Ibn_Arabi_On_The_Problem_of_Divine_Hidde.pdf
Ibn ʿArabi on the Problem of Divine Hiddenness
In this paper I focus on Ibn ʿArabi’s ideas regarding the problem of divine hiddenness. Nowadays it seems an undeniable fact that there are many people who have searched for evidence of existence of God whole-heartedly, but did not succeed in finding a solid point on which to construct their faith; or that there are some truth-seekers who have found other non-theistic religions to be true religions and so converted to them; or as the result of their search have reached the belief that there is no true religion at all and that it is rational to be an atheist or at least agnostic. Seeing these facts and recognizing them as a problem is one thing; deducing an atheistic argument from them is another. While an atheist philosopher may derive and atheistic argument from the existing problem of evil or hiddenness, it is worth mentioning that there are some thoughtful mystics who put another gloss on the phenomenon and see the world in a completely different manner.
In this paper I focus on Ibn ʿArabi’s ideas regarding the problem of divine hiddenness. Nowadays it seems an undeniable fact that there are many people who have searched for evidence of existence of God whole-heartedly, but did not succeed in finding a solid point on which to construct their faith; or that there are some truth-seekers who have found other non-theistic religions to be true religions and so converted to them; or as the result of their search have reached the belief that there is no true religion at all and that it is rational to be an atheist or at least agnostic. Seeing these facts and recognizing them as a problem is one thing; deducing an atheistic argument from them is another. While an atheist philosopher may derive and atheistic argument from the existing problem of evil or hiddenness, it is worth mentioning that there are some thoughtful mystics who put another gloss on the phenomenon and see the world in a completely different manner.