Concern for Reason in a Religious Government In memory of a thinker who was concerned about the fate of reason within a religious government By Ustad Mohammad Soroush Mahallati, Translated by Sayyid Ali Imran In a religious government: The devout (religiously committed) are concerned lest the credibility of religion be harmed. The advocates of liberty … Read more

While I was unpacking a box of books I came across an interesting set of seven treatises written by various philosophers. One treatise that caught my eye was a commentary on a sentence in the introduction of a treatise written by Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Dāwānī called Risālah al-zūrāʾ, which discusses origination and return (al-mabdaʾ wa … Read more

The following is a translation of Shaykh Ḥaydar Ḥubbullāh’s epistemic analysis of mysticism.[1] We found this piece particularly important to translate, especially given that religious discourse in the Shī’ah world on the pulpits today often tends to glamorize ‘irfānī experience. “From one standpoint,  the religious consciousness in general and the Islamic one in particular manifests … Read more

Between March 20th – April 18th 2020 (lesson 118 – 131) in the advanced lessons on legal theory, Shaykh Haider Hobollah addressed the subject of obedience vs. intellection in religion. These lessons were some of the final few classes delivered during the topic of Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah and the complete detail of this subject can be … Read more

While reading through Ṣadrā’s commentary on Uṣūl al-Kāfī, I came across this beautiful explanation of the methods different groups use to attain spiritual realisation. The extract is inspired by al-Ghazālī’s Iḥyāʾ and while Ṣadrā doesn’t recommend the path of the Ṣūfīs be followed exclusively, there are many points of the process that needs to be … Read more

How can repentance (tawbah) and intercession (shafāʿah) be understood in the context of the theory of embodiment of deeds (tajassum al aʿmāl) and psychological punishment? 1 Introduction What does Hell look like? Why does God punish? These are questions that puzzle the mind of every person who has thought about hell and punishment. Amongst the different answers given, … Read more

One of the areas in Illuminationist philosophy that has yet to be extensively studied by scholars is the views and attitude of Suhrawardī (1154–1191) towards logic. While some studies have been conducted, they appear to be in their infancy and by a limited number of scholars, as opposed to studies that have been conducted on … Read more

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم By Shaykh Zoheir Esmail Mystics have devoted much attention on God’s first creation as within the conception of the first creation lies the answer to the paradox of how sheer unity gives rise to a world of multiplicity. God is without limits and this is why His perfection cannot be fathomed. … Read more

Preface Islamic mysticism is an esoteric approach to the Qur’an and the sunna of the Prophet. However, this statement does not mean that mysticism is separate from its apparent meaning in the Qur’an and the sunna. Rather, the relationship between the two meanings is hierarchic with one encompassing the other. In other words, one verse … Read more

Abstract The Noetic Realm is one of the realms mentioned in Islamic philosophy and mysticism. This realm is the highest and most powerful of the realms. The researcher felt that there was a gap about this topic so he conducted the study. The main questions posed in this study are as follows: What is the … Read more

This is an English transcription of three introductory talks given by Shaykh Haider Hobbollah at Jami’at al-Zahra – one of the largest women’s seminaries in the city of Qom. Introduction Though I was asked to speak about al-wilāyah al-ʿirfānīyyah (mystical vicegerency) from the perspective of Imam Khumaynī, and though there may be some areas where … Read more

Translator’s Intro When I first got to the hawzah, I remember jumping around from teacher to teacher, looking for advice regarding the best strategy and plan on how to tackle my future studies.  I’m certain that most other hawzah students did the same when they first arrived and incoming students are still desperately seeking guidance … Read more

By Sayyid Waḥῑd ‘Alawῑ The discussion of The Fixed Entities, A’yān ath Thābita, is one of the most important topics in mysticism. This study is an effort to delve into this topic and get introduced to one of the most important topics within mysticism. The writer of this article has comprehensively studied this topic, and … Read more

By Amir Mahdi Ghafarian Scientism can be defined as the belief that science, and more precisely the natural sciences, has the most authoritative, reliable and authentic means by which humanity can get an understanding of reality and “truth.” There are two forms of scientism: strong scientism and weak scientism. Strong scientism implies that the validity … Read more

By Sayyid Waḥῑd ‘Alawῑ Abstract Questions that are put forth here is what the Imaginal Realm is? What role and necessity does it have in the Islamic cosmology? The Imaginal Realms attributes and how it can be logically proved? What does the Qur’ān and the narrations of the prophet and the Imams say about it? These … Read more

By Shaykh Haider Hobbollah / Translated by Ali Jabbar Original Source For every intellectual framework, there are hypotheses which are considered possible and others which are considered impossible. What I mean by this is that a person who lives within a certain sphere and a framework will not have certain hypotheses. In contrast, if he … Read more

Two books I was introduced to very early on in the Ḥawzah were Maṣābīḥ al-Anwār fī Ḥall al-Mushkilāt al-Akhbār of al-Sayyid ‘Abdullah Shubbar (d. 1827) published in two volumes, and Ta’līqāt bar Biḥār al-Anwār of ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabāī (d. 1981). The first book is a series of traditions which are difficult to understand and comprehend, oftentimes … Read more

Written for the module: Islamic Philosophy, taken at The Islamic College for a MA in Islamic Studies with professor Latimah Parvin Peerwani. Originally submitted on 1st October, 2017. Every day humans encounter innumerable entities via the five senses.   How these entities are perceived by the human mind is a discussion both empiricists and metaphysicians have had, and while … Read more

Translated by Saiyid Hasan Ali Rizvi Religion is not just [a set of] rules. The rulings themselves are only useful for someone who has a correct belief system. Otherwise, with an incorrect system of beliefs, none of these rules have any special value, even if performed perfectly. In addition, if someone has [an incorrect understanding] of … Read more

Read Part 1 The Definition of Presential Knowledge* and Acquired Knowledge There are different ways to understand and recognize pain.   You’ve no doubt had these experiences in your life where you got sick or got into a bad accident and felt a lot of pain.  You’ve also probably had friends or family members that have … Read more

Compiled by Saiyid Hasan Ali Rizvi and Sayyid Ali Imran God Willing, we will be posting up a series of posts introducing the subject of Epistemology or Theory of Knowledge – Ma’rifat Shināsi in Farsi, or Naẓarīyah al-Ma’rifah in Arabic. These posts are primarily based off of two works. First of them being Dar Āmadī bar … Read more

Compiled by: Saiyid Hasan Ali Rizvi [[email protected]] When we enter college or the workplace, or any place in the modern world, we are oftentimes pummeled with various difficult questions to our beliefs.  It can be tough sometimes to maintain our identity in the face of these attacks.  Without satisfactory answers and replies to these objections, … Read more

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three Chapter Three: Degree of Knowledge Required by Religion In his attempt to determine whether True Certainty is expected in areas where it is possible to achieve it and what degree of knowledge is expected by Islam in areas where True Certainty is not attainable, the author jumps straight … Read more

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three Chapter Two: Possibility of Attaining Certainty In Religious Beliefs Continuing on with where he (Hussain Zadeh) left off, in the second chapter – a relatively shorter one compared to the other chapters in the book – the author attempts to answer whether it is possible to reach True … Read more

Muhammad Hussain Zadeh is a renowned scholar of epistemology (and other subjects) in the city of Qom, Iran. He has written numerous works in the field of epistemology in general, and specifically in Islamic epistemology. In these upcoming posts, I intend to summarize my readings from a series authored by him titled Religious Epistemology, comprised … Read more