A Study of the Methodological Development of Interpretive Philosophy in Islam from Kindī to Mīr Dāmād

This study examines the background of pre-Sadrian Islamic philosophers’ method of interpretive or t’awīlī thinking following a descriptive-analytic method. Interpretive philosophy has been defined in different ways; however, its general feature is going beyond the surface meaning of concepts and employing both reason and revelation in interpreting a text. A glance at the historical development of this method demonstrates its general growth, although with some fluctuations, in the Islamic philosophical tradition. This is because the process of t’awīl is rooted in the move from the separation of religion and philosophy towards their graded unity. A method of thinking that leads to unity indicates intellectual growth in case it is based on sound reasoning because the intellect advocates unity while imagination is pluralist. From a historical perspective, it can be said that philosophers’ interpretive thoughts have gradually moved away from defending the opposition of religion and philosophy to accepting that their truths are inseparable. In the case of the former standpoint, philosophers sometimes followed the exoteric meanings of religion and sometimes took side with the intellect and philosophy. However, later they unanimously concluded that religion and philosophy share the same truth that has been expressed in different languages. Therefore, the important point is to perceive their methods and languages and explain the related constraints. Hence, we are witnessing a process of monopoly and partiality instead of universality and holism.