The Evolution of the Idea of Ensoulment in Abū Bakr Ibn al- ʿArabī’s Oeuvre by Dr Khaoula Trad

Dr Khaoula Trad (University of Hamburg)

This paper examines the diachronic evolution of the idea of the ensoulment in one Qurʾanic exegesis and two ḥadīth commentaries by Abū Bakr Ibn al- ʿArabī (d.543H/1148 CE). I trace the exclusion of the ensoulment of the creational formula in Aḥkām al-qurʾān. Subsequently, the idea appears for the first time in al-Qabas as a phase that juristically represents a pivotal criterion for establishing penalties. Finally, I demonstrate how in his ḥadīth commentary ‘Āriḍat al-aḥwadhī, Ibn al-ʿArabī assimilates and inserts Ibn Masʿūd’s ḥadīth and accordingly the concept of ensoulment in his embryological approach.