Shi'ite Contributions to Philosophy and the Intellectual Sciences
In the same way that from the beginning Shi'ism played an effective role in the formation of Islamic philosophical thought, it was also a principal factor in the further development and propagation of philosophy and the Islamic sciences. Although after Ibn Rushd philosophy disappeared in the Sunni world, it continued to live in Shi'ism. After Ibn Rushd, there appeared such celebrated philosophers as Khawajah Nasr al-Din Mir D?mad and Sadr al-Din Shirazi, who studied, developed and expounded philosophical thought one after another. In the same manner, in the other intellectual sciences, there appeared many outstanding figures such as N?sir al-Din Tusi (who was both philosopher and mathematician) and Birjandi, who was also an outstanding mathematician.
All the sciences, particularly metaphysics or theosophy (falsafah-i Rai or hikmat made major advances thanks to the indefatigable endeavor of Shi'ite scholars. This fact can
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be seen if one compares the works of Nasir al-Din Tusi, Shams al-Din Turkah, Mir Damad, and Sadr al-Din Shirazi with the writings of those who came before them.
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It is known that the element that was instrumental in the appearance of philosophical and metaphysical thought in Shi' ism and through Shi' ism in other Islamic circles was the treasury of knowledge left behind by the Imams. The persistence and continuity of this type of thought in Shi'ism is due to the existence of this same treasury of knowledge, which Shi'ism has continued to regard with a sense of reverence and respect.
In order to clarify this situation, it is enough to compare the treasury of knowledge left by the Household of the Prophet with the philosophical works written over the course of the centuries. In this comparison, one can see clearly how each day Islamic philosophy approached this scarce of knowledge ever more closely, until in the 11th/17th century Islamic philosophy and this inspired treasury of wisdom converged more or less completely. They were separated only by certain differences of interpretation of some of the principles of philosophy.
Outstanding Intellectual Figures of Shi'ism
Thiqat al-Islam Muhammad ibn Ya'qub Kulayni (d. 329/940) is the first person in Shi'ism to have separated the Shi'ite hadiths from the books called Principles (WO and to have arranged and organized them according to the headings of jurisprudence and articles of faith. (Each one of the Shi'ite scholars of hadith had assembled sayings he had collected from the Imams in a book called Asl, or Principle.) The book of Kulayni known as al-Kafi is divided into three parts: Principles, Branches, and
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1 Editor's note: There are all outstanding philosophers of the later period
(from the 7th/13th to the 11th/17th centuries) and are nearly unknown in the West, except for Tusi who is, however, known more for his mathematical works than for his philosophical contributions.
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Miscellaneous Articles, and contains 16,199 hadiths. It is the most trustworthy and celebrated work of hadith known in the Shi ite world.
Three other works which complement the Kafi are the book of the jurist Shaykh Saduq' Muhammad ibn Babuyah Qummi (d. 381/991), and Kitab al-Tandhib and Kitab al-Istibsar, both by Shaykh Muhammad Tusi (d. 460/1068).
Abu'l-Qasim Ja'far ibn Hasan ibn Yahya Hilli (d. 676/1277), known as Muhaqqiq, was an outstanding genius in the science of jurisprudence and is considered to be the foremost Shi ite jurist. Among his masterpieces are Kitab Mukhtasar. Nafi' and Kitab Shara 'i al-Islam, which have been passed from hand to hand for seven hundred years among Shi ite jurists and have always been regarded with a sense of awe and wonder.
Following Muhaqqiq, we must cite Shahid Awwal (the First Martyr) Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Makki, who was killed in Damascus in 786/1384 on the accusation of being Shiite. Among his juridical masterpieces is his al-Lum 'all al-Dimashqiyah which he wrote in prison in a period of seven days. Also, we must cite Shaykh Ja'far Kashif Najafi (d. 1327/1909) among whose outstanding juridical works is Kitab Kashf al-Ghita.
Khwajah Nasir al-Din Tusi (d. 672/1274) is the first to have made kalam a thorough and complete science. Among his masterpieces in this domain is his Tajrid al-I'tiqad, which has preserved its authority among masters of this discipline for more than seven centuries. Numerous commentaries have been written on it by Shi ites and Sunnis alike. Over and above his genius in the science of kalam, he was one of the outstanding figures of his day in philosophy and mathematics as witnessed by the valuable contributions he made to the intellectual sciences. Moreover, the Maraghah Observatory owed its existence to him.
Sadr al-Din Shirazi (d. 1050/1640), known as Mulla Sadra and Sadr al-Muta'allihin, was the philosopher who, after centuries
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of philosophical development in Islam, brought complete order and harmony into the discussion of philosophical problems for the first time. He organised and systematised them like mathematical problems and at the same time wed philosophy and gnosis, thereby bringing about several important developments. He gave to philosophy new ways to discuss and solve hundreds of problems that could not be solved through Peripatetic philosophy. He made possible the analysis and solution of a series of mystical questions which to that day had been considered as belonging to a domain above that of reason and beyond comprehension through rational thought. He clarified and elucidated the meaning of many treasuries of wisdom, contained in the exoteric sources of religion and in the profound metaphysical utterances of the Imams of the Household of the Prophet, that for centuries had been considered as insoluble riddles and usually believed to be of an allegorical or even unclear nature. In this way, gnosis, philosophy and the exoteric aspect of religion were completely harmonized and began to follow a single course.
By following the methods he had developed, Mulla Sadra succeeded in proving "transubstantial motion" (harakat jawhariyah)
1 and in discovering the intimate relation of time to the three spatial dimensions in a manner that is similar to the meaning given in modern physics to the "fourth dimension" and which resembles the general principles of the theory of relativity (relativity of course in the corporeal world outside the mind, not in the mind), and many other noteworthy principles.
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1 Editor's note: Earlier Muslim philosophers believed, like Aristotle, that motion is possible only in the accidents of things, not in their substance. Mulla Sadra assessed, on the contray, that whenever something partakes of motion (in the sense of medieval philosophy), its substance undergoes motion and not just its accidents. There is thus a becoming within things through which they ascend to the higher orders of universal existence. This view, however, should not be confused with the modern theory of evolution.
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He wrote nearly fifty books and treatises. Among his greatest masterpieces is the four-volume Asfar.
It should be noted here that before Mulla Sadra certain sages like Suhrawardi, the 6th/ 12th century philosopher and author of Hikmat al-Ishra-q, and Shams al-Din Turkah, a philosopher of the 8th/14th century, had taken steps toward harmonizing gnosis, philosophy and exoteric religion, but credit for complete success in this undertaking belongs to Mulla Sadra.
Shaykh Murtada Ansari Shushtari (d. 1281/1864) reorganised the science of the principles of jurisprudence upon a new foundation and formulated the practical principles of this science. For over a century, his school has been followed diligently by Shi'ite scholars.
Third Method
Intellectual Intuition Or Mystical Unveiling
Man and Gnostic Comprehension1
Even though most men are occupied with gaining a livelihood and providing for their daily needs and show no concern for spiritual matters, there lies within the nature of man an innate urge to seek the ultimately Real. In certain individuals, this force which is dormant and potential becomes Wakened and manifests itself openly, thus leading to a series of spiritual perceptions.
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1 Editor's note: Islamic esotericism is called Sufism (tasawwuf) or gnosis (Irian); the first word concerns more the practical and the second the theoretical aspect of the same reality. It has been common among Shi'ite religious scholars since the Safavid period to refer to Islamic esotericism more often as 'Irfan than as Tasawwuf. This is due to historical reasons connected with the fact that the Safavids were at first a Sufi order and later gained political power, with the result that many worldly men sought to put on the garb of Sufism in order to gain political or social power, therefore discrediting Sufism in the eyes of the devout.
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Every man believes in a permanent Reality despite the claim of sophists and skeptics, who call every truth and reality illusion and superstition. Occasionally when man views with a clear mind and a pure soul the permanent Reality pervading the universe and the created order, and at the same time sees the impermanence and transient character of the diverse parts and elements of the world, he is able to contemplate the world and its phenomena as mirrors which reflect the beauty of a permanent reality. The joy of comprehending this Reality obliterates every other joy in the eye of the viewer and makes everything else appear as insignificant and unimportant.
This vision is that same gnostic "divine attraction" (jadhbah) which draws the attention of the God-centered man toward the transcendent world and awakens the love of God in his heart. Through this attraction, he forgets all else. All his manifold desires and wishes are obliterated from his mind. This attraction guides man to the worship and praise of the Invisible Deity who is in reality more evident and manifest than all that is visible and audible. In truth, it is this same inner attraction that has brought into being the different religions within the world, religions which are based on the worship of God. The gnostic ( 'arif) is the one who worships God through knowledge and because of love for Him, not in hope of reward or fear of punishment.
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From this exposition, it becomes clear that we must not consider gnosis as a religion among others, but as the heart of all religions. Gnosis is one of the paths of worship, a path based on knowledge combined with love, rather than fear. It is the path for realizing the inner truth of religion rather than
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1 The sixth imam has said, "There are thee kinds of worship: a group worship God in fear and that is the worship of slaves, a group worship God in order to receive rewards and that is the worship of mercenaries: and a group worship Gad because of their love and devotion to Him and that is the worship of free man. That is the best form of worship." Bihar- al-Anwar, vol. XV, pp. 208.
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remaining satisfied only with its external form and rational thought. Every revealed religion and even those that appear in the form of idol-worship have certain followers who march upon the path of gnosis. The polytheistic religions
1 and Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Islam all have believers who are gnostics.
Appearance of Gnosis (Sufism) in Islam
Among the companions of the Prophet, 'All is known particularly for his eloquent exposition of gnostic truths and the stages of the spiritual life. His words in this domain comprise an inexhaustible treasury of wisdom. Among the works of the other companions which have survived, there is not a great deal of material that concerns this type of question. Among the associates of 'Ali, such as Salman farsi, Uways Qarani, Kumayl ibn Ziyad, Rushayd Hajari, Maytham Tammar and Rabi' ibn Khaytham.
However, there are figures who have been considered by the majority of the Sufis, Sunni and Shi'ite alike, as the heads of their spiritual chain (silsilah) after 'All.
After this group, there appeared others, such as Tawus Yamani, Shayb?n Ra'i, Malik ibn Dinar, Ibrahim Adham and Shack Balkhi, who were considered by the people to be saints and men of God. These men, without publicly talking about gnosis and Sufism, appeared externally as ascetics and did not hide the fact that they had been initiated by the earlier group and had undergone spiritual training under them.
After them there appeared at the end of the 2nd/8th century and the beginning of the 3rd/9th century men such as Bayazid
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1 Editor's note: The author has here in mind the religions of India and the Far East in which different aspects of the Divinity are symbolized by mythical and symbolic forms and deities and which therefore appear in the eye of Muslims in general as "polytheism".
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Bastami, Ma'ruf Karkhi, Junayd Baghdadi and others like them, who followed the Sufi path and openly declared their connection with Sufism and gnosis. They divulged certain esoteric sayings based on spiritual vision which, because of their repellent external form, brought upon them the condemnation of some of the jurists and theologians. Some of them were imprisoned, flogged and even occasionally killed.
1 Even so, this group persisted and continued its activities despite its opponents. In this manner, gnosis and the "Way" (Tariqah, or Sufism) continued to grow until in the 7th/13th and 8th/l4th centuries it reached the height of its expansion and power. Since then, sometimes stronger and at other times less so, it has continued its existence to this very day within the Islamic world.
Gnosis or Sufism as we observe it today first appeared in the Sunni world and later among the Shiites. The first men who openly declared themselves to be Sufis and gnostics, and were recognized as spiritual masters of Sufi orders, apparently followed Sunnism in the branches (furu‘) of Islamic law. Many of the masters who followed them and who expanded the Sufi orders were also Sunnis in their following of the law.
Even so, these masters traced their spiritual chain, which in the spiritual life is like the genealogical chain of a person, through their previous masters to 'Ali. Also the results of their visions and intuitions as transmitted to us convey mostly truths concerning divine unity and the stations of the spiritual life which are found in the sayings of 'All and other Shiite Imams. This can be seen provided we are not affected by some of the striking and even sometimes shocking expressions used by these Sufi masters and consider the total content of their
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1 See the works on the biographies of learned men and also Tadhkirat al-Awliya of 'Attar, Tehran, 1321 AH, solar) and Tara'iq al-Haqa'iq of Ma'sum 'Ali Shah, Tehran, 1318.
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teachings with deliberation and patience. Sanctity
1 resulting from initiation into the spiritual path, which Sufis consider as the perfection of man, is a state which according to Shi ite belief is possessed in its fullness by the Imam and through the radiance of his being can be attained by his true followers. And the Spiritual Pole (qutb)
2 whose existence at all times is considered necessary by all the Sufis—as well as the attributes associated with him—correlates with the Shi'ite conception of the Imam. According to the saying of the Household of the Prophet, the Imam is, to use the Soft expression, Universal Man, the manifestation of the Divine Names and the spiritual guide of the lives and actions of men. Therefore, one could say, considering the Shi ite concept of wilayah, that Sufi masters are "Shi' ite" from the point of view of the spiritual life and in connection with the source of wilayah although, from the point of view of the external form of religion, they follow the Sunni schools of law.
It is necessary to mention that even in classical Sunni treatises, it has sometimes been said that the spiritual method of the "Path,"
3 or the "techniques" whereby one comes to know and realize himself, cannot be explained through the external forms and teachings of the Shari' ah. Rather, these sources claim that individual Muslims themselves have discovered many of these methods and practices, which then have become accepted by
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1 In the language of the gnostics, when the gnostic forgets himself, he comes annihilated in God and surrenders to His guidance or wilayah.
2 The gnostics say that through the Divine Names, the world has gained an apparent existence and thus runs its course. All the Devive Names are derived from the "Complete and Supreme Name." The Supreme Name is the station (maqam) of the Universal Man who is also called the spiritual pole (qutb) of the Universe. In no time can the world if man be without a qutb.
3 Editor's note: The spiritual path in Islam is called sayr wa suluk (meaning traveling and wayfaring ) to indicate the way or journey which symbolises the movement from man to Gad.
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God, such as is the case with monasticism in Christianity.
1 Therefore, each master has devised certain actions and practices which he has deemed necessary in the spiritual method, such as the particular type of ceremony of being accepted by the master the details of the way in which the invocation is given to the new adept along with a rope, and the use of music, chanting and other methods of inducing ecstasy during the invocation of the Divine Name. In some cases, the practices of the Tariqah have outwardly become separated from those of the Shari' ah and it may seem difficult for an outsider to see the intimate and inward relation between them. But by taking into consideration the theoretical principles of Shi'ism and then studying in depth the basic sources of Islam, namely the Qur'an and the Sunnah, he will soon realize that it is impossible to say that this spiritual guidance has not been provided by Islam itself or that Islam has remained negligent in clarifying the nature of the spiritual program to be followed.
Guidance Provided by the Qur'an and
Sunnah for Gnostic Knowledge
God—Exalted be His Name—has commanded man in several places in the Qur'an to deliberate upon the Holy Book and be persistent in this effort and not to be satisfied with a merely superficial and elementary understanding of it. In many verses, the world of creation and all that is in it without exception are called portents (ayat), signs and symbols of the Divine.
2 A degree of deliberation upon the meaning of portents and signs and penetration into their real significance will reveal the fact
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1 God, Exalted be His Name, says, "But monasticism they [the Christians] invented—We ordained it not to them only seeking Allah's pleasure, and they observed it not with right observance." (Qur'an, LVII, 27).
2 Editor's note: There is an difference between a sign which signifies a
meaning through agreement and a symbol which reveals the meaning symbolized through an essential and ontological bond between the symbol and the symbolized. Here the author is using the concept of signs and portents (ayiit) in the world in the sense of true symbols.
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that things are called by these names because they manifest and make known not so much themselves but a reality other than themselves, For example, a red light placed as a sign of danger, once seen, reminds one completely of the idea of danger so that one no longer pays attention to the red light itself. If one begins to think about the form or quiddity of the light or its color, there will be in his mind only the form of the lamp or its glass or color rather than the conception of danger. In the same manner, if the world and its phenomena are all and in every aspect signs and portents of God, the Creator of the Universe, they have no ontological independence of their own. No matter how we view them they display nothing but God.
He who through guidance of the Holy Qur'an is able to view the world and the people of the world with such an eye will apprehend nothing but God. Instead of seeing only this borrowed beauty, which others see in the attractive appearance of the world, he will see an Infinite Beauty, a Beloved who manifests Himself through the narrow confines of this world. Of course, as in the example of the red light, what is contemplated and seen in "signs" and "portents" is God the Creator of the world and not the world itself. The relation of God to the world is from a certain point of view like (1 + o) net
1 + 1) nor (1 x 1) (that is, the world is nothing before God and adds nothing to him). It is at the moment of realization of this truth that the harvest of man's separative existence is plundered and in one stroke man entrusts his heart to the hands of Divine love. This realization obviously does not take place through the instrument of the eye or the ear or the other outward senses, nor through the power of imagination or reason, for all these instruments are themselves signs and portents and of little significance to the spiritual guidance sought here.
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1 Imam 'Ali has said, "God is not that which can enter under one of the categories of knowledge. God is That which guides reasoning toward Himself." Bihar al-Anwar, vol. II, pp. 186.
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He who has attained the vision of God and who has no intention but to remember God and forget all else, when he hears that in another place in the Qur'an God says, "0 ye who believe! Ye have charge of your own souls. He who erreth cannot injure you if you are rightly guided" (Qur'an, V, 105), then he understands that the sole royal path which will guide him fully and completely is the path of "self-realization." His true guide who is God Himself obliges him to know himself, to leave behind all other ways and to seek the path of self-knowledge, to see God through the window of his soul, gaining in this way the real object of his search. That is why the Prophet has said, "He who knows himself verify knows the Lord."
1 And also he has said, "Those among you know God better who know themselves better."
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As for the method of following this path, there are many verses of the Qur'an which command man to remember God, as for example where He says, "Therefore remember Me, I will remember you" (Qur'an, II, 152) and similar sayings. Man is also commanded to perform right actions which are described fully in the Qur'an and hadith. At the end of this discussion of right actions, God says, "Verily, in the Messenger of Allah ye have a good example" (Qur'an, XXXIII, 21).
How can anyone imagine that Islam could discover that a particular path is the path which leads to God without recommending this path to all the people? Or how could it make such a path known and yet neglect to explain the method of following it? For God says in the Qur'an, "And We reveal the Scripture unto thee as an exposition of all things" (Qur'an, XVI, 89).
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1 A famous hadith repeated especially in works of well known Sufis and gnostics, Shiite and Sunni alike.
2 This hadith is also found in many gnostic works, both Shiite and Sunni.
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PART III
ISLAMIC BELIEFS FROM THE
SHI'ITE POINT OF VIEW
CHAPTER FOUR
ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
The World Seen from the Point of View of
Being and Reality; The Necessity of God
Consciousness and perception, which are intertwined with man's very being, make evident by their very nature the existence of God as well as the world. For, contrary to those who express doubt about their own existence and everything else and consider the world as illusion and fantasy, we know that a human being at the moment of his coming into existence, when he is already conscious and possesses perception, discovers himself and the world. That is to say, he has no doubt that "He exists and things other than he exist." As long as man is man, this comprehension and knowledge exist in him and cannot be doubted, nor do they undergo any change.
The perception of this reality and existence which man affirms through his intelligence, in opposition to the views of the sophist and skeptic, is immutable and can never be proven
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false. That is to say, the claim of the sophist and the skeptic which negates reality can never be true, because of man's very existence. There is within the immense world of existence a permanent and abiding reality which pervades it and which reveals itself to the intelligence.
Yet, each of the phenomena of this world, which possesses the reality that we discover in conscious and perceiving human beings, loses its reality sooner or later and becomes nonexistent. From this fact itself, it is evident that the visible world and its parts are not the essence of reality (which can never be obliterated or destroyed). Rather, they rely upon a permanent Reality through which they gain reality and by means of which they enter into existence. As long as they are connected and attached to it, they possess existence and as soon as they are cut off from it, they become nonexistent.
1 We call this Immutable Reality, which is imperishable (that is, the Necessary Being), God.
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1 In the Book of God, reference is made at this reasoning in the verse "Can there be doubt concerning Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth?" (Qur'an, XIV, 10)
