Ibn 'Arabi Society

Laila Khalifa (Ph.D) began her studies in social sciences and history at the University of Jordan in Amman. Later she pursued postgraduate research in Social Psychology at the University of Nottingham, UK in 1985. She was awarded her MA in Classical and Modern Islamic Thought at the Sorbonne in 1988. She has subsequently dedicated her research to the study of Ibn 'Arabi's doctrine and received her Ph.D. in 2000, in History and Civilisation at the L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Here, under the supervision of Prof. Michel Chodkiewicz, she completed her dissertation: "Conqurtes, Illuminations, Tassawuf et Prophetie: La Futuwwa chez le Sheikh al- Akbar Muhammad Muhyi a-Din Ibn 'Arabi (1165-1240)". (Conquest, Illumination, Sufism and Prophecy: The Futuwwa in Ibn 'Arabi (1165-1240.) She continues her research into Ibn 'Arabi's metaphysical doctrine and participates in international symposiums. Laila Khalifa has published books and articles.

Mukhtar Ali (Ph.D) (2007) University of California, Berkeley, is a Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He specializes in Sufism, Islamic philosophy and ethics, but his areas of interest also include Arabic and Persian literature, Qur'anic studies and comparative religion. He is the author of Philosophical Sufism: An Introduction to the School of Ibn al-'Arabi (Routledge, 2021) and The Horizons of Being: The Metaphysics of Ibn al 'Arabi in the Muqaddimat al-Qaysari (Brill, 2020). He has translated some contemporary metaphysical texts, The New Creation (Sage Press, 2018) and The Law of Correspondence (Sage Press, 2021).

Jane Clark is a Senior Research Fellow of the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society and has worked particularly on the Society's Archiving Project as well as looking after the library.

She has been studying Ibn Arabi for more than forty years, and is engaged in teaching courses and lecturing on his thought both in the UK (including Oxford University and Temenos Academy) and abroad (including Egypt, Australia and the USA), and in research and translation of the Akbarian heritage. She has a particular interest in the correlation of Ibn Arabi's thought with contemporary issues. She organises the MIAS Young Writers Award.

Jane Clark was a co-founder of The Journal of Consciousness Studies and is currently editor of the Beshara Magazine. She has presented many courses as part of the program of the University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education.

Gracia Lopez Anguita obtained her degree in Arabic Philosophy at the University of Cordoba. In 2005 she joined the Department of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Seville, where she is currently Assistant Professor. Among other publications, her book Ibn 'Arabi y su epoca was published in 2018.

At Haverford College (BA), then the University of Pennsylvania (MA), then the University of South Carolina (PhD), Eric Winkel undertook eclectic studies, mostly religion at first, focusing on spiritual matters, then later including political science, and numerous languages to enable study of religious and spiritual texts (Sanskrit, Greek, Coptic, Tamil, Arabic, others, besides French and German). His book "Mysteries of Purity, Ibn al-'Arabî's asrar al-taharah" (Notre Dame, 1995) was Chapter 68 of the Futuhat al-Makkiyya. While Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies in Malaysia, he explored how the concepts of the "new sciences" opened obscure and difficult passages of the Futuhat.

Shu'ayb Eric Winkel explains: 'with Ibn Arabi, if one hasn't visualised or seen a picture, imaged in the imagination, of what he is talking about, one hasn't yet understood him. In my work translating and elucidating The Openings Revealed in Makkah, I depend entirely on Divine grace.

In this talk we will look at a double door of a temple, or home, and follow Ibn Arabi's insights into and behind the half-door. We will then consider Salma's house and the walls of Salma's house, in a poem, and Ibn Arabi's own poetry around the imagery. We then connect these images to the all-important hadith qudsi: 'The heavens and the Earth are not vastly spacious enough for Me, but the heart of My slave who is someone faithful is.' We contemplate the vista of the heart to prepare ourselves for our own view of the architecture of love, insha'Allah.'

Since 2012, Shu'ayb has been translating The Opening Revealed in Makkah, the first continuous translation of and commentary on the Futuhat, envisioned as 19 volumes, published by Pir Press. Parallel to this work, Shu'ayb is collaborating with communities to expand into new directions, including translations of An Illustrated Guide to Ibn Arabi, children's books, poetry, grammars and glossaries for Ibn Arabi, and visual and creative artworks conveying the message of the Futuhat.

Cecilia Twinch is a Senior Research Fellow of the Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society, Oxford. Besides working as a teacher, translator and editor, she has written numerous articles and has lectured on Ibn 'Arabi and mysticism worldwide. She has studied at Cambridge University and the Beshara School. Her publications include an English translation of Ibn 'Arabi's Contemplation of the Holy Mysteries and a new translation of Know yourself: An explanation of the oneness of being by Ibn 'Arabi/Balyani

Hany Talaat Ibrahim completed his PhD in Religious Studies at the University of Calgary. He is currently teaching at the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University, Canada. He specializes in pre-modern Islamic thought, Arabic Sufi literature, and Islamic art & architecture.

Ibn Arabi's Creative Imagination: Crossing Borders to Discover the Meaning of Being Human. Collaborative presentation between Language Acts and Worldmaking and the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society. This event, originally an online seminar via Zoom, explores how Ibn Arabi's creative imagination crosses philosophical, poetic, linguistic and artistic borders, and how his ideas continue to inspire contemporary poetry, film, and artistic expression to this day.

Introduction: David Torollo

The Meeting of the Two Seas – Ibn Arabi & Contemporary Literature: Rim Feriani

Round Table

Introduction: Bharatwaj Iyer (Chair)

Artwork: Antonella Leoni

Poetry: Nükhet Kardam

Poetry Reading: David Torollo

Ibn Arabi's Creative Imagination: Crossing Borders to Discover the Meaning of Being Human. Collaborative presentation between Language Acts and Worldmaking and the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society. This event, originally an online seminar via Zoom, explores how Ibn Arabi's creative imagination crosses philosophical, poetic, linguistic and artistic borders, and how his ideas continue to inspire contemporary poetry, film, and artistic expression to this day.

Chair Dr David Torollo : Lecturer in Medieval & Early Modern Spanish Studies, King's College London.

Catherine Boyle: Professor of Latin American Cultural Studies and Director of Centre for Language Acts and Worldmaking.

Cecilia Twinch: Senior Research Fellow of the Ibn Arabi Society, Oxford.

Hina Khalid has completed an MPhil in Theology at the University of Cambridge. Her work has previously examined the theological discourse of the Muslim mystic and philosopher 'Ibn Arabi, in dialogue with selected aspects of the Buddhist philosophical tradition. Her current research centres on Sufism in the subcontinent, and the distinctive and multi-faceted patterns of Islamic practices as they have been shaped by indigenous cultural and religious forces therein.