Tag: Islamic Philosophy

Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism (Sufi’s Approach to Philosophy)

This course focuses on Sufi’s approach to philosophy, especially on the Philosophy of Illumination of Suhrawardi and The Transcendent Philosophy of Mulla Sadra. The course starts with an introduction to the philosophy of Suhrawardi, and Mulla Sadra as well as the mystical works of Avicenna, al-Gazali, and Ibn Tufail. The main body of the course is studying and analyzing symbolic and mystical recitals of Avicenna, Suhrawardi, Gazali, Ibn Tufail, and others. We try to examine the key themes of philosophy, Sufism, and philosophical Sufism through these symbolic and mystical recitals.

Islam & the Meaning of Life

The range of topics implicated by the “meaning of life” as essentials of Islamic philosophy and theology includes the features of the good life; true happiness; the quest for eternity and not to be forgotten; overcoming loneliness and alienation; peacefulness; seeking truth and reducing suffering; living in a purposeful universe; free will; the ultimate purpose of the human life; necessary cause for moral obligations; faith and reason; human dignity; the quest for absolute beauty and good; knowing the Beginning and the Return; the observation of transcendence and immanence.

Rational Perception in Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra

The article zeroes in on the controversial concept of rational perception in Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra’s receptive oeuvres, defining it as the complex abstraction, combination and production of universals. The role of sense perception, along with its relationship to intuition, features prominently here. The author emphasizes the break with Ibn Sina in his discussion of Mulla Sadra’s view of a certain mutability of the human soul and the three different worlds in which it exists. Emanation is posited as an existentialist relationship mired in activity rather than passivity.

Animosity towards Wisdom and Morality

The collected works of Āqā ‘Ali Modarres was published twice in the span of nineteen years. The present book is the review of the second edition by the editor of the first one that was selected as the Book of the Year in 1999 and the Leader of the I.R.I. removed it. It represents the evidence of plagiarism, violation of moral rights, and a waste of public purse. After 12 years of having all his publications banned in Iran, this is Kadivar’s first print publication released in Germany.