God or being in the thoughts of Shaykh Badr al-Din and Spinoza -the paradoxical convention of difference and identity-

The thoughts of Shaykh Badr al-Din and Spinoza, whose personal and historical fates are quite similar, were re-included in intellectual agenda in 20th century. While Shaykh Badr al-Din was conceived as the founding figure of Anatolian Socialism, the philosophy of Spinoza drew attention for the possibility of being alternative to Hegelian philosophy which is the foundation of Marxism. However, prior to a political comparison there is an imperative to compare both figures' understanding of the metaphysics. Because of the fact that a philosopher's understanding of the metaphysics is the foundation of his political thoughts, in this study a comparison of these philosophers who are known for their claims of "Deus sive natura" and "The universe is God in terms of affection" was conducted from a methodical point of view. Further, their understandings of God or of Being/Nature were investigated via the problem of the essence and attributes of God which is one of the classical problems of theology. The obstacles confronted by Shaykh Badr al-Din and Spinoza in paradoxically reconciling the difference and the unity of God and the universe, one of the most complicated problems in the history of philosophy, was also investigated. To make a legit comparison, the projection method was employed in the present study. Through this method, it was possible to track the interactions between the philosophers and their intellectual backgrounds. Such a method was necessary to examine fragmental works like Inspirations. In order to determine the intellectual backgrounds, it is proposed that, for Spinoza, Maimonides and Descartes, and for Shaykh Badr al-Din, İbn Arabi and Dawud al-Qayseri were the context-makers. Shaykh Badr al-Din annotated fourty-one taliqs to Dawud al-Qayseri's Muqaddimah. Similarly, Maimonides is a critical theological figure in the philosophy of Spinoza, and is the symbol of the relation between Spinoza and Islamic theology so that with such relations Spinoza seems to speak through the theological problems of three religions. However, he could manage to build a theology of his own. Thus, his philosophy can be conceived as a rationalized doctrine of manifestation which is taken over from theology and purified from superstitions. Similarly, as a representative of a tradition intertwining philosophy, kalam and mysticism, Shaykh Badr al-Din interpreted the doctrine of wahdat al-wujud (the unity of the being) in his own way. Keywords: God, Being, Nature, Perfection, Expressionism, the Relationship between God and Universe.