WAḤDAT AL-WUJŪD ACCORDING TO‘ABD AL-GHANĪ AL-NĀBULUSĪ: EXPLANATION TO THEORETICAL LINKAGES AMONG ONTOLOGY, ACT THEORY AND SUFI PRACTICE

NAOKI YAMAMOTO

ABSTRACT

This study aims to show how ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī (1641-1731), a prominent
Syrian Islamic scholar in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, teaches Muslims to
overcome their ego through various disciplines. This paper will focus on his ontology,
theology and sufi practices. In ontology, al-Nābulusī explains the reality of being from
a perspective of Waḥdat al-Wujūd (unity of being). According to al-Nābulusī, all beings
in the world have no actual existence, but only Allah has true existence. Other beings
can exist through Allah’s existence. He insists that this is the reality of being which
all Muslims must understand and believe in. Furthermore, his idea of existence is not
limited in the field of ontology, but also in the field of theology. Al-Nābulusī discussed
the topic of human agency with Ibrāhīm al-Kūrānī (d. 1616-1640), a prominent Islamic
theologian in Medina. Al-Kūrānī claimed that human power can influence (ta’thīr)
actions with the permission of Allah. However, al-Nābulusī disagreed, holding on that
only Allah has the power to create actions. This follows from al-Nābulusī’s ontology: as
Allah is the only true Existent, so He is the only true Agent. Finally, even in his treatise
on Naqshbandī practices, al-Nābulusī developed the meaning of its practice based on his
ontology. Al-Nābulusī explains that silent remembrance of Allah (dhikr khafī), which is
regarded as one of the most important practices for the Naqshbandī, is a way to overcome
our ego and experience true reality. This paper demonstrate how al-Nābulusī repeatedly
emphasized the oneness of Allah in various kinds of Islamic sciences and practices.