Wahdat-al-wujud was an idea developed by the inestimable twelfth-century scholar, Ibn Arabi. Translated literally, wahdat-al-wujud means unity of being, but it can also mean unity of finding. The object of this ‘finding’ is God, and the finder seeks to remove the veils that stand between himself and God so that the perfect level of certainty is reached. This doctrine forms an integral part of traditional Islam, but finds its most explicit expression in the mystical discipline known as Sufism.
The veil is often used as a metaphor for either emotional obstacles or worldly distractions. Even certain Sufi rituals are not spared. For example, poverty is a well-known
circumstance that many Sufis choose to place themselves in. Thus, it is often
said in Turkey [1]:
Sharia (Islamic Law): yours is yours, mine is mine
Tariqa (The Sufi path): yours is yours, mine is yours too
Marifa (Gnosis): there is neither mine nor thine
However, poverty must not be regarded as a goal in and of itself, or else it becomes a veil along the path toward God.
From the outset, wahdat-al-wujud’s chief concern has been with God, or more
specifically, with attaining an existential awareness of the Divine Unity. Poverty is
nothing more than a condition bequeathed by God to test a person’s trust in Divine Grace. Some authorities assert that the more God loves a person, the more He will test him. Hence, we find that the Prophets, being nearest to God, are made to suffer the most.
Since the veils relate to the Divine, they are an infinite number of them. The proper attitude of the seeker is that of bewilderment. The state of finding is said to be directly parallel to the state of not finding, since it is
humanly impossible to overcome infinity. This kind of paradox is hardly novel,
as evident by this saying from Abu Bakr, the first caliph of Islam.
…the incapacity to attain comprehension is itself comprehension. [2]
Because there is a verse in the Quran that states, wherever you turn, there is the face of God
[3], the seeker understands that everything he witnesses and experiences is a divine manifestation of God’s Eternal Will. But taking this idea too literally would
lead the seeker into anthropomorphism; the attribution of uniquely human characteristics to God.
The seeker knows that just as all is God, all is not God.
If such is the case, what does finding God entail? The problem lies in the vagueness of the question. It should instead be re-phrased as: “How do I remove the veils that prevent me from
finding God?”
Muslim cosmology is divided into two worlds, the seen and the unseen. The Quran makes it clear that,
With Him are the keys of the Unseen. No one knows them save He. [4]
Hence, none knows God but God Himself. Because of this, our question can be further refined as: “How to remove the veils that prevent me from being God?”
The question is not as radical as it appears. After all, proximity with God has
always been an overriding goal of the nominal believer. In a famous hadith, it
is striking that the measure of distance is used as a metaphor for the degree of
closeness between the believer and God.
If my servant draws nearer to Me by a handsbreadth, I draw nearer to him by an armslength, and if he draws nearer to Me by an armslength, I draw nearer to him by twice that distance. And if he comes walking to meet Me, I come running to meet him. [5]
And the culmination of such a journey has always been understood by scholars to be union with God. For example, Imam al-Ghazali states in his Ihya [6],
I want union with him…
Before Imam al-Ghazali, the great Shaykh Junayd Baghdadi had been even more explicit:
Love between two is not right until the one addresses the other, ‘O Thou I’ [7].It would be a grave mistake to dismiss the likes of these scholars as mere pantheists without first understanding what is actually meant by union or wahdat-al-wujud. The latter term does not only have an apparent meaning, but also an inner meaning that cannot be discarded. As mentioned before, wahdat-al-wujud not only means unity of being but also unity of finding. Thus, the ostensibly radical question “How to remove the veils that prevent me from being God?” is in essence, “How to remove the veils that prevent me from finding God?” In an intimate study of Ibn Arabi’s thought, William Chittick clarifies that,
Being precedes knowledge as in the world; nothing knows until it first exists. [8]I wrote this article not because I have a particular affinity with Ibn Arabi’s thought, but because I came across another article written by a Muslim who pompously accused wahdat-al-wujud of being polytheistic. In the Islamic sense, polytheism is known as shirik and involves the worship of multiple gods, something that is conspicuously missing in wahdat-al-wujud.
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
What about Wahdut us Shuhud ?
I believe this was propagated by Shiekh Ahmad Sirhindi , Shah Walliullah etc..
An excellent article on a much misunderstood subject. The Unity of Being is the core of all monotheistic religions.
Thank you.
Ya Haqq!
Yes, wonderful article. The misconceptions and sheer untruths flying around about this concept has made it increasingly difficult to be affiliated to the Sufi ideal and instead the uninformed Muslims are being disillusioned with their elders by these so-called salafi’s.
The great aalim of Islam, Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi had a knack of making subjects such as these easy to understand. He said that Wahdat-ul-wujood is the name given to a feeling of intense love in which you see nothing else apart from the beloved. Like in front of the blazing sun, the small light of a candle would be invisible. Though the candle’s flame is there, it is not registered in the vision of the person because of the light of the sun.
How easy he has made it for the layman to comprehend this. It is the memory of this great scholar that prompted me to create my blog. Hopefully, you guys might find it helpful as I have found yours.
http://www.shadeofrahmah.blogspot.com
Oi, achei teu blog pelo google tá bem interessante gostei desse post. Quando der dá uma passada pelo meu blog, é sobre camisetas personalizadas, mostra passo a passo como criar uma camiseta personalizada bem maneira. Até mais.
A decent introductory article on this Sufi doctrine, if one may call it one. Considering that the ultimate aim of religion is to serve and ultimately know Him, then the crucial grandscale metaphysical system of Wahdatul Wujud must be defended and explained by those who can, to the extent of one’s ability and understanding, of course.
. By the way, I like your site. I’ll be sure to drop by more often now..so keep updating lol. My hope is that the above information benefits you or/and others in some way.
Besides, this idea originated from the relatively-uncontroversial Imam Ghazali (Mishkatul Anwaar), with whom Shaykh Ibn Arabi, Shaykh Abu Madyan and other great Sufis were most impressed.
Which leads me to my question..have you ever heard of Sayyid Naquib Al-Attas, and his works? He is a contemporary scholar-philosopher-Sufi who resembles the Islamic polymaths of the glorious past. Without a doubt a scholar of his calibre is rare, especially in our age. Unfortunately, he is not recognized by the ‘masses’ although true scholars know him.
As a legitimate authority (who has probably inherited from the greatness of his grandfather – the great Saint Habib Abdullah bin Mushin Al-Attas) himself, Professor Naguib’s brief but comprehensive works systematically explains Wahdatul Wujud in a manner not to be found elsewhere today…not even in some of the great works of the past. Not that I’m comparing them..who am I to even dare do that. But all that I’m sharing with you here is that he is deliberate (by his own admission) in being more explicit in his philosophical treatment of the subject, whereas most other gnostic-Sufis traditionally veil the inner meanings and essential realities by the use of specific terminology..and a whole lot of background understanding that the average (modern) Muslim isn’t aware of. If anything, this Sayyid Naquib’s direct and explicit style is of immense benefit for academically-oriented aspirants/seekers/thinkers like yourself and others.
Obviously, the fact that it is authentic and true makes it much much better than leaving curious, younger Muslims groping in the dark, confused labyrinths of
Rene Guenon, Schuoun and other Perennialists…not that there isn’t insight scattered through their works. Although their dogma of ‘Transcendent Unity of Religions’ is illogical (read Prof Naguib) and unacceptable to an already-perfect Islam, at least I’ll concede to the fact that Hossein Nasr makes effort in reprinting useful classical works and writing new books. Personally, Sayyid Naquib’s 2 books which I have read I consider as life-changing experiences.
Anyway, apart from being the only modern Muslim scholar who has delimited and elaborated on the nature of the Islamic worldview, Sayyid Naguib also clarifies how and why Wahdatul Wujud is NOT pantheistic, monistic etc etc..and proceeds to give a positive explication of this grandscale ontological supersystem.
So yeah..interesting and useful reading material, if you have the time
Thanks for the post.