Ibn Arabi Saw Yeshua His Lord And God

Mankind draws inspiration from those they readily identify with according
to culture, ethnicity, religion, and all other factors relating to identity.
The message of love can be conveyed in a myriad of ways, so long
as love is the beginning and end of all things - since God is Love.

[I have two requests regarding this particular article. 

First: who is the man painted in the mural? 

Please respond here or elsewhere I may be contacted with the answer.

I have been unable to put the face (which I recognize seeing and reading about before) with the proper name. 

Secondly: where is the source of the story that claims Ibn Arabi had a dream where Muhammad held a book in his hand and spoke to him? 

I have been unable to find the source to that story / legend, whether in Ibn Arabi's own writings or that of his contemporaries... I have only found it repeatedly mentioned but without any accompanying citation. 

Thank you.]

There once lived a man named Ibn Arabi (his short name).

This man was born in southeast Spain, grew up in a Muslim home, and lived all his life among an Islamic culture whose descendants were ethnic Arabs and all things Islamic-centric.

This man became arguably one of the most influential of all Muslims after Muhammad.

He wrote lots of content in the realm of mysticism, philosophy, and expanded the effort to view the world not wholly through a physical lens, but things otherworldly.

What I found profoundly interesting and very telling was his testimony of experiencing a vision of God as a young man.

He claims to have seen Yeshua / Jesus / Isa in a vision (unlike a dream) and testified in his writings that Yeshua was his first guide on the path to God.

This vision was so pivotal to his life's journey and subsequent choices that, although having been raised among influential government circles (his father's ranking among his peer group) and being given a military upbringing, he renounced such pursuits for a path of peace and spirituality.

Thus the mass influence his writings have had not only in the Muslim world, but now reaching into the rest of the wold beyond Islam's initial cultural footprint.

The following may seem controversial for any religious person to read: I believe it very possible that God is able to draw people from all walks of life despite the additional ideas any such persons may hold in their minds and hearts about God, religion, and the rest of life.

In other words: it is possible that God can bring someone into His light and love despite any contradictory beliefs that particular someone may have (their unique religion within another religion).

So although I find myself unable to agree completely with every single thing I've read so far by the hand of Ibn Arabi, the parts I can wholeheartedly agree with carry with them the signature of God's hand upon that man's heart... in the Way of Yeshua - peace and love.

This short article is not an attempt to claim an identity over any man, in this case the man Ibn Arabi, nor to claim that man's faith as having been more Christian (Christ-like) than Muslim or something else.

This short article is, instead, a suggestion.

To consider the fact and reality that God is able to reach all of mankind according to the very mechanisms and ideas of men... within any given culture... at any time in human history.

Consider the Gospel's message regarding that reality:

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Yeshua Christ, as my gospel declares. 

- Romans 2: 12-16

It should be no surprise, then, that a man like Ibn Arabi came to understand and believe enough about Yeshua during his lifetime (and from that initial vision of God) to reveal that the requirements of the law having been likely written on his heart... and thus influencing countless of Muslims since then regarding the Way of peace and love.

Consider the thousands of testimonials in the modern era of people from all cultural and religious backgrounds also having visions of Yeshua!

If you haven't heard, perhaps an online search would shine His light into His mysterious ways.