ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Jīlī, Waḥdat al-Wujūd, and Reconfiguring Epistemology

Rüdiger Lohlker

doi:10.20414/ujis.v23i1.362

Rüdiger Lohlker Universitat Wien

DOI: https://doi.org/10.20414/ujis.v23i1.362

Keywords: al-Jīlī, al-Insān al-Kāmil, Waḥdat al-Wujūd, Rhizome, New Synthesis, Holobionts, Symbiosis

Abstract

This study introduces some new ideas into the study of ideas in Sufism. Taking al-Jīlī and, esp., his al-Insān al-kāmil as a starting point this study argues a holistic worldview following the concepts of the oneness of being (waḥdat al-wujūd) will be able to integrate – and to be integrated – into contemporary scientific concepts like chemical fluctuation, the new synthesis, and holobionts. This will lead to creating a general philosophy of being beyond the Western biases.

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