Analysis of Existential (Wujūdī) and Intuitive (Shuhūdī) Approaches in Islamic Mysticism

Abstract

Waḥdat al-Wujūd (Unity of Being) in mystical literature is akin to a subtle seasoning whose flavor varies with each temperament; through it, Ṣūfī poetry has ascended to the loftiest planes of truth and metaphor. Owing to the doctrine of Unity of Being, Islamic literature was enriched as a distinct style and intellectual school. Poetry acquired a genuine ardor, the savor of sincerity, and the delicacy and hues of fervent love; mystical literature spread across the world, and hundreds of works were composed within this tradition, forming vast libraries in their own right. On the other hand, the theory of Waḥdat al-Shuhūd (Unity of Witnessing) presents a content ostensibly opposed to that of Waḥdat al-Wujūd; yet Hamza Baba and several other mystics regard this opposition as merely a verbal dispute. Many Ṣūfīs have described the ultimate stage of witnessing with the expression “all is from Him”, by which they mean that the presence of the One God is perceived in the existence of everything, and that the cosmos is but the shadow (ẓill) of the Divine attributes, not the attributes themselves for the attribute is never identical with the Essence. The notion of shadow signifies that the existence of a thing manifests itself in second, third, fourth levels, and so on. Here, the controversy surrounding Waḥdat al-Wujūd becomes exceedingly subtle and complex; it is therefore necessary that the general public not be drawn into this debate, for the discourse exceeds the bounds of common understanding. In this regard, Mawlānā Abū al-Kalām Āzād, quoting the traditionist of Delhi, Shāh Walī Allāh, writes: If I were to choose to establish the doctrine of Unity of Being, I could prove it from all the explicit texts and outward indications of the Qurʾān and the ḥadīth; yet it is better that such statements not be removed from their proper contexts, nor should one advance beyond the meanings understood by the people of the earliest generation, namely the noble Companions. Nevertheless, the founder and foremost exponent of Waḥdat al-Wujūd, Ibn ʿArabī (may God have mercy upon him), articulates his position in response to all views as follows: God the Exalted despite His absolute distinction and uniqueness in respect of His Essence manifests Himself at the level of disclosure and becomes present within things, which thus serve as loci of divine self-disclosure. Hence, when external entities are viewed as sites of manifestation and presence, they appear as multiplicity; but when viewed from the other perspective, they are unity. At the station of unity, there is nothing other than the Divine Presence. If we conceive of a “thing,” that thing is never the Absolute Reality (al-Ḥaqq), and the Absolute Reality is never a “thing.”