Soteriology in 'Abd al-Karīm al-Jīlī's Islamic Humanism

Abstract:This essay offers a brief examination of 'Abd al-Karīm al-Jīlī's Sufi soteriology in light of his Islamic Humanism—a religious anthropocentric doctrine dedicated to the promotion of human equality, freedom, and human potential. The human being is at the center of Jīlī's soteriological view. For Jīlī, the human being is a macanthropos—a model for all creatures, including Heaven and Hell. Although Jīlī's thought is widely accepted as a continuation of an earlier influential Sufi Muḥyīddīn Ibn 'Arabī (d.1240 CE), there are crucial differences between the two Sufi thinkers, especially with regards to Jīlī's embrace of non-Muslims, and promotion of humanistic ideas; Jīlī should be considered a Muslim humanist, and his intellectual heritage can help us better understand Muslim relations with non-Muslims today.