Getting to Know Ibn Fanārī, a Follower of Ibn Arabī's School in Anatolia

Nosrati, Sepideh

doi:10.22059/jop.2025.399072.1006932

Getting to Know Ibn Fanārī, a Follower of Ibn Arabī's School in Anatolia

Document Type : Scientific extension

Author

sepideh nosrati

Faculty Member of Encyclopedia Islamic Foundation

10.22059/jop.2025.399072.1006932

Abstract

Fanari was among the first scholars who, with the title of Sheikh al-Islam, endeavored to propagate and promote the school of Ibn Arabī in Anatolia. Şā’in al-Dīn Ali ibn Muhammad Turkah Işfahānī (d. 836 AH), who himself was a mystic and philosopher of the Ibn Arabī school and a contemporary of Fanārī, in response to opponents of Ibn Arabī’s ideas, referred to the status and credit of Fanārī and stated that he had been teaching Fusūs al-Ḥikam and the teachings of the Ibn Arabī school for twenty years, and this did not cause the scholars and scientists of Rome and Egypt to criticize and reproach Fanari. However, probably due to the unpopularity of this tendency among the Hanbalis and Egyptian jurists, Fanari avoided expressing ideas based on Ibn Arabī’s views during his stay in Cairo, and accordingly, most of the scholars who came to his discussion and lesson sessions testified to his excellence and knowledge. It has also been said that Fanari held the position of caliphate in some Sufi orders, such as the Rifā’iyya and Zayniyya.

Keywords

Fanārī

Ibn Arabī

Miṣbāḥ al-Uns

Rifā’iyya

Zayniyya

Subjects

philosophy

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