A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE VIEWS OF SAYYED HOSSEIN NASR ON THE PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATION OF ISLAMIC SCIENCE.

• Author: Mughal, Muhammad Junaid

1. Introduction

   The revival of Islamic science and its philosophy has been the focus of many scholars since nineteen sixty onwards. It has received a great deal of attention around the globe. Other than Nasr, the works of various scholars, such as Muzaffar Iqbal, Naquib al Attas, Alparsalan, Ziauddin Sardar and Osman Bakar, have shed light to identify the fundamental difference between the philosophy of Islamic and modern Western science. As the advocate of Islamic science Seyyed Hossein Nasr stands at the top and claims that Islamic science is extremely different in terms of its origin, characteristics, and objectives from those of modern Western science. The aim of this paper is to examine the views of Nasr with regard to the above-mentioned advocates of Islamic science. First, we will investigate the views of Nasr on Islamic philosophy, its meaning, origin and nature, and its role in the development of Islamic science. Second, the views of Nasr will be examined on the philosophy of Islamic science, its meaning, and the metaphysical and philosophical premises. For this purpose, the method of content analysis with a focus on comparison will be employed.

2. The meaning of Islamic philosophy

   As a great proponent of traditional Islamic philosophy, Nasr prefers to use the traditional meaning of the term 'philosophy'. He puts emphasis on the use of the term falsafah as identical to hikmah and examines the use of these terms in the light of traditional sources and definitions presented by the Islamic philosopher (Nasr 2007: 100). He underscores the terminologies in Islamic perspective as used in Islamic civilization. He argues that the term 'philosophy' is translated from the Arabic term 'falsafah' and explores the meaning of the latter term into Islam and its civilization (Nasr 2007: 97). He affirms that from Islamic perspective the philosophy is understood today, as an endeavour to acquire ultimate knowledge of things by using rational and sensual faculties without receiving any help from the light of Divine intellect, has no legitimacy. For him, this view is a product of humanism which does not imply with Islamic perspective (Nasr 2007: 98).

   First, he determines the use of these terms in primary sources; the Qur'an and Hadith. Nasr identifies the use of the term hikmah in the following statements of the Qur'an: He giveth wisdom [hikmah] unto whom He will, and he unto whom wisdom is given, he truly hath received abundant good (The Qur'an 2: 269). Nasr also quotes a Hadith for instance: The acquisition of hikmah is incumbent upon thee: verily the good resides in hikmah and "Speak not of hikmah to fools" (Nasr 2007: 101). Then he refers to a few definitions of philosophy developed by Peripatetic philosophers such as al-Kindi, al-Farabi and Ibn-Sina. For example, philosophy according to al-Kindi. ... is the knowledge of the reality of things within man's possibility, because the philosopher's end in his theoretical knowledge is to gain truth and in his practical knowledge to behave in accordance with truth (Nasr 2007: 101). Nasr claims that alFarabi had accepted the definition of al-Kindi with some addition, as he distinguishes between "philosophy rooted in certainty" (falsafahyaqiniyah) which is demonstrative (burhani), and 'philosophy deriving from opinion' (falsafahmaznunah), founded on dialectics and sophistry (Nasr 2007: 101). Nasr also quotes Ibn-Sina who added an element of realization and perfection in the definition of hikmah, according to him: Hikmah is the perfecting of the human soul through the conceptualization of things and the judgment of theoretical and practical truths to the measure of human capability (Nasr 2007: 102).

   Nasr asserts that Suharwardi and Ishraqi schools played a major role in terms of establishing the close binding between philosophy and religion. Sufism focusing on esoteric dimensions wedded philosophy with spiritual realization considering former as an esoteric dimension of revelation and later as spiritual practice relate to religious discipline (Nasr 2007: 102). Nasr considers the contribution of Sadr al-Din Shirazi known as Mulla Sadra, as a finest work in Islamic philosophy. Nasr acknowledges the definition of hikmah provided by him with 'fullness and synthetic' quality. He records the definition given by Mulla Sadra and states: Falsafah is the perfecting of the human soul to the extent of human possibility through knowledge of the essential realities of things as they are in themselves and through judgment concerning their existence established upon demonstration and not derived from opinion or through imitation. Or if thou liketh thou canst say it is to give intelligible order to the world to the extent of human possibility in order to gain 'resemblance' to the Divine (Nasr 2007: 103).

   Nasr upholds that conceptually it is not sound to use the term 'natural philosophy' for the study of nature in Islamic civilization because the epistemological meaning of natural philosophy is not same in Islamic science as it was used and understood in Greek or Roman tradition (Iqbal 2007: 22). In Greek civilization this term has been used in broader perspective for three major categories; metaphysics, mathematics, and physics, whereas the use of same term in Islamic science will lead to some complications because there are various disciplines and branches in Islamic science which have their own specific names (Iqbal 2007: 23).

   From this perspective, hikmah in terms of knowledge and action guides humans and saves them from falling victim to their animalistic desires which degrades their status to the lowest level. Hikmah enables man to re-establish his lost angelic position in which he was at the stage of his creation (Iqbal 2007: 104).

3. Historical development of Islamic philosophy

   In agreement with many historians, Nasr traces the origin of the Islamic philosophy back to the heritage of Greco-Alexandrian philosophy. The Greek heritage was translated into Arabic in the ninth century by the Muslims. During this period of translation, Nasr infers that Muslim scholars were so much concerned about the revelation and the Prophetic tradition; both were the central reality for them. According to Nasr, Greek philosophy was considered by the Muslim philosophers as rooted in prophecy. They continued their learning and developed it as they identified the origin of what they were learning with revelation (Nasr 2006: 108). In other words, one of the inspirations for Muslims to mastering the Greek philosophy was the fundamental characteristic of divinity which was still rooted in the Greek philosophy and perceived by the Muslim philosophers.

   Nasr, in his writings, also sheds light on the influence of certain Qur'anic themes on Islamic philosophy. According to him, this influence has been manifested in Islamic philosophy throughout its history, especially, during the period when the philosophy was reformed completely into actual theosophy. For Nasr, the absolute form of theosophy had the exact meaning as al-hikmah al-ilahiyyah in Arabic. Essential element of theosophy is the 'unity of the Divine Principle' which is ultimate Reality or al-Tawhid as a foundation of the Islamic message. Nasr claims that Muslim philosophers were monotheists 'muwahhid' and they found authentic philosophy under the light of Tawhid. They studied and learned the philosophy of Pythagoras and Plato, because their philosophy for them was basically based on the unity of Ultimate Principle. But they showed no interest in learning the later modes of Greek and Roman philosophy because they were 'cynical and agnostic' (Umar 2001: 122).

   Islamic philosophy is basically based on twin sources of transcendent knowledge, revelation and intellectual intuition. Thus, Islamic philosophy is actually 'prophetic philosophy', in which revelation performs a major role at both macrocosmic and microcosmic levels (Umar 2001: 106). Although there has been a tussle between the Qur'anic description of Unity and understanding of Muslims what they learned from Greek tradition. According to Nasr this tension was changed into 'a synthesisation of the highest intellectual order' due to the intellectual efforts of some later philosophers. However, he enunciates that throughout the treatment of philosophy the Qur'anic doctrine of Unity remained dominant (Umar 2001: 122).

   In Nasr's presentation, Islamic philosophy like traditional philosophy is based on certainty instead of doubt and assumptions. In Islamic or traditional philosophy, human mind is actually enlightened by the light of Divine intellect which saves a human being from error and leads him to certain knowledge. Islamic philosophy is one of the richest intellectual traditions in the world which possesses illimitable horizons, is related to metaphysical realities and united with illumination (ishraq) and gnosis (irfan). Emphasizing the traditional aspect of philosophy, Nasr prefers to call it falsifah and hikama and as philosophers in our time (Nasr 2007: 98) Sardar disagrees with Nasr and argues that his assessment seems to be based on his personal observation and lacking any authentic reference. One can find the validity of argument from the source of its reference. If Sardar disagrees with Nasr at the point which goes back to Greek tradition, then he should have searched further to sort out the original source instead of blaming Nasr without any strong evidence or reference. The claim might be based on transcendent reality and remained the part of that tradition which has been affected with some fundamental changes. For example, Nasr asserts: What the medieval and even post-medieval West has known of Hermes comes essentially from Islamic sources rather than directly Alexandrian ones, where, from the Wedding of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth, the figure of Hermes as the founder of alchemy and a whole 'philosophy of nature' come into being (Umar 2001: 107).

   Suheyle Umer...