A critical examination of the approach of al-Sayyid al-Sharif al-Jurjani to the theory of Wahdat al-Wujud

Abstract

The review of the works of Mir Sayyid Sharif Jurjani (1816 AH) indicates that the theory of the unity of existence (waḥdat al-wujūd) was one of his main questions. Jurjani has tried to bring reasoning and intuition closer together in this matter as much as possible. According to his point of view, the correct understanding and recognition of the unity of the existence of mystics can only be achieved through the way beyond the way of reason, i.e. intuition. Reason can prove the "unity of existence", but not as the mystics believe, because the denial of plurality in "existence" is in conflict with the verdict of reason that the existence of multitudes is self-evident. Influenced by his predecessors, based on Ibn Sina's argument on divine monotheism, he has tried to argue on a kind of existential monotheism, which of course is accompanied by many fallacies that make it impossible to accept it. In this article, based on documentary method, Jurjani's statements about existential monotheism have been collected and then described and analyzed philosophically.