Mulla Sadra

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Mulla Sadra (also spelt Molla Sadra or Mollasadra) also called Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi (c. 1571–1640) was a Persian Islamic philosopher, theologian and Ulema who led the Iranian cultural renaissance in the 17th century.

The foremost representative of the Illuminationist, or Ishraghi school of philosopher-mystics, he is commonly regarded by Iranians as the greatest philosopher their country has ever produced. His school of philosophy is called Transcendent Theosophy or al-hikmat al-muta’liyah.

Mulla Sadra's philosophy and ontology is considered to be just as important to Islamic philosophy as Martin Heidegger's philosophy later was to Western philosophy in the 20th century. Mulla Sadra bought "a new philosophical insight in dealing with the nature of reality" and created "a major transition from essentialism to existentialism" in Islamic philosophy, several centuries before this occurred in Western philosophy.

Biography

Born in Shiraz, Iran, the son of a notable Shirazi family, Mulla Sadra completed his education at Isfahan, which was the leading cultural and intellectual center of his day. He was trained under the supervision of Mir Damad.

After his studies with scholars there, he produced several works, the most famous of which was his Asfar (Journeys). Asfar contains the bulk of his philosophy ,which was influenced by a personal mysticism bordering on the ascetic, that he experienced during a fifteen-year retreat at Kahak, a village near Qom, Iran.

Expounding his theory of nature, Mulla Sadra argued that the entire universe – except God and his knowledge – was originated both eternally and temporally. Nature, he asserted, is the substance of all things and is the cause for all movement. Thus, nature is permanent and furnishes the continuing link between the eternal and the originated. Much of his philosophy was also existentialist in nature.

Toward the end of his life, Mulla Sadra returned to Shiraz to teach. His teachings however, were considered heretical by the orthodox Shiite theologians of his day, who persecuted him, though his powerful family connections permitted him to continue to write. He died in Basra, on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and was buried in present day Iraq.

Philosophical theories

Existentialism

A concept that lies at the heart of Mulla Sadra's philosophy is the theory of "existence precedes essence", a key foundational concept of existentialism which was not known in the West until Jean-Paul Sartre in the 20th century. This was also the opposite of the idea of "essence precedes existence" previously supported by Avicenna and his school of Avicennism as well as Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi and his school of Illuminationism. Sayyid Jalal Ashtiyani later summarizes Mulla Sadra's concept as follows:

For Mulla Sadra, "existence precedes the essense and is thus principle since something has to exist first and then have an essence." This is primarily the argument that lies at the heart of Mulla Sadra's philosophy.

Substantial motion

Another central concept of Mulla Sadra's philosophy is the theory of "substantial motion" (al-harakat al-jawhariyyah), which is "based on the premise that everything in the order of nature, including celestial spheres, undergoes substantial change and transformation as a result of the self-flow (fayd) and penetration of being (sarayan al-wujud) which gives every concrete individual entity its share of being. In contrast to Aristotle and Ibn Sina who had accepted change only in four categories, i.e., quantity (kamm), quality (kayf), position (wad’) and place (‘ayn), Sadra defines change as an all-pervasive reality running through the entire cosmos including the category of substance (jawhar). Gottfried Leibniz later described a similar concept a century later.

List of works

His well-known books which have been published so far include the following:

1. al-Hikmat al-muta’aliyah fi’l-asfar al-arba’ah, a philosophical encyclopedia and a collection of important issues discussed in Islamic philosophy, enriched by the ideas of preceding philosophers, from Pythagoras to those living at the same time with Mulla Sadra, and containing the related responses on the basis of new and strong arguments. 4 big-sized volumes which have been published in nine small-sized volumes several times.

The composition of this book gradually started from about 1015 A.H (1605 A.D), and its completion took almost 25 years, till some years after 1040 A.H (1630 A.D).

2. al-Tafsir (A commentary upon the Qur’an)

3. Sharh al-hidayah, a commentary on a book called Hidayah which has been written on the basis of Peripatetic philosophy.

4. al-Mabda’ wa’l-ma’ad, also called al-Hikmat al-muta’aliyyah, considered to be a summary of the second half of Asfar. He called this book the Beginning and the End due to the fact that he believed it in heart that philosophy means the knowledge of the Origin and the Return.

5. al-Mazahir This book is similar to al-Mabda’ wa’l-ma’ad, but is shorter than that. It is, in fact, a handbook for familiarizing readers with Mulla Sadra’s philosophy.

6. Huduth al-‘alam, the issue of the origination of the world is a complicated and disputable problem for many philosophers.He proved his solid theory through the theory of the trans-substantial motion.

7. Iksir al-‘arifin, a gnostic and educative book.

8. al-Hashr, a theory of the resurrection of animals and objects in the Hereafter.

9. al-Masha’ir, on existence and its related subjects. Professor Henry Corbin has translated it into French and written an introduction to it. This book has recently been translated into English, too.

10. al-waridat al-qalbiyyah, a brief account of important philosophical problems, it seems to be an inventory of the Divine inspirations and illuminations he had received all through his life.

11. Iqad al-na’imin, on theoretical and actual gnosis, and on the science of monotheism. It presents some guidelines and instructional points to wake up the sleeping.

12. al-Masa’il al-qudsiyyah, a booklet deals mainly with issues such as existence in mind and epistemology. Here, Mulla Sadra has combined epistemology and ontology with each other.

13. ‘Arshiyyah, also called al-Hikmat al-‘arshiyyah, a referential book about Mulla Sadra’s philosophy. Like in al-Mazahir, he has tried to demonstrate the Beginning and the End concisely but precisely. This book has been translated by professor James Winston Maurice into English with an informative introduction.

14. al-Shawahid al-rububiyyah, a philosophical book, written in the Illuminationist style, and represents Mulla Sadra’s ideas during the early periods of his philosophical thoughts.

15. Sharh-i Shafa, a commentary upon some of the issues discussed in the part on theology (Ilahiyyat) in Ibn-Sina’s al-Shifa.

16. Sharh-i Hikmat al-ishraq, a useful and profound commentary or collection of glosses on Suhrawardi’s Hikmat al-ishraq and Qutb al-Din Shirazi’s commentary upon it.

17. Ittihad al-‘aquil wa’l-ma’qul, a monographic treatise on the demonstration of a complicated philosophical theory, the Union of the Intellect and the Intelligible, which no one could prove and rationalize prior to Mulla Sadra.

18. Ajwibah al-masa’il, consisting of at least three treatises in which Mulla Sadra responds to the philosophical questions posed by his contemporary philosophers.

19. Ittisaf al-mahiyyah bi’l wujud, a monographic treatise dealing with the problem of existence and its relation to quiddities.

20. al-Tashakhkhus, explaining the problem of individuation and clarified its relation to existence and its principiality, which is one of the most fundamental principles he has propounded.

21. Sarayan nur wujud, a treatise dealing with the quality of the descent or diffusion of existence from the True Source to existents (quiddities).

22. Limmi’yya ikhtisas al-mintaqah, A treatise on logic, this work focuses on the cause of the specific form of the sphere.

23. Khalq al-a’mal, a treatise on man’s determinism and free will.

24. al-Qada’ wa’l-qadar, on the problem of Divine Decree and Destiny.

25. Zad al-musafir, demonstrating resurrection and the Hereafter following a philosophical approach.

26. al-Shawahid al-rububiyyah, a treatise not related to Mulla Sadra’s book of al-Shawahid al-rububiyyah. It is an inventory of his particular theories and opinions which he has been able to express in philosophical terms.

27. al-Mizaj, a treatise on the reality of man’s temperament and its relation to the body and soul.

28. Mutashabihat al-Qur’an, a treatise consists of Mulla Sadra’s interpretations of those Qura’nic verses which have secret and complicated meanings. It is considered as one of the chapters in Mafatih al-ghayb.

29. Isalat-i Ja’l-i wujud, on existence and its principiality as opposed to quiddities.

30. al-Hashriyyah, a treatise on resurrection and people’s presence in the Hereafter, it deals with man’s being rewarded in paradise and punished in hell.

31. al-alfazh al-mufradah, an abridged dictionary for interpreting words in the Qur’an.

32. Radd-i shubahat-i iblis, explaining Satan’s seven paradoxes and provided the related answers.

33. Si Asl, Mulla Sadra’s only book in Persian. Here, by resorting to the main three moral principles, he has dealt with moral and educative subjects related to scientists, and advised his contemporary philosophers.

34. Kasr al-asnam al-jahiliyyah (Demolishing the idols of the periods of barbarism and man’s ignorance). His intention here is to condemn and disgrace impious sophists.

35. al-Tanqih, dealing with formal logic.

36. al-Tasawwur wa’l-tasdiq, a treatise dealing with issues of the philosophy of logic and inquires into concept and judgment.

37. Diwan Shi’r (Collection of Poems), a number of scholarly and mystic poems in Persian.

38. A Collection of Scientific-Literary Notes, some short notes of his own poetry, the statements of philosophers and gnostics, and scientific issues have been left from his youth, which comprise a precious collection. This book can familiarize the readers with subtleties of Mulla Sadra’s nature.

These notes have been compiled in two different collections, and it is likely that the smaller collection was compiled on one of his journeys.

39. Letters, except for a few letters exchanged between Mulla Sadra and his master, Mir Damad, nothing has been left from them. These letters have been presented at the beginning of the 3-volume

Notes

References

External links

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