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Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Al - Ikmat Al-Ilāhiyyah and Kalām
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Al - Ikmat Al-Ilāhiyyah and Kalām
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AL-HIKMA T AL-ILAHIYYAH
AND KALAM*
* Text of a
paper delivered at the Conference on Early Islamic Thought in
honor of Harry A. Wolfson at Harvard University,April, 1971.
(1) See S. H. Nasr, ThreeMuslim Sages, Cambridge (U.S.A.), 1964, chapter II;
S. H. Nasr, "Suhrawardi" and "Mulli Sadrd" in A Historyof Muslim Philosophy,
ed. by M. M. Sharif,Wiesbaden, vol. I, 1963 and vol. II, 1966. See also H. Corbin,
"La place de Molli Sadri Shirfzi (ob. 1050/1640) dans la philosophie iranienne,"
Studia Islamica, vol. 18, 1963, pp. 81-113.
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140 SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR
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Al-hikmatal-ildhiyyahAND Kalam 141
fromFalsafah. As a resultat the end of this period,as already
noted by Ibn Khaldfin,men appeared whom it is difficultto
classifyexactly eitherin the categoryof faylasafor mutakallim
and who could be legitimatelyconsidered as belonging to
either or to both groups.
4. From the seventh/thirteenth centuryonward, when the
school of al-Hikmat al-ildhiyyahor Hikmat-i ildhi developed
fullyand a new type of relationcame into being based on the
trendsestablishedduringthe thirdperiod. Since the Hikmat-i
ildhTbegan to develop particularlyin Persia whereShi'ism was
also on the rise, naturallymuch of the interreactionbetween
Hikmah and Kaldm involved Shi'ite Kaldm, although Sunni
Kaldm must not by any means be forgotten,foreven if most
of the hakimswere Shi'ite, they were neverthelesswell versed
in and fullyaware of the argumentsof Sunni Kaldm, to which
they often addressed themselves.
During the last two periods in question the opposition of
the followersof al-Hikmatal-ildhiyyah to Kaldm, and especially
to the Kaldm of the Ash'ariteschool,continuedand in a sense
grew, while from the point of view of the subject matter
discussed and the argumentspresentedthat were based upon
the traditional sources of Islam, there was an ever greater
rapprochementbetween the two. Ash'arite theology is too
oftentaken as representingIslamic theologyas such, although
recentscholarshiphas shown that even in Sunni circlesit has
never representedall religious thought or "theology" in its
Christiansense and has always been opposed by a segmentof
the Sunni religiouscommunity.(1) The Quran and the Sunnah
on the one hand and the pure metaphysicsand gnosis derived
fromthe esotericteachingsof Islam and contained in Sufism
on the otherhand were thereto show some ofthe innateshort-
comingsof the whole Ash'ariteapproach.(2)
(1) See forexample G. Makdisi, "Ash'ari and the Ash'arites in Islamic Religious
History," Studia Islamica, vol. 17, 1962, pp. 37-80, and vol. 18, 1963, pp. 19-39.
(2) See F. Schuon, "Dilemmas of Theological Speculation," Studies in Compara-
tive Religion, Spring, 1969, pp. 66-93.
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142 SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR
(1) The study of the numerous commentaries and glosses written upon this
major work during the past seven centuries would be a major contributionto the
historyof both Shi'ite Kaldm and ildhi.
.Hikmat-i
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Al-hikmat ANDKalam
al-ildhiyyah 143
Shi'ite theologianssuch as Ibn Abi JumhfirAhsd'i and Sayyid
Amuli were well versed in the doctrinesof
some
.Iaydar
ildhi, of the best knownhakimsof the age, suchH.ikmat-i
as Jalil
al-Din Dawini, Sadr al-Din and Ghiyfth al-Din Mansiir
Dashtaki and Mir Sayyid SharifJurjanIwere as muchat home
with Kaldm as Hikmah. It is hardlypossible to say whether
DawanI was a hakfm-iildhTor a mulakallim. While Tilsi
was well versed in both schools but expressedthe view-point
of each in separate worksand did not combinetheirarguments
in a singlebook or a singledoctrinalsynthesis,Dawini combined
argumentsand methodsof both schoolsin his expositionofthe
nature of things and attempted a synthesisbetween them.
In his methodhe typifiesmanyof the figuresof his day.
With Mulli Sadrfi the new relation between Kaldm and
al-IHikmalal-ildhiyyahwhich had been developing since the
seventh/thirteenth centuryreachesa new peak and the summit
of its development.(') Mull knew well the important
Mu'tazilite and Ash'arite .Sadra
theologians,especially Ghazzfli and
Fakhr al-Din RJzi, and also the most importantShi'ite theolo-
gians beforehimself. In fact among the Islamic philosophers
probably none was as well acquainted with Kaldm as he.
Kaldm represents,along with Peripatetic philosophy,ishraqi
theosophyand 'irfdn,one of the basic elements fromwhich
he created his vast synthesis. He turns to the argumentsof
Kaldm again and again especiallyin the Asfarand he confirms
and praisessomeofthe argumentsofthe mutakalliman in certain
places(2) while rejectingthem in
violently others.(")
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144 SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR
(1) Si asl, ed. by S. H. Nasr, Tehran, 1340 (A. H. solar), pp. 5-6.
(2) Ibid., p. 7.
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Al-hikmai
al-ildhiyyah
AND Kaldm 145
to reach certainty(yaqrn) in the inquiryinto religioustruths
and the innermeaningof the teachingsof the Prophet is not
through discussions of Kalam and disputations. Rather, it
is throughthe acquiringof innerand intuitiveknowledge,the
abandoningofwhat one's natureis accustomedto, the rejection
of worldyand base thingsand the disregardingof the opinions
of creatures,the praise of men and the attention of rulers.
In summary,it is through the realization of real asceticism
beforethe world,its children,its wealth and its glory.
"Worldly gloryis a greatertemptationthan wealth. And
worldly glory deriving from a social status based upon
[pretended]knowledgeand righteousnessis a worse corruption
in the hearts [of men] than the worldlyglory derived from
authorityover their bodies and based upon mightand power.
For fromthe formeroriginatemost disputationsand discussions
of Kaldm and the rivalriesand controversiesof Fiqh, whose
originis the desire forfame and social prestigethroughoutthe
land, the love to rule and to controlthe servantsof God, great
hope in what is desirable physically,the wish to continueto
subsiston this earth and to clingto it, satisfactionwiththe life
ofthisworldand beingremovedfromthe good pleasureof God,
the Exalted, on the Day of Resurrection."(')
With this sternjudgment,which concernsnot the resultbut
the very originof the thoughtsand wordsof the mutakalliman,
MulldSadrZ attacks Kaldm at the same time that he integrates
so much of its heritage into his own intellectual synthesis.
The studentof Mull fiSadrZ, 'Abd al-Razziq LUhiji,(2)lived
at a time when the attacks against both the hukamd'and the
'urafd' had increasedgreatly. He thereforecovered his more
esotericteachingsunder the veil of Kaldm, but a Kaldm that
was impregnatedwith Ijikmat and 'Irfdn, while he expressed
his more purely metaphysicalteachings in poems and other
writingsthat have not become as well-knownas his famous
10
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146 SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR
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Al-hikmalal-ildhiyyah AND Kaldm 147
"As for the term Kaldm it has two meanings: the Kaldm
of the ancients and the Kalam of the moderns. The Kaldm
of the ancients is an art which enables man to defend the
statutes of the Sharf'ah throughdemonstrationcomposed of
well-knownpremissesthat are establishedwith certaintyamong
the followersof religion whether they lead to self-evident
premisses or not. This art has nothing in common with
HIikmal,eitherin subject-matter,in reasoningor in its usefulness.
The subject of Hikmatis the real nature of thingsnot circum-
stances. Its reasoningis composedoftruthsthatare established
with certaintyresultingfromself-evidentpremisses,whether
these are uncontestedand well-knownor not. Its usefulness
is in the acquiring of knowledge and the perfectionof the
theoreticalfacultyof the mind and not in the preservationof
statutes. Thus it is clear that this art [Kalam] can not be
one of the means of acquiring knowledge (ma'rifal).
"The ancients among the Muslimsneeded this art for two
reasons: one was to protectthe doctrinesof the Sharf'ahfrom
the people of opposition [to it] among followersof other
denominationsand religions. This need concernedthe general
public among Muslims. The otherwas to prove the particular
aims ofeach schooland sectof Islam and to protectthe condition
of each school fromthe attacks of the other Islamic schools.
Naturally the relationship [created by the type of defense
given] to each school is different.
"What we have said concernsthe originof Kaldm among
Muslims. But graduallythe bordersof Kaldm were extended.
People were no longersatisfiedwith guardingthe situationbut
began to documentand explain the argumentsforthe principles
and foundations of religion, basing their arguments upon
well-knownand evident premisses. They left the straight
path of the most perfectamong the Companions (sahabah)
and theirfollowers(tdbi'(n), which consistedof contemplation
and meditationas well as referenceto the scholars ('ulama')
among the Companions and leaders (imdms) among their
followers. They considered their own way as the way to
acquire knowledgeand even consideredit as the only possible
way...
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148 SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR
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Al-hikmal ANDKaldm
al-ildhiyyah 149
(1) What Ldhiji refersto is the Islamic injunction that it is the duty of the
believer to penetrate intellectually into the articles and principles of faith. But
if he does not have the intellectual acumen necessary for this task it is sufficient
forhim to imitate (taqlld) the founderof the religionand in the case of Shi'ism the
Imams as well in order to gain salvation. But for the person who does possess
the capability it is essential that he seek to understand the intellectual basis of
religious injunctions and doctrines.
(2) Ldhijl, Gawhar-murdd,Tehran, 1377 (A. H. lunar), pp. 15-21.
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