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Although Mulla Sadra is mainly famous in the field of philosophy, he also has a sublime place in other sciences such as jurisprudence, Qur'anic commentary, and hadith. This prodigy of knowledge and insight is clearly distinguished from those philosophers who know nothing about religious sciences, revelation, and Shari'ah and view the world just from one dimension. Therefore, when it comes to jurisprudence, we see him again at the top of today's jurisprudence.

Some might wrongly assume that, since he left no book on jurisprudence, he was not a jurisprudent and knew nothing about this field. However, this is an absurd idea, which neither the common sense nor the intellect agrees with. The reasons are as follows:

First, as he himself says, he had studied traditional sciences (jurisprudence, kalam, hadith, etc.) under Shaykh Baha al-Din 'Amili, the prominent jurisprudent, judge, and Shaykh al-Islam of the Safawid era and the student of the second Muhaqqiq, the famous jurisprudent of that time. It is to be noted that traditional sciences are not limited to hadith and ilm al-rijal and mainly deal with jurisprudence and ilm al-usul.

Second, based on an old tradition, the learning of jurisprudence and religious sciences by students of rational sciences was a common task which was performed since early periods and the time of Ibn Sina (who said he first studied jurisprudence) until recently. However, later and under the influence of the West, it turned into specialized field by itself.

Accordingly and based on the tradition of early seminaries, Mulla Sadra, who had studied jurisprudence during his youth and was considered a jurisprudent in his adolescence and during his stay in Isfahan, Shiraz, and Qum, did not refrain from passing his decrees concerning important jurisprudential problems. His jurisprudential and demonstrative decrees are quite famous and important topics for discussions.

Several jurisprudential ideas have been quoted from Mulla Sadra testifying to his mastery over jurisprudence, as follows:

1. Seyyed Abulhassan Rafi'i Qazwini writes that Mulla Sadra is an authority and expert in jurisprudence and has a statement about "intention in ritual ablution", which the writer of Hadayiq and Ibn Sina in Taharat have quoted.

In the chapter on intention in ritual ablution and the condition of its continuity, the writer of Hadayiq[1] has quoted a saying from a jurisprudent entitled "some later researcher" referring to his opposition to the necessity of the "continuity and lack of negligence" of intention in ritual ablution. However, he does not refer to anyone's name, and neither do the editors of this book. Since Mir Damad also had a similar view and decree, there are two possibilities: First, the writer of Hadayiq was referring to Mir Damad; second, Mulla Sadra has the same decree as Mir Damad, which is not impossible given his decrees and innovations in demonstrative jurisprudence.

2. Mirza Alireza Tajalli Ardakani Shirazi (died in 1085 or 1088 AH) has written in his treatise in the part on "Friday prayer", "Mulla Sadra considered the Friday prayer to be a volitional necessary act."[2]

3. Mulla Sadra himself has made several references in his interpretation of Chapter al-Jum'ah to the necessity and principles of the Friday prayer. For example, he has made some short references to the principle of its necessity under specific conditions and has left an extensive discussion of this problem to jurisprudential book.

A question concerning the discussion of Mulla Sadra's jurisprudence is why he has sometimes spoken against jurisprudence and jurisprudents. That is why it might be concluded that, as a philosopher, he was against them and used the credit and originality of philosophy and rational sciences to discredit jurisprudence. However, this idea is wrong and the reality is quite the opposite because:

First, relying on a scientific and logical analysis, Mulla Sadra concludes that "theoretical knowledge" is superior to "practical knowledge", as science is superior to technique. This is because technique is a means to make science practical, and as long as there is no science, using it and benefitting from it would be meaningless.

He believes that "act" is intended to correct the human heart and soul and keep them away from corruption. Moreover, the good of the soul and mind lies in their knowing and learning about oneness, God, and His knowledge of the truths. Thus "act" is the introduction to idea, and idea is the outcome of act. Naturally, the end and outcome is always superior to the introduction.

He refers to the above point in his Kasr al-asnam and says, "Each firm soulish virtue is based on three things: knowledge, states, and acts."[3]

Then he adds that, in the view of superficial people, knowledge is for states and states for acts. For the laymen, acts are superior because they are the ends; however, the people of insight believe in the opposite because acts lead people towards attributes and states, and states lead human beings towards knowledge and sciences. Therefore, knowledge is superior to and the essence of acts.

The knowledge of the oneness of God and His attributes, the Origin, and resurrection, which is the origin of a believer's faith, is superior to his acts, worships, and prayers, which are the means of attaining perfection and proximity to God. Mulla Sadra refers to theoretical sciences as "the knowledge of unveilings" and calls jurisprudence and practical sciences "the knowledge of transactions". In other words, like man, Shari'ah (religion) has both an external and an internal aspect. The science of jurisprudence is the knowledge of the outward (act), and the knowledge of truths is the knowledge of the inward. One is for the sensible and the other for the intelligible. Both are necessary, but one is superior to the other.[4]

Turning to the external aspect of Shari'ah and abandoning its interior means turning to a soulless body, which is a useless act before God[5] likewise, ignoring the exterior of Shari'ah is also bad and unacceptable.[6]

Second, Mulla Sadra's criticisms of jurisprudents have nothing to do with jurisprudence and his dislike for this noble science. Rather, they are advanced against the weak character of those who are content with a few jurisprudential problems and have turned this field of study into a means of pretense and livelihood. They have quit the love of God and found refuge in the courts of kings and rulers, are content with what little they receive from them, and consider them to be their food-givers.

Not only does Mulla Sadra see some of these contemporary jurisprudents in this way, but he also views the sufists and pseudo-philosophers of his time in the same way. Accordingly, he says:

Behold how this tradition has disappeared from the face of the earth, and how the titles "shaykh", "sufist", "jurisprudent", and "philosopher" are given to those who possess qualities in contrast to what they cherish. For example, presently, the title "sufist" applies to someone who brings people together and holds gatherings for eating, listening to nonsense, dancing, and clapping. And the title "jurisprudent" applies to one who seeks proximity to cruel rulers and kings and their friends, and issues absurd and cruel decrees, which dare them to distort Shar'i principles, commit forbidden acts, dominate the weak and the poor, and seize their property.

Third, by reference to the general meaning of "jurisprudence" in the language and time of the Holy Prophet (s) and the Infallible Imams (a), which includes the collection of all religious beliefs and principles (worldview, as we call it today) as well as practical ordinances, worships, and principles of transactions, Mulla Sadra objected to those jurisprudents who studied the science of jurisprudence and its principles and problems without learning the ijtihadi (related to exertion) knowledge of Almighty Truth, His Attributes, and Islamic ethics. This great philosopher criticized them harshly because, in his view, the knowledge of commerce, the pre-Islamic form of divorce, divorce, hunting, animal slaughter, etc., had no superiority over wisdom, philosophy, gnosis, and even kalam. Moreover, the study of wisdom and science of religious beliefs is an individual duty, while the acquisition of jurisprudence and peripheral Shar'i ordinances is a social obligation.

In his books, Mulla Sadra advises jurisprudents out of benevolence and sympathy to give up their egotism and ignorance of the knowledge of sciences and wisdom and do not boast in vain to sages and philosophers. For example, in his Sih asl, he writes:

In the past, jurisprudence was applied to the knowledge of the Hereafter and the soul ... and turning one's back on worldly pleasures ... and fearing the Doomsday. However, today jurisprudence means memorizing the rules of divorce, freeing slaves, selling on cash or credit ... And anyone who knows more about these problems, even if he is completely unaware of true sciences, is considered more of a jurisprudent or a more knowledgeable person. Nevertheless, as we infer from some Qur'anic verses, for example, "From among God's servants, only the wise fear him", and "They should learn about religious affairs and principles, and they should warn their people against punishment when they return to them", for people of insight a jurisprudent is one who fears God more than anyone else ... Obviously, what arises from jurisprudential problems is mainly boldness and insolence rather than fear of God, and by no means does it lead to being ware of vice. Being content with jurisprudential problems sometimes produces opposite results ... and becomes the source of cruelty and atrocity.

We can learn about the true meaning of jurisprudence in the prophetic tradition through Mulla Sadra's words in his various books. He slams those who believe that the condition of being a jurisprudent is apparently avoiding philosophy and rational sciences and practically closing one's eyes and ears to true and rational sciences. He invites them to all-inclusive or true jurisprudence rather than attack the people of the frontier of jurisprudence and divine ordinances from the fortress of philosophy and rational sciences.

He sometimes brings Shar'i ordinances out of the narrow domain of transactions and other rules and introduces a Shar'i unlawful act as follows: "The worst of all major sins is what blocks the door to the knowledge of God and makes people forget remembering God."[7]

As we know "sin" or "forbidden act" is one of the five-fold ordinances, the subject of knowledge, and of importance to jurisprudence. Thus Mulla Sadra was superior to some of his contemporary jurisprudents and knew about some religious ordinances that they did not and perhaps did not believe in. If, according to jurisprudence, saying prayers is obligatory (we know that is certainly obligatory and above all kinds of worship), obviously the ijtihadi knowledge of God who has ordered the saying of prayers is not only obligatory but also the most obligatory of all obligatory things. This is because without it performing other acts of worship would be foolish. Accordingly, Mulla Sadra says, "Quitting the knowledge of God and those sciences that lead a jurisprudent to the divine knowledge through exertion is not only forbidden and a sin but also the worst of all major sins."[8] This is indeed the main branch of jurisprudence.

Fourth, ritual acts are both religious duties and rational obligatory acts because they repel damage and invite benefit, satisfy the Creator, and bring about several physical and mental advantages for a normal worshiper, and are equally obligatory for a jurisprudent and a non-jurisprudent. However, the expertise in such acts as a seminary field of knowledge is limited to the "book" and its chapters and problems. This field never enjoys the heaven-like vastness of rational sciences in which giving an answer to a question and solving one of its problems sometimes require a lifetime of thought and deliberation and their domain of study might extend from a fish to the sky.

The comparison of these two types of knowledge always led the people of Shari'ah and wisdom, such as Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra, first to deal with jurisprudence and test its easy and difficult problems. Then, when they discovered all of its intricacies and attained what is necessary for a jurisprudent, while maintaining respect for it, which is a means for having a good life and salvation in the Hereafter, they quit it just to tackle rational sciences and traverse the difficult route leading to it. Evidently, this route has no end and is a summit that cannot be captured.

Mulla Sadra and a Criticism of the Principles of Illuminationist Philosophy Concerning the Perception of the Other

Murtada Irfani

Mulla Sadra's view of the perception of the other is the product of a profound study and serious criticism of the ideas of Peripatetics and Illuminationists, particularly those of Ibn Sina and Suhrawardi. In fact, an accurate perception of his view requires great attention to these criticisms. The importance of Mulla Sadra's criticisms lies in the fact that they are not limited only to the outward and external layers of a philosophy but continue until penetrating its inward and internal layers and main principles and, in case they are defective, lead to developing new fundamental principles.

According to Suhrawardi, the perception of the other is a relation. Mulla Sadra rejects this idea because of its being based on some principles which are completely unacceptable to him. Some of them include the principiality of quiddity, its gradation, and the negation of the union of the knower and the known. Mulla Sadra demonstrates the opposite of these principles and, unlike Suhrawardi, based his interpretation of the perception of the other on believing in the principiality of existence, its gradation, and the union of the knower and the known. Accordingly, he views the perception of thing not as a relation but as the presence of its form before the perceiver. Here, the form has no identity in separation from the perceiver so that we could say there is a non-relational perception between the perceiver and the perceived.

The writer believes that Mulla Sadra's arguments on rejecting the argument of relation lack sufficient firmness, and a final judgment of the truth of either of these theories on perception depends on the truth of their basic principles. The acceptance of Mulla Sadra's theory depends on the strength of his arguments on denying the plurality of existents. This is because without this denial one cannot reject the ideas of relation and demonstrate the idea of the union of the knower and the known.

The Connection of Necessity in Predication and Necessity in Judgment in Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra

Seyyed Ali Alam al-Huda

Those philosophers who believe that demonstrative syllogism is the method of science have to consider scientific propositions as affirmative necessary and universal predicative propositions in terms of methodology. On the other hand, in sciences propositions almost always enjoy either actuality or possibility. This contradiction can be solved through Suhrawardi's certain necessity, which reveals the importance of his theory and that of Mulla Sadra in reducing scientific propositions to affirmative universal necessary propositions. Of course, Ibn Sina's view regarding the distinction between the necessity of the relation of the predicate to the subject and the necessity of judgment for solving the above dilemma is logically rejected.

Nadia Maftuni

The whatness of beauty has been considered one of the intricate philosophical problems since the time of Socrates. Muslim scholars have also spoken of the "whatness, types, and principles of beauty" in some of their philosophical and theological discussions. The compilation of their theories can be a step towards the development of Islamic aestheticism. Some words such as "jamal", "value", "ornament", "goodness", "benevolence", and rarely the word "beauty" have been used in Arabic and Persian texts to refer to "sensual and non-sensual", and "external and internal" kinds of beauty.

Farabi, Ibn Sina, Ghazzali, and Suhrawardi have defined the concept of beauty based on perfection. While they acknowledge the existence of tangible beauty, they attribute true beauty to the Necessary Being. Farabi also qualifies voluntary acts, moral behaviors and habits which lead to ultimate happiness with true beauty and, in doing so, he considers "goodness", "beauty", and "perfection" to be synonymous with each other. Some theologians also believe that one of the meanings of beauty is "perfection in the sense of human perfection".

A Study of the Arguments of the Principle of the One in Ibn Sina, Muhaqqiq Tusi, Fakhr al-Din Razi

Seyyed Murtada Hosseini Shahroudi and Mahbubah Vahdatipour

One of the philosophical principles concerning causality is the famous principle of the "one", which is closely related to the principle of the commensurability of the cause and effect with the emanation of plurality from unity.

Many philosophers, such as Ibn Sina, consider this principle to be evident; however, they have tried to enrich it with some explanatory notes. Ibn Sina has demonstrated the principle of the "one" through the method of self-contradiction. His stipulation is based on a rational restriction so that accepting the contradictory alternative of the principle returns to combination and multiplicity in the essence of the cause, which is by itself in contradiction to the subject of the principle stating that the cause is one and simple.

In contrast, Muslim theologians, particularly Fakhr al-Din Razi, have opposed this principle and criticized philosophers' arguments. In response to his objections, Tusi generally states that negating the object to the object and attributing something to another and accepting it demands two sides and cannot be realized only with one side. However, the emanation of a thing, which is the subject of the principle of the one, is realized only with the presence of one side, i.e. the cause. Mulla Sadra agrees with Tusi's argument except regarding two points. Nevertheless, 'Allamah Tabataba'i accepts Tusi's words when judging these two points.

The Intermediate Perfection of the Human Soul in the Transcendent Philosophy with Particular Emphasis on Contemporary Views

Ali Arshad Riyahi and Mansureh Sadat Wadad

According to revelation and philosophy, the human soul develops in the world of afterlife (called the intermediate world) until the Day of Resurrection. This paper intends to provide an answer to the following question: Given the immateriality of the intermediate world, how could the soul develop in this world, while development is a kind of motion and naturally demands potency and matter? Accordingly, the responses given in the Transcendent Philosophy have been examined and criticized, and it has been concluded that the only agreeable response is the one given by Imam Khomeini. Here, the authors have also referred to two new responses.

Muhsen Mahmudi and Muhammed Nejati

Based on the ontological principles of his theory of the principiality of existence, Mulla Sadra considers motion as a gradual and multi-faceted reality. He also believes that, due to the soul's creativity, various archetypal forms, differentiae, genus, and accidental and substantial motions are specific to the reality of motion. In order to explain the paradox of the lack of subject in the trans-substantial motion, through making a clear distinction between the subject and the object, Mulla Sadra attributes evolution and gradedness to the external world and ontological levels, which naturally do not lead to the non-existence of essence and non-material substance. The height of his art concerning the problem of the substantial gradedness of the human soul can be witnessed in its synthesis with the epistemological theory of the union of the intellect and the intelligible. Due to his following a perfectional and ontological approach to the category of knowledge and awareness, he maintains that the substantial gradedness and epistemological vastness of the soul function as a ladder for its ascent from limited knowledge and superficiality to absolute and pure knowledge compatible with empirical, imaginal, and rational representations. Mulla Sadra is of the view that, as long as the soul enjoys the defective aspect and the ontological dimension of the Hidden world and the world of Ideas, it attains some vague and unthinkable perceptions which, because of the real and delicate unity between the cause and effect, can be matched with particular and sensual effects.

Qasim Purhassan and Fa'ezeh 'Abedkuhi

The concern to grant meaning to life is rooted in two basic aspects of man's existence: awareness and free will. When questioning the meaning of life, the word meaning refers to three concepts: purpose of life, value of life, and the function of life. The word "life" refers to human life as distinct from animal life. The meaning of life has been expressed based on various theories and approaches from among which the two groups of naturalist and God-oriented theories are considered to be the most important ones. Islamic philosophers, particularly Mulla Sadra, explain the meaning of life following a God-oriented approach. In this approach, God is the basis and the necessary condition of life's meaningfullness. Accordingly and based on the principle of the trans-substantial motion in Mulla Sadra, the human soul can attain the meaning and perfection of life. In his philosophy, God is the only origin of meaning and, unlike some naturalists, he believes that no natural condition and incident (such as the occurrence of evils) can contradict this source and origin of meaning. The purpose of this paper is to provide an answer to the question of the meaning of life and introducing God as the only basis and source of meaning in Mulla Sadra's philosophy.

[1]. The great scholar and Muhaddith, Shaykh Yusuf Bahrani (Bahrayni) died in 1186 AH, has written about this problem in the second volume of Hadayiq, p. 185, Publications of Qum's Society of Teachers.

[2]. Daneshpajouh, Introduction to Kasr al-asnam, manuscript number 4659/2, Library of Tehran University, 14th ed., p. 360.

[3]. Mulla Sadra, Kasr al-asnam al-jahiliyyah, ed. M. Jahangiri, Tehran, Publications of Sadra Islamic Philosophy Institute, 2002, p. 71.

[4]. Ibid., al-Shawahid al-rububiyyah, research by Mustafa Muhaqqiq Damad, Tehran, Publications of Sadra Islamic Philosophy Institute, 2003, p. 436.

[5]. There are many verses in the Qur'an which condition act upon faith.

[6]. Ibid., p. 437.

[7]. Ibid., Sih asl Treatise, ed. S. H. Nasr, Tehran, Publications of Sadra Islamic Philosophy Institute, 2002, p. 74.

[8]. Ibid., al-Shawahid al-rububiyyah, p. 435.

Mulla Sadra's Life, Works, and Philosophy