Gowhar-i murad (book): Difference between revisions

'''Gowhar-i murād''' (Persian: گوهر مراد) is a book authored by [['Abd al-Razzaq Lahiji]] concerning Islamic philosophy and kalam (Islamic theology). The book contains discussions of the main problems of [[kalam]], [[philosophy]], [[ethics]], [[mysticism]] and [[the five principles of the religion]]. It is structured by a preface, three chapters, and an epilogue; the introduction is concerned with the place of human being in the world, the way of God, and the purposes of philosophy and kalam, the three chapters are concerned with knowing oneself, knowing God and his commands by knowing his messengers—the prophets and Imams—and the consequences of obeying or disobeying God's commands in [[Akhira|the afterlife]], and the epilogue concerns ethics and mysticism.

'Abd al-Razzaq Lahiji is [[Mulla Sadra]]'s pupil and his son in law. However, he had Peripatetic tendencies in his philosophical thoughts and was a critic of Mulla Sadra. He has written works such as ''[[Shawariq al-ilham]]'' which is an exposition of [[Khwajih Nasir al-Din al-Tusi]]'s ''[[Tajrid al-i'tiqad (book)|Tajrid al-i'tiqad]]'', Commentaries on Khwajih Nasir al-Din's ''[[al-ʾisharat]]'', Commentaries on Khufri's ''Al-taʾliqat'', ''Gowhar-i murad'', and ''[[Sarmayi-i iman (Book)|Sarmayi-i iman]]''. His son, Mirza Hassan who authored ''Jamal al-salihin'', was one of his pupils. Lahiji significantly contributed in the rationalizing and philosophizing of the Islamic theology. He taught in [[Qom]] and died there in [[1072]]/1662.

According to some sources, the book was written in [[1052]]/1642 - [[1058]]/1648 and was dedicated to Shah 'Abbas Safavi.

:::Some scholars are just followers [rather than researchers] with regard to divine wisdom, and as a result, some ingenious people have a dismissive attitude towards learning [the religious beliefs]. Thus I sought to write a book regarding the principles of the religion and divine wisdom in a discursive way preparing the ground for eternal salvation without requiring one to learn many scholarly terminologies.

''Gowhar-i murad'' has a different structure and organization in comparison with other works in kalam. Most works in kalam are organized on the basis of the five principles of the religion. Lahiji did not follow this method; he organized ''Gowhar-i murad'' in three main parts: knowing oneself, knowing God, and knowing God's commands.

* Part two: knowing God, including a discussion of monotheism ([[tawhid]]) and justice (ʾadl) in three sections:

# The proof of the existence of the necessary being and its unity,

* Part three: knowing God's commands, which requires one to know the messengers and preservers of God's commands—that is, issues of prophecy (nubuwwa) and [[Imamate]]. This part includes four sections:

# Knowing the messengers of the commands—that is, the prophets,

# Knowing the preservers of the commands—that is, Imams,

Works in kalam are not usually concerned with ethical and mystical issues. But ''Gowhar-i murad'' is considerably engaged with such issues. Lahiji is obviously under the influence of mysticism and [[Sufism]] introducing their doctrines in his formulations of issues in kalam. One might regard ''Gowhar-i mura''d as a philosophical-mystical book in kalam.

“The main purpose of this essay is both theoretical and practical in the sense of ethics, Sufism and illumination; this is why I concern myself with such issues in the epilogue of the book.”

Lahiji has peculiar views in the book—for instance, about the doctrine of the miracle (muʾjiza). In his view, what is responsible for the occurrence of the miracles—which belong to the category of acts—such as healing the sick, is the perfection of the motive faculty in the soul of the prophet resulting in the realization of whatever the prophet imagines and wills to happen. However, he also takes into account the possibility that in miracles, such as hearing the sands praising God, happen not because the prophet interferes in the external world; rather because he manipulates the imaginative faculties of the individuals.

As to miracles such as asserting hidden facts and verbal miracles, Lahiji holds that they result from the perfection of the rational and imaginative faculty of the prophet. By his connection to immaterial reasons and celestial souls (al-nufus al-falakiyya), the prophet knows about all things, in particular hidden facts and future events. This is Lahiji's innovative analysis of miracles.

Lahiji does not take the [[Quran]] to be a miracle for all people; he maintains that the Quran is only a miracle for the intellectuals, researchers and scholars who know the principles of the religion and the disciplines related to the Arabic language. The laymen, in his view, are unable to comprehend the miraculous nature of the Quran, since "they do not know philosophical disciplines and the subtleties of the Arabic language", though on the basis of the Quranic challenge  or [[tahaddi]], "since nobody can meet the challenge, the miraculous nature of the Quran will be evident for the laymen too".

Lahiji says the same thing with respect to Imams as well. He makes it explicit that Imams are born with perfect intellects and knowledge—they know everything that angels and prophets know. Moreover, Imams "have all the knowledge and they know everything that people need—whether in religious or non-religious affairs.

In ''Gowhar-i murad'', Lahiji did not deal with some issues and problems that were discussed in early works in kalam, such as [[Tajrid al-i'tiqad (book)|Tajrid al-i'tiqad]]. For instance, he does not discuss issues such as the punishment of children in the afterlife, livelihoods ('arzaq), prices ('as'ar) (the issue of whether prices of the goods are determined by God or by people and whether people or the governments have the right to determine prices), and the times of deaths (ajal).

“The best-known work of Lahiji is ''Gowhar-i murad'' which is written in Persian in a fluent and pleasant style. It is one of the most precious Persian book on the principles of the religion, divine wisdom and Islamic beliefs.”