Essays in Philosophy and Kalam
Year:2011 | Volume:43 | Issue:86/2|Papers Count:7

In Mulla Sadra’s view, there are three general worlds of existence: 1. World of the senses, i.e. this world, 2. World of ideas, i.e. the world of quantity forms, which is exactly like the world of the senses, with the difference that it is free from matter, and 3. World of intelligibles, which is free from matter and material properties. On the other hand, man has three types of perceptions: 1. Sensual perception, 2. Imaginal perception, and 3. Intellectual perception. Man is a reality who, by virtue of each faculty of his perceptive faculties, takes place in one of the worlds of being, in the manner that with the perception of senses, he settles in the world of sensation, when perceiving imaginally, he settles in the world of ideas, and while in the world of universals and intelligibles, he settles in the world of intellects.In this article, each level of perception is compared with the levels of existence and the conclusion is drawn that in Mulla Sadra’s view the levels of perception, which lie within mankind, conforms to the external levels of existence.

According to Mulla Sadra, inner thought (khatir) in terms of a message, has three main components: 1. Sender of the message, 2. Content of the message, 3. Recipient of the message. Compassionate inner thought is a message that is sent by the angel and is called inspiration, characterized by driving a person toward good; i.e., to actualize the faculties according to the judgment of the intellect and in a moderate way. Satanic inner thought is a message sent by the Satan, is called temptation, and drives man toward evil; namely, it makes him deal more with some of his faculties and actualize him in an immoderate way. With his sublime state of being, i.e. his level of intellect, man relates to the angels and receives compassionate inner thoughts; and with his lower state of being, i.e. his level of imagination (wahm), he relates to the devils and receives satanic inner thoughts. There are two groups of causes for receiving inner thoughts: 1. Divine causes: the divine cause for receiving compassionate inner thought is called tawfiq (success) and the cause for receiving satanic inner thought is called khidhlan (abandonment); 2. Human causes: it means the behaviors and actions that if desirable and based on intellect, they would make man prepared for accepting divine inner thoughts, but if they are undesirable and based on lust and fantasy they would make human soul vulnerable to accepting satanic inner thoughts.

The disputes of the believers in the eternality and non-eternality of punishment in the Quranic and narrational evidences, lexical denotations, and rational approach, deserves deliberation. As such, the Quranic evidences and lexical denotations of the believers in eternality are stronger and more valid against the evidences of those who maintain the non-eternality and the traditions also encompass both approaches. However, rational proving of the transformation of a kind of infernal human being in the Hereafter into a secondary nature, which is part of the constant creational rules, has always been faced with questions by the opponents of the eternal punishment. Furthermore, the believers in non-eternality attempting to reject the eternality of punishment by relying on their perceived rational arguments fail to answer the questions concerning such issues as “the disproportion of the crime with the punishment”, because it is true for its alternative view, as well. Therefore, it is not rationally possible to explain this issue. The article seeks to reappraise the Quranic and narrational evidences as well as the rational arguments of the two parties-the believers in the eternality and non-eternality of man in the otherworldly punishment.

In his recognition of being and achievement of truth, man has two instruments in his constitution and two ways before him: intellect and heart; reasoning and intuition. Some have opted the way of reasoning and underestimated intuition because of its lack of reasoning, and some have preferred intuition over reasoning because of its being presential (intuitive). With their research on philosophy and mysticism, theosophists have been able to prove that the heart and intellect have a similar destination even though their methods are different and have regarded the difference between their findings to be in their strength and weakness. Thus, they have viewed reasoning and intuition as needful of one another, with the perfection of one being dependent upon the other; and also were able to set a firm foundation for recognition of being.

In religious thought, Prophets enjoy certain characteristics in comparison to the rest of the people who are deprived of them. However, there is controversy as to whether the Prophets themselves enjoy certain characteristics in comparison to one another. Some believe that there is no distinction between the Prophets; and some maintain that some Prophets are superior to the others and refer to them as possessors of determination (ulu al-azm). They regard the criterion for the distinction of the ulu al-azm Prophets to be having a scripture, a sharia (religious law), a global mission, the status of leadership (imamate), and enjoying knowledge. However, since these are not acquired advantages and the difference between the Prophets’ real person and their legal entity is in their acquired advantages, this article, by studying the ayas and traditions, has reached the conclusion that the criterion for the superiority of the ulu al-azm Prophets, besides legal advantages, is their real and acquired advantages such as: precedence in acknowledging Divine Lordship, steadfastness in Divine covenants, multiplied attempts in spreading monotheism, forbearance and resistance against the enemies of God, and outstanding moral conduct in their interaction with people.

The existential and epistemological dimension of negative theology is based on two foundations in the works of the mystics from various religions and mystical traditions: God and the self (nafs). In the negative theology, as evident in the coinage, the mystics emphasize the unknowable and indescribable aspects of God, or, in other words, of His Essence. God’s unknowable and indescribable Essence is referred to with such phrases as: tuhya (voidness), waha (oasis), non-being or non-existence, and nameless. Nevertheless, in the works of some Middle Ages Christian mystics such as Meister Eckhart, as well as some leading Muslim mystics like Mawlana and Shams-i Tabrizi the emphasis in some instances tends to shift from the Essence of God toward the essence nafs. In the works of Mawlana and Eckhart, the essence of nafs is referred to as wahdat (oneness), bisatat (simplicity), darkness, and voidness. Some learned scholars like Denis Turner have benefitted from this change and these features by coining the phrase negative humanism parallel to the negative theology. In this research we address the discussion concerning the above change of view and the related features under the heading of annihilation of qualities. In continuing, first we study the most important ethical foundations of the annihilation of qualities in the works of Mawlana and Eckhart and then go on to deal with the two outcomes of the most important virtuous outcomes of the annihilation of properties, i.e. faqr (poverty) and tabattul (asceticism) or inqita’ (detachment) in the works of these two mystics. Poverty is a doctrine that is evidently and frequently seen in the works of both of the mystics, but asceticism is a special feature or perhaps an invention of Meister Eckhart’s thought system and theological structure.

This article addresses one of Shahid Mutahhari’s philosophical innovations. He had declared that proving the matter is not possible without substantial motion and composition by way of unification. Also, argument through joining and separation is not valid in proving prime matter (hayula) and its acceptance by Sadra has been erroneous. In this article, the first declaration is stated and proved and the second claim is refuted.