Ṣadr al-Dīn Shīrāzī, Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm, d. 1641- Criticism and interpretation ; Ḥikmat-i Mutiʻālīyah ; Islamic philosophy.

It would not be an overstatement to say that Mulla Sadra’s metaphysical system—commonly known as transcendent philosophy or transcendent wisdom (hikmat muta‘aliyyah)—is founded on the fundamentality of existence and the subjectivity of quiddity or whatness. I will begin this essay by drawing a rather simple picture of this principle under the title “A Common Error.” Then I will proceed by explaining its background and the reasoning supporting it, while offering a more detailed elucidation of the problem. The essay will (...) end by examining two recent interpretations that have gone to extremes in describing quiddity’s subjective nature. (shrink)

Mulla Sadrā refers to ancient Greek philosophers in his writings quite often, especially when the subject matter is the soul. In this article, I will address how Mulla Sadra reiterates Avicenna’s summary and analyses of ancient theories of the soul as discussed in Safar 4, Bab 5, and Fasl 5 of, al-Hikmat al-Mutaʿāliya fi asfār al-ʿaqliyyat al-arbaʿa. The source of these discussions, when the structure and basic contents are considered, is Aristotle’s De Anima Book I. Before defining the soul, (...) Aristotle discusses what kind of a science, a science on the soul should be, and afterwards, he evaluates previous theories on the soul as those defining the soul through movement, perception, and life. We observe that this evaluation on previous theories play a preparatory role for his own definition of the soul as perfection and actualization. In a similar manner, in Safar 4, Bab 5, and Fasl 5 of Asfār al-aqliyyat al-arbaʿa, Mulla Sadrā reinterprets and discusses Ancient theories in such a way that the discussion leads us to a theory similar to Mulla Sadrā’s. In the presentation of this chapter, we find out that the soul is immaterial and modulated (tashkīkī) reality and is represented as a unity which is in a constant movement in its substance. The soul is matter in its origin, yet turns into an immaterial reality through substantial movement. In direct disagreement with Aristotelian philosophy, for Mulla Sadrā, movement in substance is possible as well as it is essential in understanding the reality of the soul. When Mulla Sadrā evaluates the ancient discussions and the criticisms by Avicenna, he finds that the discussion focuses on the source of mobility yet the soul is supposed to be defined as the source of immobility equally. Next in the discussion on movement, he focuses on the necessity of accepting the principle of substantial movement. According to Mulla Sadrā, Avicenna (following Aristotle’s presentation and interpretation) is misleading in his evaluation and criticisms of the ancient theories on the soul mainly because he follows a literalist reading. On the contrary, sources for Ancients’ knowledge is perennial wisdom, and their words on the soul have deeper meanings than what is understood at the first reading. When read with more trustful lenses, it will be manifested that the soul is an immaterial reality for them as well. For example, when they talk about the soul as a sphere, Mulla Sadrā thinks that they want to direct attention to the perfection. When fire is mentioned, the dynamic reality of the soul is brought to light. Mulla Sadrā, adds the principle of gradation (tashkīk) to his presentation and talks about modulation of fire from material fire to the immaterial light (nūr).The lowest level of fire is related to the changes in nature of the soul, the soul responsible of irascible and concupiscent establishes the next level. Once the soul is under total control, then it completes the passage to its incorporeality and becomes light. So this chapter is important in its structure because it allows us to read into how Sadrā’s historical reiteration is influenced by his own theoretical framework on the one hand. On the other hand, thanks to the long lineage of De Anima commentary literature, we can compare Sadrā with Aristotelian readings in this chapter. The interpretative reading of Mulla Sadrā, in opposition to the literalist reading of Avicenna on the ancient theories, also leans on a history of other philosophers before him. In this regard, a lineage of historiography might be traced back to Āmirī, Qādi Saʿīd, and Shahristāni. What the article comes to conclude is that a particular presentation found in Aristotles’ De Anima- Book I is molded in Mulla Sadrā’s hands with a more interpretative version of pre-Socratic theories to such an extent to support Mulla Sadra’s own theories on the soul. (shrink)

Purpose: Transcendent theosophy or as known as Al-hikmah al-Muta’aliyah is the third school of Islamic philosophy founded by Mulla Sadra, and is the result of reconciliation of previous Islamic thoughts. This school is based on three main principles, namely: intellectual-intuition, rational proof, and Islamic sharia. The purpose of this paper was to uncover the reconciliation model of transcendent theosophy in reconciling various schools of Islamic thoughts, namely: traditional normative thought of Islamic sharia (Al-Qur’an and Sunnah), classical tradition of dialectical theology (...) (Kalam science), Peripatetic Islamic philosophy, the teachings of Sunni Sufi represented by al-Gazali, Philosophy of Suhrawardi illumination, as well as the mystical thought of Ibn ‘Arabi. This paper is a text analysis research using qualitative-descriptive analysis methods, namely: identifying, understanding, and interpreting texts. The text is carefully and systematically described to clearly portray the synthetic model or reconciliation carried out by Mulla Sadra on several previous Islamic thoughts. The results of this study indicate that Mulla Sadra elaborated and harmonized various Islamic thoughts with “integrative-complementary” model, which embraced the construction of new Islamic philosophical thoughts known as “transcendent theosophy”. This paper suggests to conduct further studies to find a correct format in reconciling various schools of the recent Islamic understanding in order to eliminate the claim truth among Muslims. (shrink)

Islamic philosophy; Muslim philosophers; biography.

A religious experience in the neuroscience view is interpreted as a symptom of neurological disorders of the brain. The neuroscience view is one of the various views that deny the reality of religious experience. Through empirical research instruments, neuroscientists have found that the soul is identical to the brain, which means that every activity can be measured through the brain. This has implications for the experiences of the Prophets in receiving revelations as the result of brain disorders. This paper seeks (...) to explain religious experience through its ontological basis, namely the existence of immaterial existence and the existence of the soul, as well as its epistemological basis, namely the performance of the faculty of knowledge, both of which cannot be separated. The research method used is descriptive-analytic with the philosophical approach of the soul of Al-Ḥikmah Muta’āliyah. The results of this study indicate that the Al-Ḥikmah Muta’āliyah which was founded by Mulla Ṣadrā proves the existence of the wujūd levels, including the soul, explaining the various levels of perception carried out by the soul corresponding to the various levels of existence. Ṣadrā thought can explain the concept of the soul as an immaterial substance that can perceive metaphysical objects as the emanation of God. (shrink)

al-Qism al-awwal. Fī ḍawābiṭ al-fikr (manṭiq) --.

Political sociology; political ethics; Iraq.

al-mujallad 1. al-Sifr al-awwal min al-khalq ilá al-ḥaqq -- al-mujallad 2. al-Sifr al-thānī min al-khalq bi-al-ḥaqq fī al-ʻilm al-ṭabīʻī fī funūn sittah; al-Sifr al-thālith min al-ḥaqq ilá al-khalq bi-al-ḥaqq fī al-ʻilm al-ilāhī fī mawāqif ʻasharah; al-Sifr al-rābiʻ bi-al-ḥaqq fī al-khalq fī ʻilm al-nafs fī aḥad ʻashar bāban.

Islamic philosophy; Sufism; Morocco; history.

Ṣadr al-Dīn Shīrāzī, Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm; -1641; Islamic philosophy.

1. Amūnīyūs ibn Hirmiyās wa-atharuh fī falsafat al-Farābī = Ammonius son of Hermias and his influence on the philosophy of Al-Farabi--2. Simbilīlīkūs wa-atharuh fī mītāfīzīqā Ibn Sīnā = Simplicius and his influence on Avicenna's metaphysics.

الكتاب إجالة دلالية في عالم صدر المتألهين الشيرازي المعروف بملا صدرا، صاحب الحكمة المتعالية، إذ أنتج ثلاثية تتكون من الفلسفة والعرفان، واللغة، فبحث المؤلف عن تأثيراتها في المعنى القرآني، ودرس تجلياته، من جهة مباحث الألفاظ، وتصورات ملا صدرا عن مفهوم الدلالة، وأنواعها، مع بيان العلاقات الدلالية من قبيل الترادف، والمشترك، والتضاد، والتنمية اللغوية، بلحاظ ترك الأثر المعرفي على تلك الألفاظ، ومن جهة التركيب، في الجمل وما يطرأ عليها، ومن جهة السياق اللفظي، والمقامي، والسببي، وماله من أثر في تحقيق تماسك النص، (...) وتوجيه الدلالة. (shrink)

This paper discusses the character education in Kitab Adab al-‘Alimwa al-Muta’allim, written by one of the founders of largest Muslim organization in Indonesia, Nahdlatul Ulama, Kyai Hasyim Asy’ari as a form of social piety. This book has provided a comprehensive and constructive way of character education which integrates Islamic values with various religious texts. Character education which includes and complements a broad range of educational approaches such as social-emotional learning and civic education shares a commitment to help people become responsible (...) and contributive citizens. Meanwhile, pesantren have taught and built strong characters of the santri in the forms of rabbaniyah, insaniyah, wasathiyyah and waqi’iyyah characters. Therefore, pesantren -based character education the book described is a key element to nurture Muslims’ good habits. This paper shows that the book can be an answer for Indonesia’s contemporary multi-dimensional crises, such as radicalism and terrorism. (shrink)