Ibn Arabi's Perceptions of Gabriel's Tamathul to Mary and its relationship with the Characteristics of Christ and Christian Art

Abstract

To explain the personality traits, miracles of Jesus, and Christian iconography, Ibn Arabi relies on his interpretations about Gabriel's Tamathul (representation) to Mary in the Holy Qur'ān. The spiritualization of Jesus' body and the completion of his guardianship is related to the incarnation of Rul al-Qudus (Holy Spirit) in his Genesis, and his expansion and hopeful heart is related to Mary's expansion state when Gabriel announced that she would have a son. Since the Holy Spirit breathed the Divine breath into Mary during Jesus genesis, accordingly, Jesus could revive the dead by breathing into them.The iconography of the saints is influenced by the incarnation of the Holy Spirit in transformation of the Word of Jesus. Jesus is similar to Holy Spirit, the Divine Spirit was embodied in him. Christians who seek to embody the meanings through imagery to worship God put the icons of Jesus in churches. Although iconography is forbidden in Islam, Ibn Arabi presents one of the benefits of the principle of the effect of parents' imagination on the child which is effecting nature through interference in the imagination faculty of the parents and of parents and simulation of the patterns in the next generation.