MIAS education: programme overview

↓ Contents of this section

Introduction

Programme overview

Courses calendar and bookings

Interdisciplinary Research Hub

MIAS voyagers | Education Team

MIAS online courses

Our MIAS programme of courses is composed of four journeys. As the diagram below shows, there is ‘a journey across the ocean’, ‘a journey across the desert’, ‘a journey to heaven’ and ‘a journey into language’.

The journey in Ibn Arabi’s teachings

The generic title of our courses is inspired by the concept of the journey which occupies a central position in Ibn Arabi’s teachings. The multifaceted meanings of the journey in Ibn Arabi’s works can be found in his Kitab al-Isra (The Night Journey), Futuhat al-Makkiyya (The Meccan Openings) and Kitab al-Isfar (The Secrets of Voyaging).

According to Ibn Arabi, the spiritual journey towards the Divine is a continuous process that reveals a path through several spiritual openings:

In reality we never cease voyaging from the moment we and our roots are originated, ad infinitum. Whenever a waystation appears to you, and you say that is the goal, another road opens up before you. You supply yourself with provisions for the road and take off. Whatever waystation you come upon, you may say: ‘This is my goal.’ But when you reach it, it is not long before you set out once more travelling (The Secrets of Voyaging 2015: 43).

In the same way that Ibn Arabi speaks about the endless voyage in the Divine Ocean, our students are encouraged to embark on a personal journey that can allow them to gain a taste of Ibn Arabi’s teachings while sharing their knowledge with others.

Our education programme is planned to include 16 courses. Each 10-week course is part of a ‘journey’ (Ocean, Desert, Language or Heaven) and each course is assigned a ‘round’, depending on how many times that course has been run. To help you plan ahead we have announced forthcoming dates. If a course is full there is a waiting list on the Eventbrite system that we use – so we can invite those on this waiting list next time the course is run. You may choose to do the courses in any order – there is no set progression – and we hope that in time ‘voyagers’ will come back and complete all the journeys.

These journeys emerge and evolve over time. The four Ocean Journeys emerged during the covid period. Subsequently a new course has appeared every year, and Ocean courses have been repeated in different formats. Other courses have also been run including the popular ‘Meeting Ibn Arabi’ intensive weekend introductory course that was run twice in the last academic year and is to be run twice in the 2024/25 year.

A journey across the ocean

Creativity is integral to the human being. Undeniably, our imagination is a force that impacts our daily life. The notion of imagination occupies a significant position in Ibn Arabi’s teachings since the Divine Imagination constitutes the very force that inspired the Great Master’s works.

As Henry Corbin succinctly puts it: “To the initial act of the Creator imagining the world corresponds the creature imagining his world, imagining the worlds, his God, his symbols.” Such a correlation between the Divine act of Creation and His creatures is an open invitation to those who wish to explore the realm of imagination. Thus, in this course, we invite you to dive into Ibn Arabi’s world of imagination. You will have the opportunity to connect your appreciation of Ibn Arabi’s text with your own creative expression such as poetry, writing, storytelling, drawing, painting and music etc. Such an interaction echoes James Morris’ observation on “the remarkably active approach which Ibn Arabi expects and constantly demands of his truly qualified and spiritually ‘ambitious’ readers, those who begin to interact with his work with the appropriate intentions and preparation.” (source: https://ibnarabisociety.org/how-to-study-the-futuhat james-morris/).

We are currently offering the following courses in 2024 which study Ibn Arabi’s Futuhat al-Makkiyya (The Meccan Openings) ,The Secrets of Voyaging, and The Ringstones of Wisdom (Fusus al Hikam)


Ocean Journeys offered in 2024/25

2024 Ocean 2 “With which eye do I see Him”

Exploring imagination in The Meccan Openings
Date: Tuesday, 8th October 2024 – Tuesday, 17 Dec 2024
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm BST (London Time)

This online course, led by Dr. Rim Feriani, will explore the concept of creative imagination in Ibn Arabi’s The Meccan Openings and the relation between it and the barzakh (isthmus or intermediate world), with a particular focus on Chapter 63. The course is suitable for anyone with an interest in Sufism and Ibn ‘Arabi, regardless of prior knowledge. The course consists of 10 x 1.5-hour sessions held online (there will be a one week break on 22nd Oct.). Follow this link for course details.

Registration & for more details, please click the following link:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/999281336377?aff=oddtdtcreator

2025 Ocean 1 “In each thing He has a sign”

An Intensive Introduction to Ibn Arabi’s spiritual openings
May 5th to May 23rd 2025
9 Evenings – times to follow
Follow this link for course details.

Bookings
https://ibnarabisociety.org/education-courses-calendar-bookings/

 

Ocean Courses offered in previous years

A journey to heaven

Course overview

In the first heaven course, we focused attention on the Prophet’s journey and its symbolic relation with the spiritual journey towards God in The Secrets of Voyaging. In Heaven 2 course, we will explore the multi-layered meanings of Ibn Arabi’s own ascension by focusing on his first encounters with Adam and Jesus in the Fusus al Hikam (The Ringstones of Wisdom or also translated as The Bezels of Wisdom). In Heaven 3 we are elevated into the world of true dreams. The title is the quote from Aishah (RA) (Bukhari 1:3) that Ibn ‘Arabi cites in the opening paragraph from the “Wisdom of Light in the Word of Joseph” from the Ringstones of Wisdom (Fusus al Hikam).

 

2025 Heaven 3 “Like the break of dawn”

A study of dreams in a selection of texts by Ibn Arabi

Feb 4th to April 15th, 2025
10 Evenings
Time: 7:00pm – 8:30pm BST (London Time)
Course details to follow

Bookings
https://ibnarabisociety.org/education-courses-calendar-bookings/

 

Heaven Courses offered in previous years

Intensive Introductory & Guest Courses

Intensive Introductory Course

2025 Meeting Ibn Arabi: His Life and Teaching

Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2024 – Sun, 29 Sep 2024
Time: Saturday 5:00 pm – 8:30 pm GMT & Sunday 5:00 pm- 8:30 GMT
Cost: £11.55 (free for full time students)

Registration
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/meeting-ibn-arabi-his-life-and-teachings-924-tickets-997399407477

Guest Courses

Watch this space!

 

Guest Courses offered in previous years

  • 2023 “Opening the Shells of the Two Sapphires” with Eric Winkel
  • 2023 Connections 2: Chapters from the Fusus
  • 2022 Connections 1: Sufism & Taoism by Toshihiko Izutsu