The Limits and Quality of Otherworldly Chastisement from Ibn Arabi's Sufistic Perspective

The otherworldly chastisement and its quality and quantity, especially the eternity of hell-fire are among the most important topics of discussion in theology, philosophy and Sufism. Ibn Arabi, as a distinguished scholar in theoretical Sufism, who, in contrast with those devoted to Islamic law and the common religious people, considers divine retribution as non-eternal. With an extra-ordinary approach, he holds that hell-fire has a relative changing state. Ibn Arabi tries to support the idea of the relativity of divine retribution and hell-fire and to show the meagerness of human deeds vis-a-vis God’s grace. He believes in the transformation of divine retribution to divine grace and ultimately to eternal peace. ‘The proportionality of divine retribution to worldly deeds’, ‘the possibility of warnings being refuted by God on the Day of Judgment’ and ‘the non-inherent nature of deeds and the essence of natural disposition’ are reasons put forward by Ibn Arabi to support his view of non-eternity of hell-fire.