Two Different Theories: "Unity of Being" And "Absolute Unity of Being" (In Light of the Studies of Ibn ʼArabi and Ibn Sabʿīn)

Importance of studying Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi and his theory of "unity of being" lies in examining the heritage of his predecessors to uncover and clarify the ambiguity of concepts and perceptions held by earlier Sufis. In fact, monotheistic religions before Islam depicted the deity through the names of divine attributes, not the essence of God. Islam is the first religion to believe that God has an essence and attributes that are indefinable and unimaginable. However, Islam believes in the thingness of the divine essence. The debate over the essence and attributes of God has been ongoing since the Mu'tazila period and was later addressed by Islamic philosophers and later by Sufis. Some of them anthropomorphized God, while others likened Him to His likeness. However, Ibn Arabi distinguished between likening and transcendence, unity and multiplicity, absolute and restricted, and self-sufficiency and need. We have addressed all these elements in the studies of Ibn Arabi and Ibn Sab'in. The aim of this research is to answer some questions to understand the difference between the two theories: Ibn Arabi's "unity of being" and Ibn Sab'in's "absolute unity of being." We use the descriptive analytical approach, which is always suitable for studying such topics.