soul, chastening of the heart, and an overall unity between the body and the heart, as well as removal from material motives. Ibn al-'Arabi argues that this is an extreme position, and believes rather that there is no connection between knowledge a person acquires and any sacred or devout acts that his soul has performed. Ibn al-'Arabi used his knowledge of the soul in his studies of law and ethics. For example, when discussing abortion, madhhabs judgments differ considerably. Malikis and Hanafis tend to take opposite positions on this issue. Malikis generally forbid induced miscarriage after conception, as this is seen to be the point at which the soul is breathed into the unborn child. While Hanafis hold that "induced miscarriage is not punishable until the 120th day of conception". Ibn al-'Arabi tried to bridge the gap between the Maliki and the Hanafi opinions by "granting greater protection rights to the embryo after ensoulment," although ultimately he did not succeed in bridging this gap. Ibn al-'Arabi wrote on many other subjects. For instance, he wrote on the mistreatment and disciplining of women. He once wrote, "The [slaves] need to be disciplined with a stick, while the [free man] will not need more than an indication. Among women and even men, there are those who will behave well only through correction (adab). Any man who knows it has to resort to discipline [his wife], although it is preferable if he abstains from it." However, it seems that Ibn al-'Arabi was more focused on trying to express "beating in a non violent way." He believed that this is the "only way allowed by the divine revelation," because the objective of beating in a non violent way was ultimately to improve the wife's behavior. Although Abu Bakr ibn al-'Arabi may have some critics, he was generally a highly acclaimed authority on hadith, and was regarded as being trustworthy and reliable. Works His Major books are: Commentary on Tirmidhi's Hadith Collection (book) famously known as "'Aridhat al-Ahwazi'". Commentary on the Quran known as '"Ahkam al-Quran"'. It contains commentary on the legal rulings of the Qur'an according to the Maliki school. Al-'Awasim min al-Qawasim (العواصم من القواصم) or "Defense Against Disaster", is a history book that became famous for his strong reply against the Shia. References Bibliography External links Ibn Khallikan's Biographical dictionary, part 3, p. 12-15 (retrieved on 17-07-2010) Article on Abu Bakr ibn