Did Ibn Arabi say that if they had stopped worshipping idols, they would have deviated from the Truth (God)?

- Is that what Ibn Arabi really said?
- Some of Ibn Arabi’s critics state the following: Ibn Arabi said, “It is true that the people of the Prophet Nuh (Noah) and the people of Hud worshipped idols. And if they had given up worshipping idols, they would have turned away from the Truth. The people of Ad were righteous people; the heat during the period of drought period did not disturb them.”
- Are they all true or just false accusations?
- Or, is there a different meaning that we do not notice?

Dear Brother / Sister,

It is possible to understand the statement above as follows: They would have abandoned what they themselves thought to be the truth.  

Ibn Arabi’s statement regarding the issue in “Fusus al-Hikam” is as follows:

“If they had stopped worshipping their idols, they would not have known the Truth to the extent that they gave up because, in every worshipped deity, there is an aspect of the Truth (which is why that thing is worshipped).”

Like some of Ibn Arabi’s other statements, this one is also apt to be misunderstood; it needs explanation.

Some commentators explained it.

According to the explanation of Bali of Sofia, Ibn al-Arabi expresses the inner situation of Hud tribe. In other words, people who were accustomed to worshipping idols, who thought that they approached Allah by worshiping idols and who continued this worship sincerely, thought that they would turn away from Allah when they turned away from worshipping idols. That is why they cannot stop worshiping idols. Every believer’s conception of Allah is shaped within himself. That is how their belief in Allah was formed.

Ahmet Avni Konuk explains these statements as follows:

The people of Noah became ignorant of the Truth to the extent that they abandoned their idols because God Almighty is present in all particles with His identity. As a matter of fact, He has a special aspect in every deity. He who knows that aspect knows Allah, and he who does not know it cannot know Allah. The verse “Whithersoever ye turn, there is the presence of Allah” (al-Baqara, 2/115) expresses this meaning.

This explanation should not mean that idolatry is permissible. The thing to note here is this:

If a person worships the outward appearance of things or worships the imagination of a deity, not its person, he falls into idolatry. However, if a person worships Allah, who is one and single, in every deity and in every manifestation, without allocation and determination, that person will be wise. The verse “Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him” expresses this meaning.

From this point of view, if a person worships an idol or worships an imagined deity, he actually worships the Truth because it is always the Truth that is manifest both in the apparent manifestations and in the spiritual manifestations such as imaginations. The body is one, and it is the body of the Truth (God).

The explanation of the Bosnevi is as follows:

There is a special aspect in every deity. He who knows that aspect knows the Truth. He who is ignorant of that aspect becomes ignorant of the Truth. That is, there is an aspect for the Truth in every deity of stone, tree, sun and moon; that aspect is eternal when the veils of things perish. He who knows the aspect of the Truth in every deity knows the Truth that is certain in the manifestation of that deity. And he who is ignorant of that aspect becomes ignorant of the Truth that is certain in the manifestation of that deity.

“When thou threwest (a handful of dust), it was not thy act, but Allah’s.” In each being, divinity and servitude, worshipping and being worshipped, prostrating and being prostrated are apparent. If a person worships the veil and implicitness of that being or worships the imagination of the deity in that divinity, he will have worshipped his own desire.

And if a person worships Allah Almighty, who is always and unconditionally one and single, in every deity and in every form, he is knowledgeable, inquisitive, wise and sage. Thus, the pronoun hu in the phrase “ya’rifuhu wa yajhaluhu” refers to the Truth. The pronoun hu in the phrase “Wa man arafahu wa man jahilahu” refers to the aspect. It is permissible for the pronoun hu to refer to the meaning in the phrase “wa ya’rifuhu wa yajhaluhu” and to the Truth in the phrase “Wa arafahu wa jahilahu”. That is, “Ya’rifu hadhal-ma’na man arafal-Haqqa va zuhurahu fil-mazahiri. Va yajhaluhu man jahilal-Haqqa wa jami’a zama’iri” is permissible to refer to the aspect. So, it means, he who knows this aspect knows and he who does not know it does not know.

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