Section

The doctrine of these proponents of the identity of Creator and creation—such as Ibn ʿArabī, Ibn Sabʿīn, al-Qūnawī, and al-Tilmisānī—is composed of three elements:

The negation and denial espoused by the Jahmiyya;

Ambiguous Sufi statements: the indeterminate, equivocal expressions found in the words of some of them. The Christians likewise went astray through similar expressions in what they relate from the Messiah, following what is ambiguous and abandoning what is clear. This also includes the utterances of those whose reason was overwhelmed and who spoke in a state of intoxication;

And philosophical heresy, which is the root of Jahmī doctrine, together with their discussions of absolute existence, intellects, souls, revelation, prophethood, necessity, and contingency, and the truth and falsehood contained therein.

This last element predominates in Ibn Sabʿīn and al-Qūnawī, while the second predominates in Ibn ʿArabī. For this reason, he is the closest of them to Islam.

They all share in Jahmī doctrine. Al-Tilmisānī is the most thoroughgoing exponent of this heresy and the doctrine of identity peculiar to them, and the most extreme of them in his disbelief in Allah, His Books, His Messengers, His revealed laws, and the Last Day.