Entropy as Metaphysical Perplexity in Ibn ‘Arabī’s Sufi Thought
This article investigates how the Sufi theorist Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn ‘Arabī’s (d. 638/1240) conception of metaphysical perplexity (ḥayra) relates to the entropic brain hypothesis, which has been proposed by Robin Carhart-Harris in the fields of human neuroscience and psychopharmacology. Studies have dem...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2026
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| In: |
Method & theory in the study of religion
Year: 2026, Volume: 38, Issue: 1, Pages: 82-106 |
| Further subjects: | B
Ibn ‘Arabī
B perplexity B Consciousness B spiritual unveiling B entropic brain |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article investigates how the Sufi theorist Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn ‘Arabī’s (d. 638/1240) conception of metaphysical perplexity (ḥayra) relates to the entropic brain hypothesis, which has been proposed by Robin Carhart-Harris in the fields of human neuroscience and psychopharmacology. Studies have demonstrated a correlation between the ego and the default mode network (DMN). The ego relates to the I-ness (anāniyya) of a person according to Ibn ‘Arabī. As this article demonstrates, in the secondary state of self-organized criticality (SOC), where there is a propensity to make sense of and organize the world around us, emphasis on the I-ness and a self-imposed reality-filter creates a metaphysical veil (ḥijāb) that prevents perception of the divine reality that permeates all existence. This veil is only removed in the primary state of criticality where spiritual unveiling (kashf) reveals the divine reality of all things. |
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| ISSN: | 1570-0682 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Method & theory in the study of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700682-bja10163 |
