Causality as a ‘Veil’: The Ashʿarites, Ibn ʿArabī (1165–1240) and Said Nursī (1877–1960)

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article explores the development of the idea of causality as a ‘veil’ within the Islamic tradition. More specifically, it examines how the rejection of the necessary connection between cause and effect in the writings of the Ashʿarites led to a highly sophisticated reconstruction of causality in Ibn ʿArabī (1165–1240) and Said Nursī (1877–1960). It also indicates some of the possible bearings of the idea of causality-as-a-veil for the contemporary discussion on the reconciliation of religious and scientific claims on the nature of causality.