Monism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Islam==== {{See also|Tawhid}} =====Quran===== [[Vincent Cornell]] argues that the [[Quran]] provides a monist image of God by describing reality as a unified whole, with God being a single concept that would describe or ascribe all existing things.<ref name="hamza">{{cite book |last1=Yusuf |first1=Hamza |title=The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi |date=2009 |publisher=Zaytuna Institute |isbn=978-0970284396 }}</ref> But most argue that Abrahamic religious scriptures, especially the Quran, see creation and God as two separate existences. It explains that everything has been created by God and is under his control, but at the same time distinguishes creation as being dependent on the existence of God.<ref name="hamza"/> =====Sufism===== {{See also|Sufism}} Some Sufi mystics advocate monism. One of the most notable being the 13th-century Persian poet [[Rumi]] (1207–73) in his didactic poem ''[[Masnavi]]'' espoused monism.<ref name="nicholson">[http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm/study_res/rumi/intro_nicholson.html Reynold Nicholson ''Rumi''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017141204/http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm/study_res/rumi/intro_nicholson.html |date=2006-10-17 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rumi.org.uk/sufism/persian_sufism.htm |title=Cyprian Rice (1964) ''The Persian Sufism'' George Allen, London |access-date=2008-07-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516025909/http://www.rumi.org.uk/sufism/persian_sufism.htm |archive-date=2008-05-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Rumi says in the [[Masnavi]], {{blockquote|In the shop for Unity (wahdat); anything that you see there except the One is an idol.<ref name="nicholson" />}} Other Sufi mystics however, such as [[Ahmad Sirhindi]], upheld dualistic Monotheism (the separation of God and the Universe).<ref>Saleem, Abdul Qadeer. A CRITICAL STUDY OF MUJADDID ALF-E THANI'S PHILOSOPHY. Diss. University of Karachi, 1998. pp.59-60</ref> The most influential of the [[Islam]]ic monists was the Sufi philosopher [[Ibn Arabi]] (1165–1240). He developed the concept of 'unity of being' (Arabic: ''[[Sufi metaphysics|waḥdat al-wujūd]]''), which some argue is a monistic philosophy.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} Born in [[al-Andalus]], he made an enormous impact on the Muslim world, where he was crowned "the great Master". In the centuries following his death, his ideas became increasingly controversial. [[Ahmad Sirhindi]] criticised monistic understanding of 'unity of being', advocating the dualistic-compatible 'unity of witness' (Arabic: ''[[Sufi metaphysics#Waḥdat asḥ-Shuhūd|wahdat ash-shuhud]]''), maintaining separation of creator and creation.<ref>Siddiqui, B. H. "Islam: Synthesis of Tradition and Change."</ref><ref>Ansari, Abdul Haq. "SHAYKH AḤMAD SIRHINDĪ'S DOCTRINE OF" WAḤDAT AL-SHUHŪD"." Islamic Studies 37.3 (1998): 281-313.</ref><ref>Knysh, Alexander D. Ibn'Arabi in the later Islamic tradition: The making of a polemical image in medieval Islam. Suny Press, 1999.</ref><ref>Nizami, F. A. "23 Islam in the Indian Sub-Continent." The World's Religions (2004): 368.</ref> Later, [[Shah Waliullah Dehlawi]] reconciled the two ideas maintaining that their differences are semantic differences, arguing that the universal existence (which is different in creation to creator) and the divine essence are different and that the universal existence emanates (in a non-platonic sense) from the divine essence and that the relationship between them is similar to the relationship between the number four and a number being even.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|first=Hafiz|last=Khan|year=1998|contribution=Shah Wali Allah (Qutb al-Din Ahmad al-Rahim) (1703-62)|encyclopedia=[[Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy|Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]|publisher=[[Routledge]]}}</ref><ref>Ansari, Abdul Haq. "Shah waliy Allah Attempts to Revise wahdat al-wujud." Arabica 35.2 (1988): 197-213.</ref> =====Shi'ism===== {{See also|Shi'ism}} The doctrine of ''[[Sufi metaphysics|waḥdat al-wujūd]]'' also enjoys considerable following in the rationalist philosophy of [[Twelver Shi'ism]], with the most famous modern-day adherent being [[Ruhollah Khomeini]].<ref>Knysh, Alexander. "'Irfan' Revisited: Khomeini and the Legacy of Islamic Mystical Philosophy", 633.</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page