Akbariyya is a branch of Sufi metaphysics based on the teachings of Ibn Arabi, an Andalusian Sufi who was a gnostic and philosopher. The word is derived from Ibn Arabi's nickname, "Shaykh al-Akbar," meaning "the greatest shaykh." Akbariyya has never been used to indicate a specific Sufi group or society. It is now used to refer to all historical or contemporary Sufi metaphysicians and Sufis influenced by Ibn Arabi's doctrine of Wahdat al-Wujud. It is not to be confused with Al Akbariyya, a secret Sufi society founded by Swedish Sufi 'Abdu l-Hadi Aguéli.
Wahdat al-Wujud
Wahdat al-Wajud meaning the "unity of being" is a Sufi philosophy emphasizing that "there is no true existence except the Ultimate Truth ", that is, that the only truth within the universe is God, and that all things exist within God only. Ibn Arabi is most often characterized in Islamic texts as the originator of this doctrine. However, it is not found in his works. The first to employ this term was Ibn Sabin. Ibn Arabi's disciple and stepson Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi used this term in his own works and explained it using philosophical terms.
In the 20th century there has been a focus on the Akbariyya School in academic circles and universities. Viewed in a historical context, increased government support for the study of the Muslim world and Islamic languages emerged in the United States after the Second World War where many students were attracted to Islam and religious studies during the 1970s. The greatest growth in American scholarship on Sufism took place during the 1970s. Alexander Knysh notes that, "In the decades after World War Two the majority of Western experts in Sufism were no longer based in Europe, but in North America." Henri Corbin and Fritz Meier, who were prominent among these experts, made important contributions to the study of Islamic mysticism. Other important names were Miguel Asín Palacios and Louis Massignon, who made contributions to Ibn Arabi studies. Palacios discovered some Akbarian elements in Dante's Divine Comedy. Massignon studied the famous Sufi Al-Hallaj saying "Anal Hak". Seyyed Hossein Nasr and his students and academic disciples have come to play an important role in certain subfields of Sufi studies. The influence of Nasr and other Traditionalist writers like Rene Guenon and Frithjof Schuon on Sufi studies can be seen in the interpretation of the works of Ibn Arabi and the Akbarian school by such scholars as Titus Burckhardt, Martin Lings, James Morris, William Chittick, Sachiko Murata, and others. These names are both mostly practitioners of Sufism and scholars studying Sufism.
Turkey
Turkey is situated where Ibn Arabi's most prominent disciple, successor and stepson Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi, and other important commentators on Arabi's works lived in the past. Dawūd al-Qayṣarī, who was invited to Iznik by Orhan Ghazi to be the director and teacher for the first Ottoman university, was the disciple of Kamāl al-Dīn al-Qāshānī, himself a disciple of Sadr al-Dīn al-Qūnawī. This means that the official teaching itself was set in motion by a great master of the Akbarian school. Not only Sufis but also Ottoman sultans, politicians and intellectuals had been deeply impressed by Ibn Arabi and his disciples and interpreters. Seyyed Muhammad Nur al-Arabi was also impressed by Ibn Arabi's doctrine, though that continued to decrease until the Modern Era. In the 20th century the last important commentator of Fusûs was Ahmed Avni Konuk. He was a mawlawî and composer of Turkish music. Studies on Sufism, especially Akbarian works, were not very common until the first Ph.D. thesis was written by Mahmud Erol Kılıc in Marmara University's Faculty of Theology titled "Ibn 'Arabi's Ontology" in 1995. Academic studies on Akbarian metaphysics and philosophy began to rise after studies on this topic were conducted by Turkish scholars such as Mustafa Tahralı and Mahmud Erol Kılıc. In terms of Akbarian studies, the most important event to take place was the translation of Ibn Arabi's magnum opus,"Futuhat-ı Makkiyya", to Turkish. Turkish scholar Ekrem Demirli translated the work in 18 volumes between 2006 and 2012. This particular translation was the first complete translation to another language. Demirli's work also includes translating Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi's corpus to Turkish and writing a PhD thesis on him in 2004, writing a commentary on Fusus al-Hikam by Ibn Arabi, and writing a book titled İslam Metafiziğinde Tanrı ve İnsan, . There are many Akbarian works in Ottoman Turkish that are yet to be studied by scholars.
List of some Akbarian Sufis
There have been many Akbarian Sufis, metaphysicians and philosophers. Ibn Arabi never founded a Tarikah, but he created the philosophy of Wahdat al-Wujud. The Sufis listed below were members of different orders, but following the concept of Wahdat al-Wujud.
Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi - student and stepson of Ibn ‘Arabī. Lived in Konya the same time as Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Rumi
