Imaginal Worlds: Ibn al-'Arabi and the Problem of Religious Diversity

William C. Chittick

Paperback, 216 pages

9780791422502

This book was one of the titles selected for the Wardah Books Islamic Civilisation Book Club 2021.

Ibn al-Arabi, known as the "Greatest Master,"is the most influential Muslim thinker of the past 600 years. This book is an introduction to his thought concerning the ultimate destiny of human beings, God and the cosmos, and the reasons for religious diversity. It summarizes many of Ibn al-Arabi's teachings in a simple manner. The ideas discussed are explained in detail.

The book is divided into three parts. In the first part Chittick explains Ibn al-Arabi's concept of human perfection; in the second part he looks at various implications of the World of Imagination; and in the third part he exposes Ibn al-Arabi's teachings on why God's wisdom demands diversity of religious expression, and he suggests how these teachings can be employed to conceptualize the study of world religions in a contemporary context.

Contents:

1. Oneness of Being

2. Microcosm, Macrocosm, and Perfect Man

3. Ethics and Antinomianism

4. Self-Knowledge and the Original Human Disposition

5. Revelation and Poetic Imagery

6. Meetings with Imaginal Men

7. Death and the Afterlife

8. A Myth of Origins

9. Diversity of Belief

10. The Divine Roots of Religion