A Sufi’s Interpretation of ？adīth: The Case of Ibn ？Arabī and the ？adīths about Holding up the hands during the prayer (Raf‘ al-yadain)

This paper studies the understanding and interpretation of a specific ？adīth by Muhy al-dīn Ibn ？Arabī . His view on the ？adīthabout ‘holding up the hands during ？alāh(raf‘ al-yadain)’ is explained in the light of his well-known book, Futū？āt al-Makkiyya. Besides the general knowledge and terminology of fiqhand ？adīth, Ibn ？Arabī also utilized his unique methods and methodologies of ta？awwufto interpret the ？adīth. It is concluded that in interpretation of a ？adīth, Ibn ？Arabī differed from other scholars as he skillfully used these three areas of knowledge (fiqh, ？adīth, and ta？awwuf) as a trivet and by synthesizing these three sciences, he approached to the issue in a comprehensive way. The dreams, one of Ibn ？Arabī’s special methods and one of Sufism’s wisdom sources, are presented within the context of the interpretation of ？adīth. While Ibn ？Arabī was inspired the ？adīthby a dream, he also stated its place and status in ？adīth sources. Moreover, he derived several conclusions by critically reviewing the related ？adīths