Najibullah Shafagh; Mohammad Fanaei Eshkevari
Volume 4, Issue 2 , October 2013, , Pages 101-123
Abstract
The aim of this article is to explain possibility of Islamic Philosophy and describe its main characteristics and schools. Concerning the question of possibility and actuality of Islamic Philosophy, our approach in the article is that the question has a historical nature. So, to answer questions like ...
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The aim of this article is to explain possibility of Islamic Philosophy and describe its main characteristics and schools. Concerning the question of possibility and actuality of Islamic Philosophy, our approach in the article is that the question has a historical nature. So, to answer questions like ‘is Islamic Philosophy possible?’ And if yes: ‘has it ever been actualized?’ should consider philosophy, in this historical development, as a progressive discipline which from its entrance into the Islamic world has been continuously changed. In the development process of this philosophy, a variety of perspectives, theories, issues, and problems have arisen, some of them have been placed in the core of the philosophical mainstream, and some of them have been laid aside or ignored. So, in this process, this discipline has experienced some philosophical expansions and contractions, has taken some theories, problems, issues …, and has laid away some other.
These changes and developments bring about a distinguished nature for Islamic philosophy. We can say that this discipline has three general and distinct characteristics: looking comprehensiveness (looking at physical and metaphysical worlds comprehensively); certainty (as a common core of knowledge); and God- oriented (regarding God as most importance being in the human life). In this paper, first of all, we will describe the main characteristics of main Islamic philosophy’s schools, Peripatetic, Illumination, and transcendent philosophy, and then argue that there is no inconsistency between ‘Islamic philosophy’ concept and open intellectual development.
Mohammad Fana'i Ashkevari
Volume 2, Issue 2 , October 2011, , Pages 79-96
Abstract
The relationship between mysticism and religion is an important one. Some have argued that mysticism is not religious in nature and can’t be reconciled with religion; hence, some groups have adopted mysticism and parted from religion while other have strictly adhere to religion and got in quandaries ...
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The relationship between mysticism and religion is an important one. Some have argued that mysticism is not religious in nature and can’t be reconciled with religion; hence, some groups have adopted mysticism and parted from religion while other have strictly adhere to religion and got in quandaries with mysticism. Those who consider mysticism reconcilable with religion have different opinions on the relationship they entertain. Some have argued that mysticism is the essence of religion while other have considered it an element of religion. We suggest that the relationship between religion and mysticism must be assessed by the study of their nature. In the current article, we argue and demonstrate that mysticism is not against religion nor foreign to religion; it is not like religion, nor an element of religion, but rather is the esoteric dimension of religion. With this perspective, numerous questions and ambiguities related to the relationship of mysticism and religion are answered and their respective nature becomes clearer. Moreover, we also suggest a methodology for distinguishing between authentic and unauthentic forms of mysticism.
