Masra al-Tasawwuf = Tanbih al-Ghabi ila Takfir Ibn Arabi wa Tahdhir al-Ibad min Ahl al-Inad bi Bidat al-Ittihad

Masra al-Tasawwuf (The Demise of Sufism) is the combined title given to two theological and polemical treatises authored by the Shafi'i scholar and historian Burhan al-Din al-Biqa'i (809–885 AH / 1406–1480 CE): Tanbih al-Ghabi ila Takfir Ibn Arabi (Warning the Ignorant Regarding the Excommunication of Ibn Arabi) and Tahdhir al-Ibad min Ahl al-Inad bi-Bidat al-Ittihad (Warning the Servants against Stubborn People Regarding the Innovation of Monistic Union) Mawsuat Mawaqif al-Salaf …+1. The work is dedicated to refuting the doctrines of absolute monism (wahdat al-wujud), union (ittihad), and incarnation (hulul) advocated by Ibn Arabi and Ibn al-Farid al-Imam al-Biqai wa Minha…+1.

Composition and Structure

The work originally consists of two separate treatises composed by al-Biqa'i, which he also referenced in his Quranic commentary Nazm al-Durar fi Tanasub al-Ayat wa-l-Suwar al-Imam al-Biqai wa Minha…+1:

• Tanbih al-Ghabi ila Takfir Ibn Arabi (also given as Tanbih al-Ghabi ala Takfir Ibn Arabi): Al-Biqa'i completed this treatise in Shawwal 864 AH in Cairo, offering an alternative title for it: al-Nusus min Kufr al-Fusus (The Texts Demonstrating the Unbelief of al-Fusus) al-Imam al-Biqai wa Minha…. It is specifically directed at dismantling Ibn Arabi’s Fusus al-Hikam (The Ringstones of Wisdom) al-Imam al-Biqai wa Minha….
• Tahdhir al-Ibad min Ahl al-Inad bi-Bidat al-Ittihad: This treatise was written primarily to refute Ibn al-Farid's 761-verse poem al-Ta'iyya al-Kubra (also known as Nazm al-Suluk), as well as commentaries on it such as Muntaha al-Madarik by Sa'd al-Din al-Farghani, alongside broader monistic trends al-Imam al-Biqai wa Minha…+1.

Content and Method

Al-Biqa'i frames his critique as a defense of orthodox Islamic monotheism (tawhid) against what he characterized as philosophical Sufism and absolute monism al-Imam al-Biqai wa Minha…+1. He distinguishes between the behavioral, Sunna-compliant path of earlier Sufis and jurists (al-tasawwuf al-suluki) and the philosophical concepts of wahdat al-wujud al-Imam al-Biqai wa Minha….

His critical method relies on two main components:

1. Direct textual citation: Al-Biqa'i quotes long extracts directly from Ibn Arabi's Fusus al-Hikam and Ibn al-Farid's al-Ta'iyya al-Kubra Masra al-Tasawwuf = Tanbi…. To ensure textual accuracy, he relied on a manuscript of Fusus al-Hikam provided by one of Ibn Arabi's own adherents al-Imam al-Biqai wa Minha…. He argues that Ibn Arabi equates the Creator with creation and rejects attempts to interpret these texts allegorically (ta'wil) away from their explicit meanings al-Imam al-Biqai wa Minha…+1.
2. Scholarly verdicts: He compiles legal pronouncements (fatawa) and statements of excommunication issued by numerous scholars of the 7th, 8th, and 9th Islamic centuries Masra al-Tasawwuf = Tanbi…. These include prominent Ash'ari figures, Sufi-leaning scholars such as Ala al-Din al-Bukhari, and brief citations from Ibn Taymiyya al-Mawsua al-Muyassara fi…+1.

Reception and Editions

Al-Biqa'i's writings provoked strong opposition among his contemporaries and successors Mawsuat Mawaqif al-Salaf …+1. His student Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH / 1505 CE) authored a counter-polemic titled Tanbih al-Ghabi bi-Tabri'at Ibn Arabi (Warning the Ignorant with the Exoneration of Ibn Arabi), wherein al-Suyuti argued for upholding belief in Ibn Arabi's sainthood (wilaya) while prohibiting ordinary readers from examining his specialized mystical writings al-Imam al-Biqai wa Minha…+1.

Manuscripts of al-Biqa'i's treatises are preserved in the Egyptian National Library (Dar al-Kutub) and the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin al-Imam al-Biqai wa Minha…+1. In 1373 AH (1953 CE; also recorded as 1372 AH), the Egyptian scholar Abd al-Rahman al-Wakil edited and combined both treatises into a single volume published in Cairo by Matba'at al-Sunna al-Muhammadiyya under the newly coined title Masra al-Tasawwuf al-Tafsir al-Hadith+1. Later researchers noted that al-Wakil chose this title because of the length of the original titles, though some remarked that the title Masra al-Tasawwuf overgeneralizes al-Biqa'i's focus, as al-Biqa'i was not attacking Sufism in its entirety, but rather the specific doctrines of ittihad and wahdat al-wujud al-Imam al-Biqai wa Minha…+1.