Bediuzzaman Said Nursī’s Critique of the Concept of Waḥdat al-Wujūd (The Unity of Being)

Abstract

Abstract: This article reflects on the critical reception within the Islamic world of waḥdat al-wujūd (the unity of being), the famous Sufi notion associated with the works of the Muslim mystic-philosopher Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn ‘Arabī (d. 1240 CE), with a particular focus on the ways in which it was critiqued by the modern Islamic scholar Bediuzzaman Said Nursī (d. 1960). Nursī’s work is significant in that his critique of waḥdat al-wujūd was conversant with pre-modern Islamic intellectual discourse even as it attempted to render it compatible with modern needs and subjectivities. To better understand Said Nursī’s approach to waḥdat al-wujūd , this article situates it within this broader discursive context, specifically drawing on its connections to the critiques offered by Sa‘d al-Dīn al-Taftāzānī (d. 1390 CE) and Aḥmad Sirhindī (d. 1624 CE), both of whom would be influential on Nursī’s work. This article concludes by suggesting that despite Nursī’s criticism of and attempts to replace waḥdat al-wujūd with an alternative spiritual method, his thought is nonetheless deeply reliant on concepts articulated by Ibn ‘Arabī and his followers.