cautious intimacy: the perception of ibn al-arabi in the shadhiliya sufi order

The akbariyya is a concept that does not imply an institutionalised tariqa as we know it, but rather the sufi heirs who adopted the theoretical method and discourse of shaykh al-akbar. there are some silsilas that include ibn al-arabi's name, but we can accept that these silsilas indicate the existence of a sufi tendency and interaction, not an institutionalised tariqa as we have seen in some other examples.as such, the akbariyya is a loosely institutionalised movement dedicated to the explanation, study and assimilation of the works of shaykh akbar. the members of this movement interact with each other through texts, not through lineages. or we can say as follows: silsilas owe their existence to texts.however, the fact that the akbariyya was not institutionalised does not mean that it was not represented in institutional orders. we see that ibn al-arabi's theoretical legacy is strongly embraced in different orders, especially in many rumi orders, and that this legacy is blended with the basic teachings of those orders. the interaction we are talking about is not simply a matter of celebrating ibn al-arabi as a saint or including his hagiography in a sufi tabaqat. for, if we ignore some exceptions, there is a consensus among sufis that he was a great sufi. the interaction we are referring to is related to the adoption of ibn al-'arabian themes and conceptual patterns, particularly the notion of wahdat al-wujud. a sufi who is involved in this interaction is expected to be sensitive to the issues of wahdat al-wujud, and to be a person who uses basic akbarian concepts such as hazarât al-hams, tajallī al-ẓāt, tajallī al-sifāt, tajallī al-af'āl, ayān al-sḥabithah or ilāh al-mu'tekad. the results of this interaction may sometimes manifest themselves in the form of writing a commentary on a work of shaykh al-akbar or a theme he dealt with, and sometimes in the form of writing a work defending him in the face of criticism.in this study, we will evaluate the interaction and relationship of the shadhiliyya order with ibn al-arabi through some of its sheikhs who produced the most works from the first establishment of the order until the nineteenth century. we can list these names as follows: ibn ataullah al-iskandari (709/1309), muhammad wafa (765/1363), ali wafa (807/1405), ahmad zarruq (899/1493), ibn ajiba (1224/1809).