Islamic Philosophy: Difference between revisions

  | references =

The Islamic philosophy is a discipline which deals with the general problems of being, such as existence, quiddities, causation, as well as knowledge, soul, God, and religion with a rational, discursive approach. By a rational discursive method, philosophers mean arguments for philosophical positions which are based on rationally evident propositions.

* Philosophical study of the religion: the nature of [[death]], rejection of [[tanasukh]] (metempsychosis), proof of [[resurrection]], the world of [[barzakh]] or [[al-mithal al-munfasil]] (discontinuous imaginal world), the nature of [[hashr]] (gathering of people on the day of resurrection), the nature of resurrection, the nature of calculations and evaluations on the day of resurrection, the nature of happiness and misery, the nature of the [[heaven]] and the [[hell]], the nature of [[revelation]] (or wahy), the necessity of the revelation, the problem of [[prophethood]], and [[bodily resurrection]].

The Islamic philosophy has its origin in the Ancient Greek philosophy. Since the 2nd/[[8th century]], Muslims began to translate Greek philosophical works into Arabic. In this century, much of [[Aristotle]]'s work, as well as that of the commentators of the Alexandrian school, much of [[Galen]]'s work and some of [[Plato]]'s dialogues were translated into Arabic. The first Muslim philosopher, [[al-Kindi]], lived in this period. During the academic movement which emerged from the translation of Greek texts into Arabic, al-Kindi moved to [[Baghdad]] and studied many Greek books, and in particular, Aristotle's work.

One challenge for the Islamic philosophy was its appellation. Some people take "Islamic philosophy" to be an inconsistent composition, because the methodology of philosophy is inconsistent with that of the religion. For philosophical propositions are proved by purely discursive arguments, while religious doctrines of the [[Quran]] and [[hadiths]] are to be accepted by way of servitude to, or obedience of, [[God]]. The challenge is not specific to the Islamic philosophy. Étienne Gilson wrote that some people take [[Christian]] philosophy to be impossible because it is a contradictory notion which is impossible to be realized.

In reply to this objection, [[Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi]] holds that a minimal relation between philosophy and [[Islam]] suffices for the consistency of the notion of Islamic philosophy. He believes that some problems of the Islamic philosophy are originated in Islamic doctrines and some of them are at the service of Islamic issues, and this much of relation suffices for the legitimacy of the notion of Islamic philosophy. In order to resolve the apparent inconsistency of the notion of Islamic philosophy, some people suggest that [[religious]] doctrines can have an impact on philosophy in such a way that its discursive rational nature is preserved. They hold that Islamic doctrines can affect the Islamic philosophy by reorienting philosophical problems, raising some problems, initiating some arguments, and resolving some errors.

The three important philosophical schools in the Islamic world are the [[Mashsha']] or Islamic peripatetic philosophy, the [[Ishraq]] or Illuminationist philosophy, and the [[Transcendent Philosophy|Transcendent Wisdom or Philosophy]]. The first school of the Islamic philosophy, the Mashsha' philosophy, has been under the influence of Aristotle and employs a fully discursive methodology. The most prominent Mashsha' philosopher is considered to be [[Ibn Sina]] (or Avicenna). On the contrary, the Ishraq philosophy emphasizes on inner intuition and [[spiritual]] journey. The founder of the Ishraq philosophy is [[Shahab al-Din al-Suhrawardi]].

The Transcendent Philosophy refers to a philosophical system established by [[Mulla Sadra]]. He combined the three rational, transmitted, and intuitive methods to construct a new philosophical school which fills the gaps of earlier philosophical schools. In the Transcendent Philosophy, three sources of knowledge, that is, [[wahy]] (or divine revelation), [[reason]], and [[spiritual intuition]] or [[mystical revelation]], are linked.

The most important Muslim philosophers include [[al-Kindi]], [[al-Farabi]], Ibn Sina (or Avicenna), [[Ibn Rushd]] (or Averroes), al-Suhrawardi, Mulla Sadra, [[Mulla Hadi Sabzawari]], and [[Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i]]. Al-Kindi who came to be known as the "Arab Philosopher" was the first philosopher in the Islamic world. He lived in 2nd/[[8th century|8th]] and 3rd/[[9th century|9th centuries]], and was highly influenced by [[Aristotle]]. Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi (b. [[260]]/873-74, d. [[339]]/950) is considered to be the founder of the Islamic philosophy and came to be known as the Second Teacher ([[al-mu'allim al-thani]]).

Ibn Sina (b. [[370]]/980, d. [[428]]/1036-37) was the greatest peripatetic philosopher in the Islamic world. His philosophical work has been the most important source of the Islamic philosophy. Ibn Rushd (b. [[520]]/1126, d. [[595]]/1198-99) was also a peripatetic philosopher who tried to remain loyal to the Aristotelian philosophy. Al-Suhrawardi (b. [[549]]/1154, d. [[587]]/1191) was known as "Shaykh al-Ishraq". His four important philosophical works are the most important texts of the Illuminationist philosophy.

[[Mir Damad]] (d. [[1041]]/1631-32) was Mulla Sadra's teacher. It is believed that he paved the path for Mulla Sadra's Transcendent Philosophy. Mulla Sadra (d. [[1050]]/1640) was the founder of the Transcendent Philosophy. He elaborated his philosophical system in his monumental work, ''[[al-Asfar al-arba'a]]''.

Mulla Hadi Sabzawari (b. [[1212]]/1797-98, d. [[1289]]/1872) is considered to be the most important Iranian philosopher in the 13th/[[19th century]]. He is a significant commentator of Mulla Sadra's philosophy. Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i (b. [[1904]], d. [[1981]]) was one of the most influential [[Shiite]] scholars in the intellectual, religious atmosphere of [[Iran]] in the [[20th century]]. Many later teachers of the Islamic philosophy in the [[Islamic seminary of Qom]] were his students.

According to [[Morteza Motahhari]], although the Islamic philosophy is originated in the Greek philosophy, Muslim philosophers have remarkably expanded it by producing a great deal of written work. Here are the most important philosophical works written by Muslims:

* ''[[Al-Isharat wa l-tanbihat]]'' by [[Ibn Sina]] concerning [[logic]], natural philosophy, [[theology]], [[mysticism]] and [[Sufism]].

* ''[[Al-Shifa']]'' is considered as a masterpiece of Ibn Sina and the Islamic peripatetic philosophy. It has widely been cited and consulted by Muslim philosophers, and it has been taught since the time of Ibn Sina until now.

* ''[[Hikmat al-ishraq]]'' is the most important book by [[Shahab al-Din al-Suhrawardi]] and is the main source of the Illuminationist Philosophy.

* ''[[Al-Qabasat]]'' is the most important work by Mir Damad. It is concerned with the problem of creation and how the world is emanated by [[God]].

* ''[[Al-Asfar al-arba'a]]'' by Mulla Sadra elaborates his new philosophical school, that is the Transcendent Philosophy.

* ''[[Al-Shawahid al-rububiyya]]'' is the most important philosophical work by Mulla Sadra in which all of his philosophical views are presented in a succinct way.

* ''[[Principles of philosophy and the method of realism]]'' (''usul-i falsafa wa rawish-i ri'alism'') is a book written in Persian by Sayyid Muhammad Tabataba'i as a material for his lectures presented to some students of the [[Islamic seminary of Qom]].

The [[School of Tafkik]] is the best-known Shiite school of thought which opposes the Islamic philosophy. It emphasizes on the separation ("tafkik") of three paths to knowledge: the [[Quran]], philosophy, and [[mysticism]]. It aims to free the Quranic knowledge from any combinations with other sources of knowledge. Scholars of the school of Tafkik do not have a single unified position with respect to philosophy. Earlier scholars of Tafkik, such as [[Mirza Mahdi Isfahani]] and [[Mahmud Halabi]], find an inconsistency between philosophy and [[sharia]], but later scholars, such as [[Sayyid Ja'far Sayyidan]] and [[Muhammad Rida Hakimi]] do not reject philosophy altogether, taking the point of Tafkik to be a separation between different methods.