morteza semnoon; fatemeh jafari
Abstract
In Islam, the principle of monotheism (Tawhid) has been introduced as the most fundamental principles of religion and its understanding as the most exalted form of knowledge. Although, in Islamic theology, knowing the divine essence is considered impossible for human beings, the window to knowing God ...
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In Islam, the principle of monotheism (Tawhid) has been introduced as the most fundamental principles of religion and its understanding as the most exalted form of knowledge. Although, in Islamic theology, knowing the divine essence is considered impossible for human beings, the window to knowing God in theology is not completely shut and attaining some levels of understanding of monotheism through the study of divine attributes is possible and recommended. Therefore, addressing God through these attributes and the explanation of their true meaning is abundant both in the verses of the Holy Quran and in the Sunnah (traditions and prayers). God has described Himself with four attributes; "the first (alaval), the last (alakhar) the apparent (alzaher) and the hidden (albaten)" at the beginning of Hadid Surah. The understanding of these attributes as a way to contemplate on the Day of Judgement is recommended in Islamic traditions. Considering the different narratives, intellectual and intuitive approaches in explaining the meaning of divine attributes, this article seeks to explain the meaning of these four attributes, considering the significant heritage of the intellectual and philosophical approaches in this respect. In this paper, ‘the first’ and ‘the last’ are not considered as temporal concepts rather they are considered essential characteristics and the philosophical framework that has been considered as the ultimate cause. In Mulla Sadra’s philosophy, these attributes signify absolute unity and include all divine attributes. ‘The apparent’ and ‘the hidden’ are interpreted through references to other divine attributes such as divine knowledge. ‘The apparent’ refers to the manifestation of divine attributes in worldly signs. In Mulla Sadra’s philosophy, these two attributes are compared with light which is apparent in nature and is a sign of something else which remains hidden because of its exalted status.
sedighe Bahrani; Mohammad Reza Asadi
Abstract
The issue of the beauty of the world and its challenge, the issue of the evil, is one of the most important philosophical and theological issues. Plotinus and Molavi, as the two distinguished world scholars, have tried to face this challenge. A lot of their suggested solutions are common: the relative ...
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The issue of the beauty of the world and its challenge, the issue of the evil, is one of the most important philosophical and theological issues. Plotinus and Molavi, as the two distinguished world scholars, have tried to face this challenge. A lot of their suggested solutions are common: the relative and necessary nature of evil, its eminence from man’s free will and his atomistic approach, and considering it as a prerequisite for soul exaltation. Some of the solutions, solely proposed by Plotinus, are philosophical in nature as is the case with considering evil non-existent and accidental. Such solutions do not seem to convince people as evil causes emotional distress for mankind. In contrast, the solutions that have a mystical aspect are convincing to a large extent. An example in case, which has been proposed by both Plotinus and Moulavi, is the consideration of evil as a prerequisite for the exaltation of the soul. This solution, which was expanded by Moulavi, is very useful and convincing. The specific versions of this solution are as follows: solving the problem of evil with the help of mutual love between man and God and the answers that come from Islamic verses and traditions, such as evil being the cause of awareness, mercy, and purification of the soul, all as signs of love. The present article with a descriptive-analytical library research method concludes that the similarities between the views expressed by Muoulavi and Plotinus can be the result of mystical intuition that is common between them as a source of their thoughts.
Mahdi Assadi
Abstract
Allāmah Ṭabāṭabāyī, in his justification of the epistemic discussions tied to non–materiality, in particular non–materiality of the perception and the fact that the material things are subject to knowledge and understanding, proposes constancy of change and states that change in its ...
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Allāmah Ṭabāṭabāyī, in his justification of the epistemic discussions tied to non–materiality, in particular non–materiality of the perception and the fact that the material things are subject to knowledge and understanding, proposes constancy of change and states that change in its own changing is constant. The present paper is an attempt to provide a comprehensive critical study of the paradoxical nature of “constancy of the change” and its relation to non–materiality of knowledge. First and foremost, we focus on our specific criticisms levelled against constancy of change: the difference between the meaning of non–materiality and the meaning of constancy in constant material things, non–materiality of immobility, non–materiality of all of the material things, the problem of losing continuity in a specific constant, the confusion of permanency of motion/change with permanent motion/change, a counterexample refuting the necessity of non–materiality in knowledge and mental images, and, ultimately, the issue of infinite regress. And since some of the contemporaries too have found the paradoxical nature of constancy of change undesirable, we will have a short discussion on their criticisms and evaluations as well.
Mojtaba Afsharpoor
Abstract
Perception, as one of the vital signs of the human soul, arises from the perceptual faculties by which the soul demonstrates its effect. In the peripatetic philosophical anthropology, the fivefold perceptual faculties, which are common sense, imagination, illusion, memory, and intellect, and the consideration ...
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Perception, as one of the vital signs of the human soul, arises from the perceptual faculties by which the soul demonstrates its effect. In the peripatetic philosophical anthropology, the fivefold perceptual faculties, which are common sense, imagination, illusion, memory, and intellect, and the consideration of animal perceptual faculties and their threefold perceptions as their outcome is a stablished view. In Mulla Sadra's works, there are seemingly inconsistent statements about the nature of perceptual faculties and their number. In some cases, similar to the Peripatetics, he speaks of the five faculties, in some other cases he denies illusion, in some other ones he calls common sense and imagination the strong and weak levels of a single faculty, and there are also cases in which he inspires the union of soul and faculties. The present article is an attempt to explain the ultimate form of Mulla Sadra's theory of inner perceptual faculties and to investigate the possibility of reconciling his seemingly inconsistent views. With an analytical-descriptive method, we try to explore the anthropology of transcendental wisdom through an analytical-descriptive method. The conclusion inferred from a comprehensive look at all the works in which Mulla Sadra has focused on perceptual faculties, is that he goes through several stages to reach his final theory, and that each seemingly inconsistent view is related to one of the stages of reaching his goal.
moha,mmad shah hoseini; mohsen jahed; Rahim Dehghan
Abstract
Mulla Sadra considers humans to be a single species in the ecstasy of the world, and at the same time, he introduces human beings as multiple and different internally. His interpretation of multiplicity is something which is in change moment-by-moment. This duality in relation to unity has created the ...
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Mulla Sadra considers humans to be a single species in the ecstasy of the world, and at the same time, he introduces human beings as multiple and different internally. His interpretation of multiplicity is something which is in change moment-by-moment. This duality in relation to unity has created the suspicion eclecticism in his views and has made the disentanglement of duality difficult. He accepts the criteria through which theologian come up with a new species and considers the speech capability of human beings as a criterion for considering all human beings belonging to the same species; however, relying on his theory of substantial motion, he sees human beings as becoming new moment-by-moment. This ambiguity, which can be attributed to the lack of formation of science of logic based on transcendental theology, has make it difficult to clarify the criterion based on Mulla Sadra’s point of view. The present study is concerned with the duality of unity and multiplicity of the human species, and the goal is to resolve the duality. However, the conclusion is that, although the idea of plurality of human species has a clear framework originated from transcendental theology, it is not easy to integrate this idea with the emphasis that Milla Sadra has made on the unity of human species in the ecstasy of the world.
Kinana Mustafa; Amir Javan Arasteh; rahman bolhasani
Abstract
Qur'an has always been the source of wisdom and a lot of mystic issues can be studies from a Quranic perspective. Among these issues, we can refer to representation, which the Almighty has referred to in his heavenly book and has explicitly mentioned it in Maryam Surah. The present study, with an analytical-descriptive ...
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Qur'an has always been the source of wisdom and a lot of mystic issues can be studies from a Quranic perspective. Among these issues, we can refer to representation, which the Almighty has referred to in his heavenly book and has explicitly mentioned it in Maryam Surah. The present study, with an analytical-descriptive method, tries to clarify representation as it is introduced in mysticism and aims to deepen understanding of this concept and its types and also its two aspects namely epistemological and anthological aspects. The study shows that representation is not exclusively limited to the representation of angels. It rather includes other types, such as dreams, the Ascension, etc., which are all worthy of study. In addition, the Qur'anic perspective on the what and how of representation, its relationship with the worlds of existence and the man epistemological aspects as presented in revelation can also be studied. That is why mystics have constantly dealt with these issues through mystical analysis of sample representations in the holy Quran to facilitate deeper understanding of this issue.
zahra Mousavi baygi; seyyed Mohamad Mousavi; Hadi Izanloo
Abstract
Today, the issue of women and their ontological position is one of the topics discussed in the field of thought and social sciences. Although this newly emerging issue is not unprecedented in the ideas expressed by the thinkers of the past few centuries, including Mulla Sadra, there are few concise statements ...
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Today, the issue of women and their ontological position is one of the topics discussed in the field of thought and social sciences. Although this newly emerging issue is not unprecedented in the ideas expressed by the thinkers of the past few centuries, including Mulla Sadra, there are few concise statements by some thinkers on which one can rely to understand the "human value of women" from their perspective. In Mulla Sadra's philosophy, in addition to some statements (fourteen statements) made about women, his philosophical foundations can also be helpful in inferring his view of women status. The present study, through the use of a descriptive-analytical method, tries to answer the question whether Mulla Sadra has a minimalistic view of the human position of women. To answer this question, relying on a text-based and a principle-based approach, we conclude that Mulla Sadra’s statements attributing intellectual defect to women neither have the meaning that the society infers from this concept, nor is this meaning attributable specifically to women. To Mulla Sadra, the concept is a level of human being attributable to both males and females. His philosophical foundations manifest the absolute rejection of gender-based nature of the self which can be proof of the equality of human identity among men and women. The paper also refers to several alternative positions taken toward gender-based self and their answers to this question.
