ABSTRACT
Not to be confused with the Maliki jurist Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi, there is little exaggeration in stating that the Andalusian mystic Ibn Arabi is the most influential and, at the same time, the most controversial mystic in the Islamic world. For Ibn ‘Arabi, following the path of Muhammad meant following the path of scholarship, as the Prophet had stated, “Scholars are the heirs of prophets.” His education focused on the study of the core texts of the Islamic tradition, namely, the Qur'an, hadith, and works of law. Further, Ibn Arabi provides the richest typology of saints in the Islamic tradition. In addition to the scriptural sources of the Islamic tradition, a discourse that Ibn ‘Arabi regularly employs is lettrism. Opposition to Ibn Arabi’s teachings began in Mamluk Egypt and has resurfaced in the ensuing centuries.
