نشریه حکمت اسرا
سال دوم شماره 2 (پیاپی 4، تابستان 1389)

During the course of the history of Islamic philosophy, the Proof of the Truthful (burhÁn e ÒiddÐqÐn) underwent changes in the third stage of its growth where it was affected by the fundaments of Transcendental Philosophy. This article follows the development of this Proof during the last four centuries and surveys the variegated expositions that it has had in this period.

ÀyatullÁhJawÁdÐÀmulÐ is a thinker who by drawing from various fields of the Islamic intellectual tradition—such as Islamic philosophy and the principles of jurisprudence—presents a unique exposition of ‘religious knowledge’. He is of the belief that knowledge qua knowledge is a disclosure of reality and hence any true knowledge is Islamic. He further claims that an analysis of “knowledge” [cum ‘science’] in the modern period leads to the conclusion that modern sciences are not true and bona fide knowledge, insofar as they have been affected by profane philosophy. In his opinion, if we were to bring about fundamental changes in the existing sciences and come to an ‘Islamic science’, we must lend force to a particular take on ‘knowledge’ and ‘science’. Such an approach would involve first, situating the cognitive and scientific accomplishments of humanity (spanning the scope from experimental sciences to sciences such as philosophy and mysticism) within the geometry of religious knowledge, and second, establishing a particular correlation and correspondence between experimental, rational, and mystical findings on the one hand and traditional sources on the other. The crux of his perspective can be characterised by its conscious awareness of the hierarchy and multiple states of the intellect in the latter’s comprehension of the realities of the world and the extensive correlation between the intellect and tradition. The article at hand attempts to present a survey of Ay JawÁdÐ’s religious and epistemological positions with regards to profane sciences and religious knowledge.

Every exegesis of the QurÞÁn is given to a certain methodology and a particular tendency. For instance, some are textual—based on traditions and narrations from the Prophet and the Imams, others are based on a discursive approach and rational demonstration, some embody the intra-QurÞanic way of interpreting the QurÞÁn by the QurÞÁn, while others can be described as lexical, theological, philosophical, or otherwise. In the fifteenth century hijri, the Muslim ummah was witness to the entry of an outstanding exegesis, the TasnÐm, which follows a methodology that is comprehensive, integral, and assiduously interpretive (ijtihÁdÐ). To explain, the methodology employed in this exegesis of the QurÞÁn is both textual (i.e. intra-QurÞÁnic and traditional) as well as based on reason (i.e. using rational demonstration), while including such tendencies as the properly intellectual (or cognitive), ethical, and social.

Amongst Muslim thinkers the history and trend of putting forth new and novel models of intellectuality extends back to more than a century ago. The purpose being to restore the necessary capabilities to the Muslim community at large by making amends for past mistakes and backwardness, and to instigate progress and creativity in, amongst others, the scientific, cultural, technological, and social arenas. Certainly one, if not the most prominent, amongst these theoreticians is the Moroccan intellectual MuÎammad ÝÀbid al-JÁbirÐ. Taking into consideration the fact that the ‘intellect’ and ‘intellectuality’ that appears in the said models is, on the one hand, taken in its modern sense which is completely different from its usual denotation in the past, and on the other, it is used as an instrument for the purpose of resolving contemporary crises and for the sake of progress, it seems necessary that the subject should be tabled in discussions within the realm of Islamic studies and that it should be appraised from the perspective of Islamic philosophy, especially Transcendental Philosophy. In the present study, the views of al-JÁbirÐ with respect to the backwardness of the Arab peoples will be presented, analysed and critiqued.

One of the outstanding characteristics of contemporary research and study in the field of Islamic sciences is the re-examination of ancient texts from the first centuries. Some of the results deriving from such an approach and viewpoint are: the confirmation of the rootedness of the ShiÝi intellectual tradition; the recognition of existing deficiencies with a view towards alleviating them; and finally, the taking of decisive steps towards the enrichment and expansion of the breadth and depth of these studies in their various levels.One of these early works in the field of QurÞÁnic and traditional studies is an exegesis dating back to the third century and the beginning of the fourth century hijri entitled TafsÐrFurÁtKÙfÐ. This exegesis is mainly composed of traditions and narrations that are highly interpretative (taÞwÐlÐ) and extensive (taÔbÐqwajary – where general principles derived from verses are applied and extended to referents beyond the strictly historical). It also contains a small number of traditions that are either esoteric, or that expound the historical context of verses as well as other unrelated historical accounts. Even though the compiler of the exegesis, FurÁt from KÙfah, Iraq, was not known and remains an unknown figure, based on the type of traditions that he has gathered in the book it can be said that he was a ZaydÐShiÝa with mystical inclinations. Like many other similar traditional books the TafsÐrFurÁt is not freeof fake and counterfeit traditions, but the number of such traditions is not large. So while the existence of a few problematic narrations cannot be overlooked, it in no manner depreciates from the authenticity and value of the many other traditions contained in the exegesis. Finally, the reason that this exegesis is relatively unknown is not so much due to the above mentioned weaknesses as it is to the fact that it contains narrations that are not meant for the general public and that are alluded to by the Immaculates (Ýa) as matters that should remain hidden—except from the adepts of the esoteric sciences.

ÝAbdullÁh Effendi al-Bosnawi was a 17th century mystic who was greatly influential in the proliferation of Islamic culture in the Balkans. He composed many works in the field of theoretical mysticism, the most important of them being his commentary on the FuÒÙÒ al-Îikam of Ibn ÝArabÐ. In his treatise Sirr al-yaqÐn he sets out to comment on the verse “and worship your Lord until certainty comes to you” (15:99), and in the process touches on the station of AÎmadÐ and the meaning of yaqÐn. Rejecting the interpretation that yaqÐn signifies ‘death’, and basing himself on the words of Shaykh BakalinjÁr in JÁmÐ’s ManÁqib al-ÝÁrifÐn, he takes yaqÐn to mean ‘the intuitive witnessing of the pre-eternal object’. The article in hand contains some explanations about the author of the treatise along with the original text of the treatise.