Mulla Sadra: Life and Philosophy

Mulla Sadra, known also as Sadr al-Muta’allihin, was born in Shiraz, Iran, in the year 1571-1572 AD and died in 1640 AD. His writings focus on philosophy and commentaries on the Qur’an and Al-Usul Al-Kafi.

His most important philosophical writings include Al-Assfar Al-Arba‘at Al-‘Aqliyyah, Al-Shawahid Al-Rububiyya, Al-Hikamat Al-‘Arshiyya, Kitab Al-Masha‘ir, and Al-Mabda’ wa Al-Ma‘ad.

The present work consists of five chapters, written on two categories:

The Transcendent Philosophy and Mulla Sadra's School, and Comparative Studies of Mulla Sadra and Other Philosophers.

Several years of work has enabled me to complete some parts of this project, which concerns the relation of Mulla Sadra to the totality of the Islamic tradition, and the characteristics of his ‘Transcendent Philosophy’ being used in its original sense.

Chapter One of this book discusses Mulla Sadra’s life, one of the greatest Muslim Iranian philosopher and founding father of the ‘Transcendent Philosophy’.

Chapter Two discusses Mulla Sadra’s philosophy , entitled ‘Transcendent philosophy’, in 3 sections:

the definition of ‘Transcendent philosophy’, the 16 principles of Mulla Sadra’s philosophy, and Mulla Sadra’s views on different schools of thought, such as Ancient Metaphysicians, Greek and Muslim philosophers.

This is an original work in the English language as it presents the most important aspects of Mulla Sadra’s philosophy based directly on his various writings in Arabic language, such as Assfar, al-Shawahid al-rububiyya, al-Mabda’ wa l-Ma’ad, Arshiyyah, al-Masha'ir and Mafatih al-Ghayb.

Chapter Three is entitled ‘A Comparative Study of Aristotle and Mulla Sadra Shirazi on the Necessary Existent’.

The nature of God, or the demiurge-creator and designer of the cosmos, is a venerable subject in philosophy and natural theology.

In the Abrahamic faiths, and especially within a philosophical context, most medieval religious discussion about God, including the ontological and cosmological proofs for His existence, stems from the famous proof of the Prime Unmoved Mover in Aristotle’s Physics.

It was this proof, alongside later, more ontological proofs, associated with Anselm and Avicenna, that underpinned medieval philosophical theology.

For this reason it is instructive to trace the development of philosophical theology from Aristotle through to the more sophisticated arguments about God found in the later Islamic tradition.

In tracing this development we can see the creative thought of the monotheists who discuss God within a broadly Aristotelian context, and with reference to Aristotelian axioms.

The present chapter begins with Aristotle’s theology – his concept of God and His attributes – and then compares this architectonic, foundational theology to the later theology of Mulla Sadra, which represents a richer and more sophisticated concept of God, indicative of a mature and confident Islamic philosophical tradition.

Chapter Four discusses Rumi and Mulla Sadra on Theoretical and Practical Intellect.

Rumi (1207-1273) the great Persian sage identified approximately 34 different varieties of intellect in his masterpiece Mathnawi. They may be categorised into three main types:

1- Meta-theoretical and Practical intellect, also known as Universal Intellect and First Intellect.

2- Theoretical intellect, used to perceive and distinguish between truth and untruth. According to Rumi, theoretical intellect corresponds with faithful intellect, perfect intellect, honourable intellect and Divine seeing intellect.

3- Practical intellect, which serves to distinguish between Good and Evil.

Rumi held that practical intellect included material reason, resurrection intellect, partial reason, popular reason, and brief reason.

According to Rumi everyone has intellect, and in a perfect man, intellect may help him transcend Particular Reason to arrive at Universal intellect.

According to the great Iranian Muslim philosopher Mulla Sadra (979-1571), there are four types of Theoretical and Practical intellect, all of which are based on perfection.

Theoretical intellect ascends from “material intellect” (‘aql hayuluni), “habitual intellect” (‘aql bi al-malakeh), “intellect in act” (‘aql bi al-fi’l) to the “acquired intellect” (‘aql bi al mustafad).

Practical intellect may be divided into the following processes:

polishing/refinement of the apparent/outer part, polishing the inner part, illuminating the heart, and annihilation of the soul from its essence.

According to Mulla Sadra’s transcendent philosophy, which is based on “principality of Being” (asalat wujud), each act of knowing involves the being of the knower, and the hierarchy of the faculties of knowledge correspond to the hierarchy of existence. Reason is in its essence a Divine light.

Chapter Five, entitled ‘Mulla Sadra and Descartes On the Soul: A Philosophical Comparison’, examines the philosophical views of Mulla Sadra and Descartes on the soul. The comparison is divided into five main segments, as follows:

1. An Exposition of Mulla Sadra’s Discussion of the Soul

2. An Exposition of Descartes’ Discussion of the Soul

3. Similarities and Differences Between the Two

4. Strengths of Mulla Sadra’s Theory

5. Critiques of Descartes’ Theory

The foundation of Mulla Sadra’s theory is “the corporeality of contingency and the spirituality of subsistence in relation to the soul.”

The foundation of Descartes’ theory is “the real distinction between the substance of the soul and the body.” Mulla Sadra’s theory includes a philosophical proof for physical resurrection, whereas Descartes’ dualism led to the collapse of his philosophical system.

This book is one of the best books in the English language on Mulla Sadra’s philosophy and is useful for university students in the field of Islamic studies and Islamic philosophy.

Introduction

Chapter 1: Mulla Sadra’s Life

Chapter 2: Mulla Sadra’s Transcendent Philosophy

Chapter 3: God in Greek and Islamic Philosophy

Chapter 4: Rumi and Mulla Sadra on Theoretical and Practical Intellect

Chapter 5: Mulla Sadra and Descartes On the Soul: A Philosophical Comparison

Index