Mystical-Ontological Analysis of the Concept of Piety from the Perspective of Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Islamic studies and theology.

2 Member of the faculty of the Institute of Wisdom and Religious Studies

3 Faculty Member, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

10.22080/jepr.2025.30195.1301

Abstract

The significance of taqwā (piety, God-consciousness) in mystical and ethical studies is well-established. Employing a descriptive-analytical method, this article demonstrates how Ibn Arabi redefines the concept of taqwā through a paradoxical, multi-stage process, beginning with a radical return to its etymological root, wiqāyah (shielding). In the primary sense, the pious individual (muttaqī) makes their self a shield for God against blame while making God their shield against praise. At a deeper level, however, this "shielding" evolves from a moral attribute into an ontological stance where the servant is the "outward" (ẓāhir) and God is the "inward" (bāṭin). This process culminates in the dissolution of the pious agent within the unitive vision (shuhūd), wherein the ultimate aim of taqwā becomes "refraining from seeing oneself as the agent." This "abandonment of taqwā" signifies not antinomianism but its very perfection, achieved through the annihilation (fanā') of the "pious self" in the True Agent. By resolving the linguistic paradox of agency, this analysis redefines the role of ethics in Ibn Arabi's mysticism, transforming it from a static "law" into a dynamic progression from "obligation" to "spiritual courtesy" (adab), and from "courtesy" to "theophany" (tajallī).

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