Article

A Critical Edition and Analysis of Bahāeddīnzāde’s Risālah fī Mas’alah Khulūd al-Kuffār

Abstract

Bahāeddīnzāde (d. 952/1545) is said to have written a defense of Ibn al-‘Arabī (d. 638/1240), however, these works have remained unknown. This study discusses the authenticity of ascribing Risālah fī Mas’alah Khulūd al-Kuffār to Bahāeddīnzāde and its purported defense of Ibn al-‘Arabī. This study further seeks to establish that Bahāeddīnzāde wrote a separate treatise defending Ibn al-‘Arabī for each of the controversial positions expressed in Fuśūś al-Ĥikam such as the issue regarding the faith of Pharaoh and the extension of God’s mercy to the disbelievers. One of these treatises is that of Risālah fī Mas’alah Khulūd al-Kuffār in which Bahāeddīnzāde claims that to accuse Ibn al-‘Arabī and Qūnawī of disbelief on the basis of their views concerning the aforementioned subjects contravenes the consensus of the Ahl al-Sunnah, even if these views are at odds with it. In this regard, this article critically investigates the underlying reasons for why Ibn al- ‘Arabī and Qūnawī, despite their respective views on divine mercy and its inclusion of disbelievers, are not to be accused of disbelief. In addition, the article also closely examines the basis of Bahāeddīnzāde’s claim regarding the position of al-Ghazālī, that is, in both accusing the falāsifah of disbelief and absolving Ibn al-‘Arabī and his followers of the same. The reader will find a critical edition and translation of Risālah fī Mas’alah Khulūd al-Kuffār in the addendum of the article.

Keywords

Bahāeddīnzāde Ibn al-‘Arabī-Qūnawī Ghazālī God’s Mercy Eternity of Hellfire Acccusation of Disbelief/Takfīr Consensus/Ijmā‘