Philosophy and Sharʿī Ruling on Waḥdat al-Wujūd in Light of Islam

Philosophy of Waḥdat al-Wujūd: A Critical Study and Sharʿī Ruling
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 1 – Kitāb al-ʿAqāʾid, p. 55
Question Submitted by: Muhammad Sher Wazir, PCSIR Laboratories, Peshawar

❖ Question:​

What is the philosophy of Waḥdat al-Wujūd (Unity of Existence)? Please provide a detailed and scholarly clarification.

❖ Answer:​

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:

✦ What is Waḥdat al-Wujūd?​

In well-known Urdu lexicons, Waḥdat al-Wujūd is defined as:


"To consider all existents as the existence of Allah Himself, and to deem the existence of all else as merely symbolic or metaphorical — like mistaking the drop, bubble, wave, and depth as nothing but water."
(Husn al-Lughāt Fārsī–Urdu, p. 941)


Wārith Sarhindī writes:


"In Sufi terminology, Waḥdat al-Wujūd means considering all existing things as the existence of Allah, and regarding everything else as only notionally existent."
(ʿIlmī Urdu Lughat, p. 1551)

✦ Ibn Taymiyyah’s Refutation:​

Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله says:


"Absolute union (ittiḥād muṭlaq) is the belief of the proponents of Waḥdat al-Wujūd. They believe that the existence of creation is identical to the existence of the Creator."
(Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā, Vol. 10, p. 59)


He further clarifies:


"The followers of Ibn ʿArabī, Tilimsānī, Ibn Sabʿīn, Shushtarī, Ibn al-Fāriḍ, and others claim that existence is one. They are known as the people of Waḥdat al-Wujūd, and they pretend to be people of spiritual realization and gnosis (maʿrifah). They equate the Creator’s existence with the existence of creation."
(Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā, Vol. 2, pp. 123–124)

✦ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī’s Criticism:​

Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله condemned this belief as extremism:


"Some extreme Sufis declared their corrupt concept of Waḥdat al-Wujūd as the highest level of tawḥīd. In truth, it is pure heresy (ilḥād)."
(Fatḥ al-Bārī, Vol. 13, p. 348 – Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, Bāb 1)

✦ Statements from Sufi Proponents:​

① Ḥājī Imdādullāh Thānvī:​

"Afterward, one should become so immersed in the dhikr of ‘hū hū’ that he himself becomes the mazkūr (i.e., Allah). That is the meaning of fanāʾ dar fanāʾ. Upon attaining this state, he will become entirely light (nūr)."
(Kulliyāt Imdādiyyah, p. 18, Ḍiyāʾ al-Qulūb)

② Union of the Worshipped and the Worshipper:​

"Believe that all things are united with Allah from the inner perspective, while outwardly they appear separate and distinct from Him."
(al-Radd ʿala al-Qāʾilīn bi-Waḥdat al-Wujūd, Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī, p. 13)

✦ Scholarly Refutations:​

Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله wrote an exclusive treatise titled:
“Ibtāl Waḥdat al-Wujūd wa al-Radd ʿala al-Qāʾilīn bihā”
(Approximately 128 pages long)

✦ Qurʾānic Refutation:​

﴿ ءَأَمِنتُم مَّن فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ أَن يَخْسِفَ بِكُمُ ٱلْأَرْضَ فَإِذَا هِىَ تَمُورُ ﴾
"Do you feel secure against the One who is in the heaven that He will not cause the earth to swallow you, and it begins to quake suddenly?"
(Sūrah al-Mulk: 16)

✦ Prophetic Ḥadīth:​

The Prophet ﷺ asked a slave girl:


“Where is Allah?”
She replied: “In the sky.”
He ﷺ said: “She is a believer. Free her.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 537 | Dār al-Salām numbering: 1199)


This ḥadīth clearly indicates the separation of Creator and creation, not their union.

Conclusion:​

◈ The doctrine of Waḥdat al-Wujūd promotes the equivalence of the Creator and the created, which is a complete contradiction of Islamic tawḥīd.
◈ Classical and contemporary scholars have declared this belief as bāṭil (false), ḍāll (misguided), and even kufr (disbelief).
◈ It paves the way for ḥulūl (indwelling) and ittiḥād (union) — beliefs far worse than those of Jews and Christians.
◈ The true Islamic creed upholds the absolute uniqueness, transcendence, and separation of Allah from His creation.


وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ