Abstract

The oneness of being is still one of the most exciting and, at the same time, critical and controversial issues in the field of religious sciences. However, a correct study of it can decrease the number of the involved controversies to some extent. The writer has chosen Plotinus for this study because the Neo-Platonic philosophy, which has Plotinus as its founder, has influenced the thoughts of Muslim thinkers in the fields of gnosis and philosophy. This influence has been exercised through the books Uthulugiya and The Book of Causes. When dealing with the degree that Neo-Platonic philosophy has influenced Islamic philosophy and, particularly, gnosis, some historians in the areas of philosophy and gnosis have gone into such extremes that they have introduced this school as the origin of all the ideas of Islamic thinkers. In this paper, it has been tried to inquire into one of the most important gnostic issues, namely, the oneness of being, from the viewpoints of Plotinus and some Neo-Platonists. It is also intended to clarify whether prominent gnostics, such as Ibn Arabi, and believers in the oneness of being had been influenced by Plotinus, or whether this issue was among the innovations of Muslim gnostics.