History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps HoP 179 - Mohammed Rustom on Philosophical Sufism
Jun 8, 2014
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Philosophical Sufism Is Theoretical Sufism
- Philosophical Sufism blends formal philosophy with lived Sufi spirituality into a theoretical, doctrinal discourse.
- Mohammed Rustom calls this Erfan Nazari or speculative Sufism and ties it to cosmology, ontology, and theology within Sufi vision.
Ibn Arabi Built On Earlier Philosophical Sufis
- Ibn Arabi didn't emerge in a vacuum; earlier figures like Ayn al-Qudat al-Hamadani and Ibn Sabin already integrated philosophy and Sufism.
- Rustom highlights Ayn al-Qudat's early articulation of the Muhammadan reality linked to Neoplatonic first intellect.
Ibn Arabi Is Coherent But Not Systematic
- Ibn Arabi is philosophically rich but anti-systematic: he presents coherent vision through symbolic, revelatory ordering rather than formal systematic argument.
- Rustom notes Ibn Arabi reorganizes topics by kashf (divine unveiling), often affirming then revising positions across texts.