Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Notes:

1. Foremost among scholars who have studied the few centuries preceding Mulla Sadra is Henry Corbin, who has devoted many monographs to the period between Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra and has also edited a major text (with Osman Yahia) of Sayyid Haydar Amuli which belongs to this period. See Sayyed Haydar Amoli. La philosophie shi'ite, ed. by H. Corbin and O. Yahia, TehranParis, 1969. This large volume contains the Arabic text of Jami al-asrar. , which is a major document of the intellectual tradition preceding Mulla Sadra. There is also an important introduction on the author and his influence. Other works concerned with the centuries preceding Mulla Sadra include Mustafa Kamil al-Shaybi. al-Silah bayn al-tasawwuf wa'l-tashayyu, 2 vols., Baghdad, 1963-64; al-Shavbi, al-Fakr al-shi'i wa'l-naza'at al-sufiyyah, Baghdad, 1966; S.H. Nasr, Three Muslim Sages, Cambridge (Mass.), 1964 and Albany, 1976; S.H. Nasr, Islamic Studies, Beirut, 1966; S.H. Nasr, "Suhrawardi" in M.M. Sharif (ed.), A History of Muslim Philosophy, Wiesbaden, 1963, pp. 372-98; Sadr al-Din Shirazi. Risalah si asl, Tehran, 1340 (A.H. solar), introduction by S.H. Nasr.

2. Nasr Three Muslim Sages, Chapter I.

3. Even this early period of Islamic philosophy is usually studied without taking into consideration all its richness. See H. Corbin (with the collaboration of S.H. Nasr and O. Yahya). Histoire de la philosophie islamique, vol. I, Paris, 1964).

4. See S.H. Nasr, Islamic Studies, Chapters 8 and 9.

5. Concerning Suhrawardi see the three prolegomena of H. Corbin to Opera Metaphysica et Mystica of Suhrawardi, vol. I, Tehran, 1976; vol. II, Tehran, 1977; vol. III, Tehran, 1977, the first two volumes edited by Corbin and the third by S.H. Nasr. These are new editions of these volumes which had appeared earlier in Istanbul and Tehran-Paris. See also S.H. Nasr, Three Muslim Sages, chapter II; Nasr, "Suhrawardi" in M.M. Sharif, op. cit.; and Nasr's Persian preface to Majmu'ay-i athar-i farsi yi Suhrawardi (Opera Metaphysica et Mystica, vol. III). See also Corbin, En Islam iranien, vol. II, Paris 1972; and his Sohravardi, L'Archange empourpre, Paris. 1976.

6. This important question, which concerns the "return" of a tradition to its golden age during a particular phase of its development, which is also a "fall" from its origin, has been discussed by F.Schuon in several of his works. See, for example his In the Tracks of Buddhism, trans. Marco Pallis, London, 1968, p.153; and Islam and the perennial philosophy, trans. J.P. Habson, London, 1976, PP. 25-26. For a general but penetrating treatment of this question see also his Light on the Ancient Worlds, trans. by Lord Northbourne, London, 1965.

7. On Ibn 'Arabi see T. Burckhardt, La sagesse des prophetes. Paris, 1955 and 1976; Corbin, L'imagination creatrice dans le soufisme d'Ibn'Arabi, Paris, 1977; T. Izutsu, A Comparative Study of the Key Philosophical Concepts in Sufism and Taoism - Ibn 'Arabi and Lao-Tzu, Chuang-Tzu, Part One, Tokyo, 1966; Nasr, Three Muslim Sages, Chapter III.

8. On the relation between Shi'ism and the intellectual sciences see S.H. Nasr, Science and Civilization in Islam, New York, 1970, introduction; and S.H. Nasr. An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines, London, 1978, introduction.

9. Concerning Mir Damad and the school of Ispahan see H. Corbin. "Confessions extatioues de Mir Damad". Melanges Louis Massignon. Damascus, 1956, pp. 331-78: his "Mir Damad et l'Ecole Theologique d'Ispahan au XVII Siecle". Etudes Carmelitaines, 1960; pp. 53-71; Corbin. En Islam iranien, vol. IV, Paris. 1973, pp. 9-53; S.H. Nasr, "The School of Ispahan", in M.M. Sharif (ed.), A History of Muslim Philosophy, vol., II, Wiesbeden, pp. 904-32. We have dealt with the general history of philosophy, theology and Sufism in the Safavid period in a long chapter that is to appear in volume six of the Cambridge History of Iran. No extensive monographic study has as yet been published on Mir Damad. S. 'A i Musawi Bihbahani, S.I. Dibaji and M. Muhaqqiq (Mohaghegh) are preparing the critical edition of his Qabasat, which will be the first of his works to have a modern critical edition. On the background of Mulla Sadra see also the two introductions of Sayyid Jalal al-Din Ashtiyani to Mulla Sadra's al-Shawahid al-rububiyyah, Mashhad, 1346 (A.H solar), Sharh risalat al-masha'ir of Mulla Sadra by Mulla Muhammad Jafar Lahijani (Langarudi 1964/1384), and several other studies contained in various introductions to his works cited in the next chapter.

Life and Works

Introduction

From Chair of Mastership to Corner of Seclusion

Mulla Sadra's Teachers, Children and Students

Mulla Sadra's Works

An Analysis, Critique and Study of Mulla Sadra's Books

Mulla Sadra's School of Thought: Transcendent Philosophy

Part two: The Seddiqin Argument: Its Foundations and Developments

Introduction

It is usual assumed that the arguments for proving the existence of God are just as Kant's classification and they are in Western tradition. The main arguments are ontological, cosmological and design arguments. There are also some more arguments posed after this classification like arguments from religious experience, moral arguments and etc. But all of them are not as important as the first three ones. Every book in philosophy of religion has allocated an important chapter for the arguments for the existence of God. There is also a long adventure for these arguments: some philosophers have developed them and some others have criticized them. All the debates centers on these three as if there is no other attempt in this regards.

The adventure of arguments for proving the existence of God in later development of Islamic philosophy has quite different line from Western philosophy of religion. These philosophical works in this respect are unknown for Western thinkers. The necessitycontingency argument has different path in Islamic philosophy nowadays from cosmological argument especially in Leibnizian reading of this argument that is based on "sufficient reason".

Seddiqin argument is a notable argument for the existence of God that is ignored by Western thinkers and is quite different from all of those arguments in Western philosophy. Mulla Sadra has presented the most important version of this argument. The mystical background of Mulla Sadra prepared some important notions for him that enabled him to mature his philosophical ideas. He studied deeply mysticism, especially Ibn Arabi's teachings, as one of the main sources of his philosophy. He had also a good background in philosophy, theology and Quranic studies. All of these teachings bring about a philosophical thought that he expressed asHikmat (Wisdom). ThereforeHikmat is a combination of all of those schools.

The most important teachings of mysticism in his era were on existence instead of categorical views of philosophy. Mystics have emphasized on intuition rather than understanding concepts philosophically. They also taught that existence in itself, first of all, point to God then other existent beings that have existence figuratively. But these views can be captured only by intuition and it is not demonstrable. It was Mulla Sadra that could bring a coherent philosophy that can have the advantage of mystical thought along with demonstrations that satisfy logically all who think of rational acceptance.

He achieved a changing point in philosophy in the light of importance of existence in mysticism. This changing point was "fundamental reality of existence" or "principality of existence" that refers to the truth of existence not its notion. All philosophers before him had based their ideas on the different conditions of quiddity or thing-ness which means the anticipation of quiddity to the existence that, in their views, is regarded after categorical explanation of all things. If we consider truth of existence in every thing prior to its quiddity (thing-ness) as only fundamental real, then every philosophical explanation will change. He has argued for this important philosophically changing point then he has examined, deeply, all other philosophical subject in the light of this principality of existence. Therefore, all philosophical studies like causality, change and movement, unity and multiplicity and etc. would have new and deeper meaning by acceptance of fundamental reality of existence.

In the light of principality of existence we will have a new philosophical perspective of the world that is deeper and more real. In this light we will have the vision of occupation of real world only of existence and nothing else. All other meanings arise from this vision and they should have their fundamental reality in this light. If we may think in this manner we do not think of meaning of existence (like what happened in ontological argument) but we encounter the truth of existence. This truth is quite different from all starting point in Western philosophy of religion for proving the existence of God. The truth of existence, first of all, refer to its nature that is pure existence, which is not any thing other than richness, then to other limited existent beings, which are not any thing other than poor-ness (not a poor existent being). This is what Seddiqin argument wants to demonstrate.

Therefore, in the light of fundamental reality of existence not only we may obtain a deeper idea of God and his relation to the world and a valuable argument for proving His existence but also we may think of other philosophical subjects in a new and deeper meaning and demonstrations.

Although Mulla Sadra was in 17th century, contemporary philosophical achievements nowadays show his high position in philosophy. Mulla Sadra's philosophy anticipated in different solutions for philosophical problems to other philosophies in the West. The examination of his philosophical ideas in other philosophical subjects must be done in other works. In this book I only focus on his Seddiqin argument for proving the existence of God.

I hope the reader will try to accompany this argument with patience and deep attention to the core of philosophical foundations of this argument. I believe that if we may contemplate on philosophical subject not as only empirical facts of the world but deeper contemplation in reality it will be possible for us to capture this new vision.