Ḥikmat Al-Ilāhiyyah and Kalām

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Al-Ḥikmat Al-Ilāhiyyah and Kalām Author(s): Seyyed Hossein Nasr Source: Studia Islamica, No. 34 (1971), pp. 139-149 Published by: Maisonneuve & Larose Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1595329 . Accessed: 19/11/2013 23:55 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

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AL-HIKMA T AL-ILAHIYYAH AND KALAM* When we speak of al-hikmatal-ildhiyyahwe do not mean simplythe ildhiyyatof the works of MuslimPeripateticssuch as Ibn Sind and Ibn Rushd, nor the Hikmah that some ofthe theologianslike Fakhr al-DIn RFzi referto as beingsynonymous with Kaldm. Rather, we mean that blend of rational philosophy, illuminationand gnosis and the tenets of revelation that formedinto a synthesis after Suhrawardi and mostly thanks to him, and that reached its peak with Sadr al-Din Shirfziand his students.(1) In this paper we wish to examine the relation between the followersof the school of al-Hikmat al-ildhiyyah,or IHikmat-iildh( (especially that part concerned with "the general principles" (al-umar al-'dmmah)) and Kalam. Althoughthe view of all the hukamd'of this school concerningKalam is not the same, there is enough unity of view to warrantsuch a study, in the same way that one can speak of the relationbetweenmashshd'Tphilosophyand Kaldm even though all of the Muslim Peripateticphilosophershave not held the same views concerningKalam. * 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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In the historyofthe struggleand reciprocalinfluencebetween Falsafah and Kaldm in Islam, we can, forthesake ofthe present discussion,distinguishfourperiods: 1. The earliestperiod,fromthe beginningto the third/ninth century,when the Mu'taziliteschool was dominantin Kaldm, and Falsafah was passing throughits period of genesis and early developmentwithsuch figuresas Irinshahriand al-Kindi and his students. This periodwas one of distinctbut parallel developmentof and close association between Falsafah and Kaldm in an atmospheremoreor less of relativemutualrespect, at least in the case of al-Kindi himself,althoughfromthe side of Kaldm certain of its branchessuch as the school of Basra opposed Falsafah violentlyeven duringthis earlyperiod. 2. The period from the third/ninthto the fifth/eleventh century,fromthe rise of Ash'aritetheologyand its elaboration to the beginningof the gradualincorporationof certainphilosophical argumentsintoKaldm by Imim al-Juwayni and his studentGhazzali. This was a al-.Haramayn of intense period opposition and oftenenmitybetweenFalsafah and Kaldm, a period whose phases have been so ably studiedalong withthose of the first period by many western scholars, from Munk, Steinschneider,Horovitz and Horten to Gardet and of course H. A. Wolfson,the person whom we are assembled here to honorand a scholarwhose studiesin the domain of the relation betweenFalsafah and Kaldm duringthe earlyperiodof Islamic historymark one of the highlightsof Occidental scholarship on Islam. 3. The period fromJuwayniand Ghazzill to Fakhr al-Din to the seventh/ al-Razi, that is fromabout the fifth/eleventh thirteenth centuries when, while the opposition between Falsafah and Kaldm continued,each began to incorporateinto itselfmore and more of the elementsof the other. Falsafah began to discuss more than ever beforeproblemssuch as the meaningof the Word of God, the relationbetweenhuman and Divine will,the Divine Attributes,etc., whichhad always been the centralconcernof Kaldm, while Kaldm became ever more "philosophical", employingboth ideas and argumentsdrawn


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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 to Kaldm, and especially the followersof al-Hikmatal-ildhiyyah 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 innateshortcomingsof 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 Comparative Religion, Spring, 1969, pp. 66-93.


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The followersof consideredthe method al-ildhiyyah al-H.ikmal ofKaldm as illegitimate but its problemsas ofvital importance. While they held the same reverenceforthe Quran and Sunnah as the followersof Kaldm and drewfromthese sourcesfortheir doctrines,they refusedto accept the methods of Kaldm as sufficientor even legitimate in solving the more profound questions of religion and their metaphysical implications. In fact it can be said that the IHukamd'-iildh(, as they are usually called in Persian, believed themselvesto be exactly that class of religiousscholars who possessed the necessary intellectualmeans to explain the intellectualcontentof religion and answer the questions posed for religionby the discursive mind, or in otherwords to accomplishthose very goals which the mutakallimiin attemptedto accomplishbut failed to do so in a satisfactorymannerin the eyes of the hukamd'. The change fromoppositionto Kaldm to replacingits very role and function,at least in the culturalorbitof Persia where IHikmal-iildhTflourished,can be seen in the intermediary figuresbetween Suhrawardi and Mull5 Sadr5. Suhrawardi himselfmakes singularlylittlereferenceto Kaldm while at the same time he discusses the most essential problemsof Kaldm such as the DivineAttributes, God's knowledgeoftheworld,etc., in the lightof his own ishradqdoctrines. Nasir al-Din al-Tilsi, who followedhim by a century,was both hakimand mutakallim and in fact the founderof Shi'ite systematictheologythanks mostly to his Tajrrd.() His student, Qutb al-Din Shirizi, ofSuhrawardiand at the sametimea Peripatethe commentator tic philosopher,showed less interestin Kaldm than his master while being aware of its arguments. But another of Nasir al-Din's students,'Allamah Hilli, was again both a foremost theologianand a hakrm. ildhr The tendency toward a synthesisbetween H.ikmat-i and Kaldm became even more accentuated in the eighth/ fourteenthand ninth/fifteenth centuries. While specifically (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 ildhi. historyof both Shi'ite Kaldm and .Hikmat-i


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Shi'ite theologianssuch as Ibn Abi JumhfirAhsd'i and Sayyid Amuli were well versed in the doctrinesof of the best knownhakimsof the age, suchH.ikmat-i some as Jalil .Iaydar ildhi, 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 knew well the important of its development.(') Mull .Sadra and Ash'arite Mu'tazilite theologians,especially Ghazzfli and Fakhr al-Din RJzi, and also the most importantShi'ite theologians 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 in certain and praisessomeofthe argumentsofthe mutakalliman in them while violently others.(") rejecting places(2) (1) ConcerningMulli Sadri's teachings as the synthesisof the differentschools preceding him see S. H. Nasr, Islamic Studies, Beirut, 1966, chapter X; and H. Corbin, prolegomena to Mulli Sadri's Le livre des pdndtrationsmdtaphysiques, Tehran-Paris, 1964. We have dealt fully with this subject in our forth-coming Sadr al-Din Shirdzi and His TranscendentTheosophy. (2) For example in the Asfdr,lithographededition, Tehran, 1222 (A. H. lunar), p. 147, he confirmsthe argumentsof the mutakallimiimagainst the possiblity of a series that continues ad infinitum,and in the section on proofsforthe existence of God, p. 548, he confirmstheir arguments for His existence based on motion. (3) For example, on p. 345 where their views about time are rejected, and the whole last section of the fourthsafar, vol. IV of the Asfdr,where their views on eschatology are completely refuted.


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What is, however,most interestingin Mull Sadr5's views about Kaldm is not his acceptance of some of theirbeliefsand argumentsnor the fact that everysingleproblemdiscussedby Kalam is also consideredby himin his "transcendenttheosophy" (al-hikmatal-muta'dliyah). Rather,it is his views concerning oftheknowledge the verynatureofKaldm and the shortcomings its to methods. acquired through According him the mulakalliman in general have not purifiedtheir inner being so as to enable the intellect within them to perceive directlythe Divine Realities withoutthe dimmingand obscuringinfluence of the carnal soul. In the Si asl he says in bitterwordswhich reflectthe hardshiphe has sufferedat the hands of some of the superficial'ulamd' and mutakallimanwho opposed his gnostic teachings,"Some of those who pretendto be scholarsand are full of evil and corruptionand some of the mutakallimanwho have no logic or reason... have made oppositionto the Sufis theirslogan."(') And he continues,"Oh dear scholar and oh conceitedmutakallim! Until when and forhow long will you mark the face of intimacywith the mole of fear and cast the earth of darknessupon the eye of faithfulness throughdistress and be busy with admonitionand oppressionof the people of purity and faithfulness? Until when and for how long will you wear the dress of deception and hypocrisyand the robe of trickeryand imposture,and drinkthe cup of conceitfromthe hands of the fiendthat appears as an angel,and use youreffort in destroyingthe truthand spreadingfalsehood,in vilifying the man of knowledgeand praisingthe ignorant?..."(2) In his Kasr asndm al-jdhiliyyah,Mull~ Sadri makes clearer the reasonwhyKaldm cannotreachthe heartof religioustruth. He writes,"The differences that occuramongscholarsofKaldm and jurisprudence(Fiqh) in the importantquestionsand the generalprinciplesof religiousinjunctions,and not in secondary can exist, originatein the failureof details where differences to seek the truthof thingsand in the factthat they theireffort do not penetrateinto all of the aspects of the truth. The way (1) Si asl, ed. by S. H. Nasr, Tehran, 1340 (A. H. solar), pp. 5-6. (2) Ibid., p. 7.


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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 (1) Kasr asndm al-jdhiliyyah, ed. by M. T. Danechepazhuh, Tehran, 1340 (A. H. solar), pp. 91-92. (2) ConcerningLihiji see Nasr, "The School of Ispahan" in A Historyof Muslim Philosophy,vol. II, p. 926. 10


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Gawhar-murad.(1) Neverthelessin the Gawhar-murdd Lihiji shows a profoundknowledgeof the relationbetween Hikmat and Kaldm in both principleand history and expresseshis views in a passage which, coming fromone of the foremost intellectual figuresin the history of al-Ijikmat al-ildhiyyah in Persia, is a most revealingtestimonyconcerningthe relation involved. He writes, "Know that the types of differencesexisting among the 'ulamd' in matterspertainingto the divine sciences between the (ma'drif-i ildhf) are limited to the differences and Kaldm... of Hikmat schools "The differencebetween Kaldm and Hikmat lies in the followingfacts : It must firstof all be knownthat the intellect ('aql) possesses completeindependencein the acquiringof the divine sciences and other intellectualmatters,and in these mattersit does not depend upon the Sharf'ah. Once this is realizedit can be concludedthat the way of the hukamd'is the acquiring of true science and the proving of the definite principlesthat govern over the essences of things in a way that is in accordance with the nature of reality. And this way is based upon reasoningand purelyintellectualdemonstration leading to self-evidentpremissesthat no intellect can refuseor resistto accept and in whichthe agreementor disagreement of any particularcircumstancesor peoples or religious communities does not have any effect. The knowledge acquired in this way is called in the terminologyof learned men 'the science of IHikmat'. Of necessitythis science is in with authenticrevealed laws, for the truthof the conformity is ascertainable in its reality through intellectual Shart'ah demonstration,but this agreementdoes not enter into the which do not depend upon proofof the problemsof .Hikmat, for the Sharr'ah theirproof... (1) In his forthcomingMuntakhabdt-ifalsafah, which he is preparing with H. Corbin, J. Ashtiydni has published selections fromhithertoneglectedworks of Ldhiji which depict him more as a pure hakim in the line of Mulli Sadrd than the and the Shawdriq,in whichVIikmatand Kaldm are combined, would Gawhar-murdd reveal.


AND Kaldm 147 Al-hikmalal-ildhiyyah "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 in reasoningor in its usefulness. HIikmal,eitherin subject-matter, The subject of Hikmatis the real nature of thingsnot circumstances. 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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"This then is the Kaldm of the 'moderns', which is the counterpartof HIikmat. It shares the same subject and aim with Hikmal but differsfromit in the primaryargumentsand reasoning. It has been said concerningthe definitionof the Kaldm of the 'moderns'that it is a knowledgeof the state of creatures according to the mode of the injunctions of the Sharf'ah. By adding this last condition the definitionof Hikmat has been avoided, for agreementwith the injunctions of the Sharf'ahmeans basing one's argumentsupon premisses that are well-knownand evident among the followersof the Sharf'ah. And this is not acceptable in the definitionof Hikmat,forit is not necessaryforpremissesthat are well-known and evidentto be amongtruthsthat are knownwithcertainty. Thereforeif by chance the premisses are truths possessing certaintythey [the followersof Hikmat] use them as such, and if not, they do not considerpremissesbased upon opinion as valid in scientificmatters(masd'il-i 'ilmiyyah). "A group of the ignorant,who have appeared in the guise of learned men, have been in errorconcerningthis condition with (qayd) [about the definitionof Kaldm and its difference or on have made souls fall into the purpose simple Hikmalt] errorof thinkingthat in the concept of HIikmaloppositionto the injunctionsof the Sharf'ah is consideredvalid. For this reasonthe condemnationofHikmatand its followershas become prevalentamong Muslims.Whereas, fromwhat we have said it has become clear that the acquiringof knowledge(ma'rifat) in a way that is not dependentupon simpleimitation(taqlid) is limitedto the way of demonstration(burhan) and the basing of argumentsupon premissesthat are certain, whetherthis knowledgebe called Hikmat or Kaldm. "It is not right to condemn Hikmat because some of the hakimshave committederrorsin certain problems. Rather, that groupis condemnablethat extendsits prejudiceconcerning particularwell-knownpersonalitiesto HIikmatitself,considering their[the haklms']imitationas necessaryand believingevery single word they have utteredto be the truth. He who is satisfiedwith mere imitation,why should he not imitatethe prophetsand imdms?-which act would of course bring him salvation,especiallyif he is not amongthose possessingcapabi-


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lity [for intellectualpenetration]and is not able to conceive of real perfection.(') It is certain that simply to imitate philosophersand to consider perfectionto reside solely in transmittingtheir words and guidance to reside solely in themis pureerrorand theveryessenceofwretchedness. following sure way of acquiringknowledge(ma'arif) is pure the Rather, and thesimpleacquiringofcertainty. Therefore demonstration it is neithernecessary to be a mulakallimnor a philosopher. Rather, one must be a believer (mu'min) who has faith in Divine Unity (muwahhid) and one must have confidencein correctaction, beggingassistancein one's action fromthe true Sharr'ah. And if a person is not capable of achieving true perfectionhe must never cease to imitate the truly perfect men.'"(2) In this comparisonbetweenIHikmatand Kaldm, whichis at once principialand historical,Ldhiji expressesthe view ofthose later haktmswho were also mulakallimsand above all gnostics and Sufis. He thereforealludes to a knowledgetranscending both Hikmat and Kaldm - that of the muwahhid- while insistingon the superiorityof Hikmat over Kaldm on their own properplane. L5hiji was to be followedby many men Mulli H5di like Sa'Id Qummi,Mull5 'All Nfirland Q<.di who like him were well-versed in Hikmat both and .H~jji Sabziwari each Kaldm, men who while placing a different emphasisupon disciplineall subordinatedKaldm to the purer knowledgeof things divine contained in this theosophy or Hikmat which has come to play such an importantrole in the intellectualand religiouslifeof the easternlands of Islam and especiallyPersia during the past seven centuries. Seyyed Hossein NASR (Tehran) (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.


Ḥikmat Al-Ilāhiyyah and Kalām

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