Intimacy: Ibn ‘Arabi, Gender and Sexuality, Chapel Hill:
Univesity of North Carolina Press, 2012.

50
James J. Elis, “Female and Feminine in Islamic Mysticism”, The Muslim World Journal, Volūme
78, Issūe 3-4, October 1988, 209-224.

51
Op Cit.

14
ontological yearning between Adam and Eve was spread to every human

(heterosexual) couple in being.52 For Ibn ‘Arabi, the only woman capable of

becoming “Eve” to him was Nizām Bint Makinuddin, with whom he yearned to

unite to achieve this ontological satisfaction. 53 To him, rather than physical love of

two people for one another, it was the transcendent love of a seeker to become

intimately attached to some aspect of his beloved. 54 Of her beauty, Ibn ‘Arabi

wrote in the beginning of his Diwān: “She is the incomparable one of her era. Her

home is the pupil in the eye, and the heart in the chest. She is of long

experience.”55 Sachiko Murata writes of the recurrent theme of total devotion to

and immersion in a human beloved as a medium to achieve union with the Divine

Beloved. “The eyes of the lover are capable only of seeing the unique perfect

beauty, the Divine beauty and by focusing on this beauty in human form, the

lover is purified and eventually achieves an understanding of the Divine.” 56

Jamal J. Elias offers an interesting and slightly less patriarchal perspective on the

ontology of human existence.”57 “In his heavenly form, Adam existed as

Feminine spirit (Rūh), man as Adam being a physical manifestation of the

52
Soūad Hakim, “Ibn ‘Arabi’s Twofold Perception of Woman as Hūman Being and Cosmic
Principle” Journal of the Muhiyddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society, Volūme XXXI, 2002, 1-29.

53
Ibid.

54
Jamal J. Elias, Female and Feminine in Islamic Mysticism,” The Mūslim World Joūrnal, Volūme
78, Issūe 3-4, October 1998, 209-224.

55
Op. Cit.

56
Sachiko Mūrata, The Tao of Isam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought,
Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992.

57
Jamal J. Elias, “Female and Feminine in Islamic Mysticism”, The Muslim World Journal, Volume
78, Issue 3-4, October 1988, 209-224
15
Glorified Feminine. The trivialized female in turn emanates from Adam,

completing a succession of emanations from God to Feminine to male to female.”

In view of this ontological premise, Ibn ‘Arabi asserts that the Perfect Man

(al-Insān Kāmal) is not gender specific. “The prototype of al-insān kāmal or

Perfect Man is not the masculine Adam as opposed to the feminine Eve; rather,

the undifferentiated Adam is the ‘single soul’ from which both men and women

were created. The most comprehensive standard for human realization, al-Insān

Kāmal, is ungendered, making identical demands on men and women and are

equally attainable by both. In order to reach this state of original Adamic purity,

man must attain all of the virtues, both masculine and feminine. 58 Ibn ‘Arabi’s

concept that both human men and human women manifest the Divine attributes

in their embodied state affirms the complete integrity between body and spirit,

i.e., he sees human comprehensiveness and knowledge of God being achieved

through activities that include human emotion and the body. 59 Murata provides a

detailed description of the five kinds of marriage Ibn ‘Arabi postulates, i.e.,

Unseen, Spiritual, Natural, Elemental and Human. Ibn ‘Arabi asserts that, “as

microcosms, human beings bring together in their reality, all the levels of

marriage, and this itself is ‘marriage’ or conjunction of all realities.” 60 She further

explains that Ibn ‘Arabi utilizes metaphors of sexual intercourse to describe the
58
Maria Massi Dakake, “Walking Upn the Path of God Like Men? Women and the Feminine in
the Islamic Mystical Tradition,” Sufism, Lov and Wisdom, Edited by Jean-Loūis Michon and Roger
Gaetani, World Wisdom, Inc., 2006, www.worldwisdom.com

59
Sachiko Mūrata, The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought,
Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992.

60
Ibid.

16
relationship between the primal creative principles of the cosmos, and nuanced

gendered metaphors to describe gender-neutral interactions between active and

receptive principles as a “strategy to collapse dualistic binaries between spirit

and matter.”61 As the first manifestation of male man and female woman, Ibn

‘Arabi relates the consummation of Adam and Eve’s ontological marriage, i.e.,

the love of woman, to Divine Love. In this configuration, the male cannot feel

complete without uniting with female woman, who is created from him. 62 There is

another spiritual function of sexual intercourse and the complete ablution (ghusl)

that must follow it. “According to Ibn ‘Arabi’, true rajuliyya (manliness) is

perfected and complete when the man is purified by the light of the intellect and

of spiritual guidance, after he has left the darkness of nature and base desires

him.”63 Within this construct, “nature and base desires” are represented by

woman, in whom man has been annihilated during sexual intercourse and the

ghusl purifies man in preparation for his return to God. Maria Massi Dakake

raises an important lingering question: if man’s physical and emotional desire for

woman is a symbol of his spiritual yearning for his spiritual Beloved, what does

this symbolism mean for the female sālik journeying from her own soul to her

Divine Beloved?64

61
Ibid.

62
Sa’diyya Shaikh, “In Search of Al-Iḥsan: Sūfism, Islamic Law and Gender,” Journal of the
American Academy of Religion, 77,No.4, 2000, 781-822

63
AnneMarie Schimmel, My Soul Is A Woman: The Feminine in Islam, Translated by Sūsan H.Ray,
New York: The Continūūm Pūblishing Company, 1997.

64
Maria Massi Dakake, “Walking Upon the Path of God Like Men? Women and the Feminine in
the Islamic Mystical Tradition”, Sufism, Love and Wisdom, World Wisdom Inc., 2006
17
 An essential aspect of Ibn ‘Arabi’s metaphysical system is contained in his

development of a ternary relationship between God, woman and man. “Far from

being a distraction, it is through woman that man properly knows his relationship

with God and a world view which portrays the connection of human beings to

God as being essentially dependent on their own relationality, since God cannot

be known in Godself.”65. Within this paradigm, the best way to understand both

the essential human essence in its dual role as active and passive is to

contemplate woman, For Ibn ‘Arabi, it is through woman that man properly knows

his relationship to God and it is through her that the secret of the Compassionate

God is revealed.66 Ziba Mir-Hossein provides a different interpretation of the love

relationship between man and woman and how it affects man’s love for God,

“Like a rib, woman has the inborn ability to bend in her love without breaking.

She is the symbol of Divine love and mercy, created from ‘affection’ and love

toward man is implanted in her essence. Thus, woman’s role and destiny is to

bend in love. In so doing, she joins man and makes him whole again. Man’s

love for woman, on the other hand, is like the love of the whole for a part; looked

at this way, man’s love for woman does not infringe on his love for God.” 67

65
Trish Madigan, “A Woman of Perfūme and Prayer Speaks With Christo-Sophia: Wisdom As a
Basis of Dialogūe Between Christians and Mūslims”, Paper presented at “Gathering of the Threads”,
Women Scholars in Religion and Theology Conference, Brisbane: Janūary, 1998.

66
Ibid.

67
Ziba Mir-Hossein, “Religioūs Modernists and the ‘Woman Qūestion”, Twent Years of Islamic
Revolutio: Political and Social Transition in Iran Since 1979, Edited by Eric Hooglūnd, Syracūse, New
York: Syracūse University Press, 2002.

18
 Central to Ibn ‘Arabi’s entire discourse is the fundamental and overarching

principle of waḥdat al-wajūd, the transcendent Unity of God. God is above all

qualities. They are neither He, nor other than He, for there is nothing but He, the

intrinsic meaning of La Ilaha Ilallah. This means that in their actual existence,

creatures are not identical with God, but only reflections of His Attributes, 68 those

of God’s Beauty (al-sifāt al-Jamaliyya) and those of God’s Majesty (as-sifat al-

Jalaliyya). Ibn ‘Arabi prioritizes the Jamāli qualities of Mercy, Compassion and

Love,69 thereby giving explicit recognition to God’s feminine qualities. 70 Once

again, Arabic grammar is enlisted to reinforce this position by pointing out that

the hidden, eternally un-manifest Essence of God, al-Dḥat, the source of all

creation, is feminine71 For Ibn ‘Arabi, the grammatically feminine words that

describe God indicate the predominance and priority of God’s feminine

dimensions in the creation process. Thus, the Mercy of Existence is symbolized

as a Divine Womb.72

Turning to the Prophetic hadith, ”Three things have been made beloved to

me in this world: women, perfume and prayer,” given that Arabic is a gendered

68
Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, Chapel Hill: The University of North
Carolina Press, 1975.

69
Jamal J. Elias, “Female and Femnine in Islamic Mysticism,” Muslim World Journal, Volūme 78,
Issūe 3-4, October, 1988, 209-224.

70
Meena Sharify-Fūnk, “Peace and the Feminine in Islam”, Peace and Conflict Resolution in
Islam,Edted by Abdūl Aziz Said, Nathan C. Fūnk, Ayse S. Kadayifci, Latham, Maryland: University Press
of America, 2001.

71
Maria Massi Dūkake, “Walking Upon the Path of God Like Men? Women and the Feminine in
the Islamic Mystical Tradition.” Sufism: Love and Wisdom, World Wisdom, Inc. 2006.

72
Ibid.
19
language, Ibn ‘Arabi skillfully constructs a linguistic argument to support his

ontological insights, introducing the symbolism of the grammatical gender of the

words ‘women’, ‘perfume’ and ‘prayer’ in the Prophet’s statement. “Significantly,

Although both women and prayer are feminine and perfume is masculine, the

Prophet used the feminine plural form, making the feminine gender

grammatically prevail over the masculine. The word nisā has no singular form;

the work talāth is used for three, not ‘talāthah, the word used to number male

nouns.”73 In addition, the symbolic masculine (perfume) is situated between the

two symbolic feminine’s (women and prayer).74 Extrapolating the grammatical

argument to an ontological one, Adam is situated between the Source of all

Existence, and Eve, whose existence stems from him. 75 The final argument is

based on the premise that woman is connected with the idea of the soul, not as

the veil that obscures the Face of God, but as the primary means of knowing

God.76 Nevertheless, Ibn ‘Arabi explains that God (Haqq) cannot be

contemplated divested of matter. For Ibn ‘Arabi, woman is the created being who

offers the most perfect and complete contemplation and witnessing of the

Divine.77

73
Ibid.

74
Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, Chapel Hill: The University of North
Carolina, 1975.

75
Ibid.

76
Maria Massi Dūkaka, “Walking Upon the Path of God Like Men?” Women and the Feminine in
the Islamic Mystical Tradition,” Sufism: Love and Wisdom, World Wisdom, Inc. 2006.

77
Soūad Hakim, “Ibn ‘Arabi’s Twofold Perception of Woman as Hūman Being and Cosmic
Principle”, Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society, Volūme XXXI, 2002, 1-29.
20
 In addition to the compelling linguistic analysis of the grammatical gender

of the words “women”, “perfume” and “gender”, it is reasonable to conclude that

the centrality of the feminine component of the Divine within Ibn ‘Arabi’s

theosophical discourse, as well as his own experience with gnostic women,

provide the foundation for his interpretation of the Prophet’s statement regarding

his love for women.78 As Dukake states, “ It should be noted that for Ibn ‘Arabi

perhaps more so than for any other major Sufi thinker, women figure prominently

and positively in both his metaphysical expositions and his practical spiritual life,

having himself been profoundly influenced by his female Sufi masters and having

initiated a number of female disciples.” 79 Finally, the patriarchal and heterosexual

assumptions of Ibn ‘Arabi’s theophanic view not withstanding, the depth of his

ontological argument provides fertile ground for contemplation and reflection. It

also leaves this writer with the yet unanswered question:

“The notion that man’s desire for woman on a physical and

emotional level serves as a symbol of his yearning for his
spiritual Beloved raises the question of what this symbolism
means for the female sālik journeying from her own soul to
her Divine Beloved,80

78
Sa’diyya Shaikh, “In Search of Al-Insan: Sūfism, Islamic Law and Gender”, Journal of the
American Academy of Religion, 77, 2000, 781-822.

79
Maria Massi Dūkake, “Walking Upon the Path of God Like Men? Wme and the Feminine in the
Islamic Mystical Tradition, Sufism, Love and Wisdom, Edited by Jean-Loūis Michon and Roger Gaetani,
World Wisdom, 2006.

80
Ibid.
21
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