Eric Winkel

Eric Alexander Winkel is an Islamic scholar focusing on Ibn 'Arabi's teaching. He studied the Futuhat al-Makiyya for over 33 years. During his tenure as senior research fellow at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) in Malaysia, he started to explore correlations between Islam and modern sciences and laid the groundwork for the connections between Ibn 'Arabi's vision and new directions in physics and mathematics. Since then, he has dedicated his life to the translation of the monumental Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah (The Openings Revealed in Makkah) into English.

Biography Born in Manhattan, Kansas, United States., Winkel's family moved to Switzerland around the age of twelve. For grades 7-11, Winkel attended the International School of Geneva, Switzerland. His doctoral thesis, titled "The Ontological Status of Politics in Islam and The Epistemology of Islamic Revival", later became his monograph, Islam and the Living Law: The Ibn al-'Arabi Approach.

Since 2012 he started the Futuhat Project, the first-ever complete translation and commentary of the Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah into English, titled "The Openings Revealed in Makkah". Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah is a magnum opus of over 10,000 pages written by 12th century Sufi master Ibn al-ʿArabī; and currently (end of 2022) there are 4 volumes of the English translation out of the planned 19 volumes, published by Pir Press in New York. During Covid (2020–2022), Dr. Winkel held weekly sessions on Ibn al-ʿArabī and the Futūḥāt which were recorded and released on YouTube. The series of lectures can be found on YouTube as "Insights from (Muhyiddin) Ibn Arabi". More than 100 hours of public engagement inspired the publication of "An Illustrated Guide to Ibn Arabi" in 2022.

Work and career 2012–present: Community scholar, working full-time on the "Futuhat Project". 2012–2012: Senior Fulbright Scholar at Institut Agama Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia 2010–2012: Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2008–2009: Foreign Faculty Member at National College of Arts Lahore, Pakistan

Publications

The Openings Revealed in Makkah (4 volumes, translator and commentator), Pir Press, New York, 2020–2022. An Illustrated Guide to Ibn Arabi, Pir Press, New York, 2022. Envisioning the Future: An Islamic Perspective of Visions of the Future, Kuala Lumpur, 2011. Educational Philosophy in Malaysia. Monograph, University of Malaya, 2006. Damascus Steel (a novel). CAR&D, 2001. Islam and the Living Law: The Ibn al-'Arabi Approach. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1997. Mysteries of Purity: Ibn al-'Arabi's Asrar al-Taharah (a translation of a section of the Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah), Notre Dame: Cross-Cultural Publications, 1995.