Quarterly of the History of Philosophy

Volume 3

Effect of Suhrawardi's Philosophy on the Ideas of Muslim Philosophers

Muhammed Beheshti

At the end of the 3^rd century (AH) philosophical thought gradually grew and was spread in the world of Islam. At the beginning, Peripatetic philosophy was consolidated by Farabi and Ibn Sina and reached the level of maturity. However, after some ups and downs, the ground was paved for the rise of Shaykh al-Ishraq's Illuminationist philosophy in the 6^th century AH. This school of philosophy was a luminous star shinning in the field of Islamic philosophy that illuminated Islamic wisdom and led it towards ishraq (illumination) and intuition. Finally, in the 11^th century the profound thoughts of the great philosopher Mulla Sadra led to the development of the Transcendent Philosophy. Nevertheless, what Suhrawardi founded and the new dimension that he created remained strong and solid and exercised a huge impact in terms of content, method, and literature on philosophical, gnostic, and even political fields. A great number of scholars were so much influenced by his school of philosophy that there were no philosophers after him not to follow the Illuminationist philosophy or not to be interested in it. In this paper, reference will be made to some of the philosophers and scholars who advocated the Illuminationist philosophy, such as Shahrzuri, Qutb al-Din Shirazi, Ibn Kamunah, Jalal al-Din Dawani, Nizam al-Din Herawi, and Mir Damad. Reference will also be made of some of the thinkers who were influenced by this school, for example, Khwajah Nasir al-Din Tusi, 'Allamah Hilli, Mir Sadr al-Din Dashtaki, Mir Qiyath al-Din Dashtaki, Mulla Sadra, and Sabziwari.

Key Terms

Illuminationist philosophy                                         Islamic Philosophy

Muslim philosophers                                                   followers of Shaykh al-Isahrq

influenced thinkers

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Necessity of the Revision of the History of Islamic Mysticism and Gnosis of the First Hijri Century

Qudratullah Khayyatian

In Islamic philosophy, irrespective of what definition is provided or accepted regarding the terminologies in gnosis and mysticism, some of their most important shared components, including some of the teachings, states, and acts, demand our serious scrutiny and cannot be ignored. Some of these gnostic teachings, states, and acts are originated in the Qur'an, the Prophetic Sunnah, and the conducts of the Infallible Imams (a), the People of the Prophet's Household, and some of their special friends, who are considered to be the most important and influential sources of Islamic gnosis. On the other hand, most of the books on the history of Islamic mysticism and gnosis in the first Hijri century have touched the subject quite superficially and hastily and have mainly described it as a "century of asceticism". As a result, the immense, profound, and influential potential of this century in developing the approaches and methods of Islamic gnosis has been left out or deliberately ignored.

By explaining this problem and presenting some evidence, this paper aims to demonstrate that introducing the first Hijri century (in relation to the history of mysticism and gnosis) as the century of asceticism is not only insufficient but also wrong. Thus it intends to encourage others to pay attention to the necessity of revising the history of Islamic gnosis in the first Hijri century following a new approach.

Key Terms

Gnosis                                                  history of mysticism and gnosis

first Hijri century                                  Islamic teachings

the Prophet(s)                                      the Imam(a)

Friends

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A Double Truth or a Double Interpretation of a Single Truth?

Asadullah Heydarpur

The purpose of the present paper is to demonstrate that Ibn Rushd considers a single truth for the intellect and religion but approaches it following two methods. The historical background of this discussion goes back to the thinkers before Ibn Rushd. In his period, he learnt about the dominance of the spirit of imitation over scholars, the prevalence of dialectic Kalam, and enmity against philosophy. Therefore, in order to legitimize philosophy and rationalization, he wrote the book Fasl al-maqal fi ma bayn al-hikmah wal shari'at min al-ittisal; in order to modify dialectic Kalam, he wrote al-Kashf an minahij al-adillah fi 'aqayid al-halat; and in order to correct the existing philosophy, he wrote Tahafut al-tahafat and some summaries of and commentaries on Aristotle's works. In his Fasl al-maqal, he demonstrated that teaching and studying philosophy is a Shar'i (religious) obligation, and the end of philosophy and religion is attaining the knowledge of existents in order to attain the knowledge of Almighty God. Each human being, in line with his own human nature, learns about Almighty Truth and the three-fold principles of Islam following a different method of address, discussion, or demonstration, and there is no opposition between the data of the intellect and religion. However, some people called the Latin Averroes and their followers, because of the needs of the Western Christian society of that time and their lack of knowledge of Ibn Rushd's writings, merely took his commentaries on Aristotle's works in consideration and, based on their wrong perception of Ibn Rushd's thoughts, concluded that he believed in two different realities about religion and the intellect. The writer of this paper has tried to reveal the falsity of this idea based on the books and other texts written by Ibn Rushd himself.

Key Terms

relationship between the intellect and religion

Ibn Rushd                                                                     double truth

Latin Averroes                                                              oneness

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Dynamism in Islamic Philosophy based of the correction and Completion of Approaches to the History of Islamic Philosophy

Mas'ud Umid

Today, one of the great cultural wishes and goals in Iran is the growth and dynamism of Islamic philosophy. Undoubtedly, one of the most important factors leading to such a goal is the correction of our views of the history of Islamic philosophy. The writer of this paper believes that in order to contribute to the dynamism of Islamic philosophy we need to take three general steps concerning the history of Islamic philosophy: highlighting its importance and correcting and completing our views of and approaches to them. At the end, he refers to some of the existing approaches to the history of Islamic philosophy and some complementary points about them.

Key Terms

dynamism of Islamic philosophy                                                  

necessity of approach completion

approach to the history of Islamic philosophy              thematicity

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Imam Khomeini's Philosophical Methodology

Reza Lakza'i

Knowledge is born with method. Therefore, in order to produce knowledge, particularly in human sciences, methodology is very important and necessary. Generally speaking, all human sciences are influenced by philosophical principles. In other words, if someone thinks divinely in the field of philosophy, his human sciences will also have a divine flavor, and if he is a materialist, his human sciences will be tainted by materialism. However, being a divine researcher and scientist is not enough for his knowledge to be divine; rather, in order to produce theories, in addition to experience, he should also use the intellect, revelation, and intuition.

Imam Khomeini is one of the advocates of the Transcendent Philosophy who managed to accomplish the above task. He officially recognized tradition, unveiling, and the intellect and used them in order to traverse the same path. Since methodology is based on epistemology, he believes that tradition is superior to the intellect and unveiling. However, if the surface meaning of tradition is inconsistent with certain intellectual arguments, he leaves the manifestations of Shar' aside and, while believing that gnosis can find its way into areas where the intellect cannot, agrees with gnostic and rational findings. Moreover, he maintains that one cannot replace the "intellect" with "unveiling" in philosophy. He is seemingly faithful to Mulla Sadra in terms of method and content. However, there are some other philosophers advocating the Transcendent Philosophy, such as 'Allamah Tabataba'i, who follow Ibn Sina in method but Mulla Sadra in content.

Key Terms

the intellect                                                                    tradition

unveiling                                                                        philosophical methodology

anthropology                                                                Imam Khomeini

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Iranian's Contribution to the Rise of the Mu'tazilite Philosophy and Kalam

Hasan Alebari Beyraaq and 'Aziz Jawanpur Herawi

Rationality, the free will, and freedom are among the basic tenets of ancient Iran. Upon the rise of Islam, this Iranian thought played a great role in the development of two influential Islamic kalami (theological) schools: Shi'ism and the Mu'tazilite school.

In this paper the writer has tried to introduce Iranians' intellectual movement related to resolving religious-kalami problems by referring to their ideas and Ahuric teachings. Then, by mentioning the religious principles of the Mu'tazilite school and stating the ideas of its great figures, he has shown the impact of the views of Iranians on the formation of Mu'tazilite thinking and rationalism of their share in kalam's coming to fruition.

Key Terms

ancient Iran                                                                  Islamic Kalam (theology)

Mu'tazilite

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Meaning of a Perfect Philosophical System in Kant

Reza Mahuzi

According to Kant, a Philosophical system is perfect when the harmony and cooperation required by a unified whole exists among its components. However, in his First and Second Critiques, he has distinguished between the faculties of understanding and reason and assumed an impassible ocean between them. In his Third Critique, in order to attain a perfect philosophical system, he has tried to remove this gap by resorting to the faculty of judgment and clarify the organic and mutual relationship between the three main components of philosophy: knowledge, ethics, and the sense of aestheticism. The present paper aims at examining the meaning and quality of a perfect philosophical system in Kant based on his major works and the related commentaries.

Key Terms

perfect philosophical system                                     faculty of understanding

reason                                                                            deliberate judgment

knowledge                                                                     ethics

sense of aestheticism