Sainthood Between the Ineffable and Social Practice: Jesus Christ in the Writings of Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī and Later Sufism by Ali Hussain A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Near Eastern Studies) In the University of Michigan 2019 Doctoral Committee: Professor Alexander Knysh, Chair Professor Michael Bonner Professor Paul Johnson Professor Andrew Shryock Professor Rudolph Ware “Reality is perplexity, perplexity is anxiety and movement, and movement is life … no stillness, no death. Only being and no nihility!” [Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī, Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam] Ali Z. Hussain [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4307-9487 © Ali Hussain, 2019 Dedication ﷽ May Divine Blessings, Prayers and Salutations be upon our Master Muhammad, His Family, Companions and Inheriting Saints, For the sake of God, the Ever-Eternal, giver of Muhammadan Lights in breaths of Christic fragrance that transform hearts to loving artists! To the principle of Divine Praise, Beloved Muhammad, you are the beginning and end of inspiration … You are the Word, Spirit and Breath! To my loving parents, Zohair and Sawsan … What words can express gratitude for your unconditional love, sustenance and care? To my guide and embodiment Prophetic Light, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani and Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, you are the ink, pen, hand and spring of my creativity! To my beloveds, Fatima and Zahra, you prove to me every day the boundless frontiers of Muhammadan Beauty and Divine Mercy! ii Acknowledgments First, I would like to thank my advisor, Professor Alexander Knysh who believed that a Muslim student with a Master’s Degree in Computer Science has enough passion to obtain a Doctoral Degree in Islamic Studies. Since being accepted at the Middle Eastern Studies Department, seven years ago now, Professor Knysh has mentored me kindly yet vigorously, inculcating in me more than just a nuanced understanding of Islam, Sufism and Ibn al-ʿArabī, he has also helped transform me into a writer with a conviction. My gratitude also goes to the rest of my committee members. What can I say about my dear friend, brother and mentor Professor Rudolph (Bilal) Ware! Between our timeless munājāt, intimate conversations, about Shaykh al-Akbar, Sīdī ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh and Shaykh Aḥmadū Bāmbā, I have found in Professor Ware a kindred spirit and mirror through which I can witness the sacred task of the academic. I have had the pleasure of knowing Professor Andrew Shryock since my first year as a graduate student. The two courses I have taken with him, alongside the countless hours of musāmarāt, informal discussions, about everything from Sufism to Johnny Cash, have engraved in me the art of thinking critically and perceiving the spirits of lingering questions. The single course I have taken with Professor Paul Johnson on Theorizing Religion has shown me the limitless ways to contemplate the mystical experience. Professor Johnson’s openness and brilliant guidance helped me to undertake the seemingly indomitable task of engaging Ibn al- ʿArabī meaningfully with contemporary theory. Professor Michael Bonner’s perspectives on Islam have been a tremendous source of knowledge and guidance to me prior to even beginning my studies at the University of Michigan. Thenceforth, his direction and advice to engage the Judeo-Christian heritage of al-Andalus has opened new frontiers for my research into the Greatest Master’s Christ. I must also thank my parents, Zohair and Sawsan, who tirelessly worked to keep me focused on completing this dissertation while also taking care of my new family. In this regard, my wife Fatima and beloved daughter Zahra remain the continuous light of inspiration and support in my life. While my wife has been my spring of motivation in all things, my daughter has helped me appreciate the necessity of a child’s innocence in approaching the unknown of history. My ink, pen and creative hand of inspiration is my guide Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani. His wife, Hajja Naziha, and him have taken me as their son and shown me the light in all things; for that, I’m forever indebted. I must also thank my dear friend and brother in ṭarīqa, Kamau Ayyubi and his family who constantly help me to perceive the perplexity of my life as harmonious colors on a canvas with a narrative that ends in a good way. Likewise, Ismail and Tazeen, you are ii embodiments of the artist in me and have helped me appreciate the necessity of embracing music as a language of expression, even in an endeavor as academic as this dissertation. Mention must also be made of my high school English teacher, friend and mentor Ryan Goble who just recently obtained his own doctoral degree in education. I thank him for single-handedly introducing me to the nuanced contours of contemporary American history and culture and for continuing to be a creative spring in my life and work. iii Table of Contents Dedication ii Acknowledgments ii List of Figures vi List of Appendices vii List of Abbreviations viii System of Transliteration for Arabic Letters ix Abstract x Chapter One: Introduction 1 Chapter Two: Literature Review 30 Jesus in Islam 30 Ibn al-ʿArabī Studies 49 Conclusion 66 Chapter Three: Jesus in al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya 72 The Physical Composition of Jesus and Kinship: 73 Miʿrāj (Ascension) Narratives 84 Walāya (Sainthood) 97 Esoteric Dimensions of Sharīʿa (Divine Law) 119 Conclusion 137 Chapter Four: Jesus in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam 145 Introduction 145 “The Bezel of a Prophetic Wisdom in a Christic Word” 149 Other Mentions of Jesus in FH 181 Conclusion 194 Chapter Five: The Sufi Jesus after Ibn al-ʿArabī 199 Introduction 199 ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh (d. 1719) 202 Aḥmad al-Tījānī al-Ḥasanī (d. 1815) 226 Conclusion 250 iv Chapter Six: Conclusion 254 Appendix A 283 Akbarian Christology 283 Appendix B 290 Ethnographic Remarks 290 Bibliography 295 v List of Figures Figure 1: The various mediations of Jesus in the FM .............................................................................. 143 Figure 2: Christ's various mediations in FH ............................................................................................ 197 Figure 3: Up close, the mausoleum of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh in the cemetery of Bāb al-Futūḥ ....... 205 Figure 4: From a distance, the mausoleum of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh in the cemetery of Bāb al-Futūḥ ....................................................................................................................................................... 205 Figure 5: (Top left) Tomb of Aḥmad al-Tījānī inside his lodge in the city of Fez................................... 235 Figure 6: (Middle left) guests sitting outside the tomb of Aḥmad al-Tījānī. ........................................... 235 Figure 7: (Top right) The golden gate into the lodge of Aḥmad al-Tījānī in the city of Fez. .................. 235 Figure 8: (Bottom) a gathering of murīds inside the lodge for the ritual recitation of waẓīfa. ................ 235 Figure 9: Christ's mediations in the writings of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh and Aḥmad al-Tījānī ........... 252 Figure 10: Christ's mediations in the writings of Ibn al-ʿArabī and later Sufis. ...................................... 259 vi List of Appendices Appendix A: Akbarian Christology……………………………………………………………………...283 Appendix B: Ethnographic Remarks…………………………………………………………………….290 vii List of Abbreviations Ibn al-ʿArabī’s al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya (Meccan Openings) FM Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam (Bezels of Wisdom) FH Aḥmad b. al-Mubārak al-Lamaṭī’s al-Ibrīz (Pure Gold) IB ʿAlī b. Ḥarāzim’s Jawāhir al-Maʿānī (Jewels of Meanings) JM viii System of Transliteration for Arabic Letters ق q ز z ء ʾ ك k س s ب b ل l ش sh ت t م m ص ṣ ث th ن n ض ḍ ج j ه h ط ṭ ح ḥ و w ظ ẓ خ kh ي y ع ʿ د d ـﺔ in construct غ gh ذ dh state: t ف f ر r The article: al- and l- (even in front of sun letters) Short vowels Long vowels Dipthongs ﹷـﻮ aw و u ُ- ū ﹷـﻲ ay ا a َ- ā ّـــــــــﻲ iyy ي i ِ- ī ﹹ ّـﻮ Nunation uww -ٌ an -ً in -ٍ un ix Abstract This dissertation investigates the various portrayals of ʿĪsā b. Maryam (Jesus son of Mary) in the thought of the Andalusian mystic Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 1240) and later Sufism, specifically the teachings of two celebrated North African mystics, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh (d. 1719) and Aḥmad al-Tījānī (d. 1815). After discussing the organization and methodology of the research in the Introduction, chapter two explores the corpus of secondary references on Jesus in Islam and Ibn al-ʿArabī studies. Thenceforth, chapters three and four delve into Christ’s presence in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Meccan Openings and Bezels of Wisdom respectively. The results of this analysis is then used to gauge the son of Mary’s depictions in the teachings of al-Dabbāgh and al-Tījānī; all the while situating Ibn al-ʿArabī’s own image in these later mystics’ Weltanschauungs. Lastly, the concluding chapter synthesizes the results from chapters three, four and five in an attempt to answer some overarching questions regarding the importance of Jesus for Sufi mystics like Ibn al- ʿArabī, al-Dabbāgh and al-Tījānī. In this regard, the emphasis in this final chapter pertains not only to the concepts in these saints’ writings, but the contexts in which these concepts arise and insights that they provide into the unique pedagogical and writing styles of these Sufi authors. It is in this last sense that the dissertation contributes to the ongoing research in Sufi intellectual history by also considering the religious concerns and approaches of Sufi figures in Islamic history. x Chapter One: Introduction Religious symbols formulate a basic congruence between a particular style of life and a specific (if, most often, implicit) metaphysic and in so doing sustain each with the borrowed authority of the other.