Approaching Mulla Sadra as Scriptural Exegete
A Survey of Scholarship on His Quranic Works
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/cis.v4i4.1-4.2.75Keywords:
Islamic Philosophy, Qurʾānic Hermeneutics, Contemporary ScholarshipAbstract
This article offers the first comprehensive survey of scholarly literature devoted to the Quranic works of the famous Muslim philosopher, Mulla Sadra (d. 1050/1640). While taking account of the merits and shortcomings of studies on Sadra’s Quranic writings, we will also be concerned with highlighting some of the methodological problems raised by the diverse range of approaches adopted in these studies. Chief amongst them is the tendency to pit Sadra the philosopher against Sadra the scriptural exegete. Such a dichotomy is not entirely helpful, both with respect to painting a clearer picture of Sadra’s religious worldview, and to addressing broader questions pertaining to the intimate relationship shared between the “act” of philosophy and the “act” of reading scripture.
References
Açikgenç, Alparslan. Being and Existence in Sadra and Heidegger: A Comparative Ontology. Kuala Lumpur: International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 1993.
Akbarian, Reza. The Fundamental Principles of Mulla Sadra’s Transcendent Philosophy. London: Xlibris, 2009.
Akhlaqi, Mardiyah. “Sirisht-i ma‘na’i wa-zaban-i wahy az didgah-i Sadr al-muta’allihin.” Khirad-Nama-yi Sadra 52 (1387/2008): 70–86.
Arani, Fatima. “Mabani-yi ‘irfani-yi ta'wil-i Quran az manzar-i Sadr-i muta'allihin.” Khirad-Nama-yi Sadra 42 (1384/2005): 63–74.
———. Tatabuq-i madarij-i Quran wa-ma‘arij-i insan az manzar-i Sadr-i muta'allihin.” Khirad-Nama-yi Sadra 32 (1381/2002): 46–52.
Ashtiyani, Jalal al-Din. “Muqaddima-yi musahhih.” In Mulla Sadra, Sih risala-yi falsafi. Edited by Jalal al-Din Ashtiyani. 2nd ed., 17–181. Tehran: Markazi-yi Intisharat-i Daftar-i Tablighat-i Islami, 1379/2000.
A‘wani, Ghulam-Rida and Nasir Muhammadi. “Zaban-i Qur’an wa-zaban-i tamthil az didgah-i Sadr al-muta’allihin.” Khirad-Nama-yi Sadra 54 (1387/2008): 4–17.
Azizi, Mudabbir. “Mulla Sadra’s Gnostic Approach Towards the Qur’anic Verses.” In Eschatology, Exegesis, Hadith (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran), 445–466. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2005.
Bidarfar, Muhsin. “Taqdim.” In Mulla Sadra, Tafsir al-Quran al-karim, ed. Muhammad Khwajawi, 1: 1–131. Qum: Intisharat-i Bidar, 1987–1990.
Bidhandi, Muhammad. “Barrasi wa-tahlil-i barkhi ta'ammulat-i ta'wili-yi Mulla Sadra dar kitab wa-sunnat.” Khirad-Nama-yi Sadra 38 (1383/2004): 4–16.
———. “Barrasi-yi tatbiqi-yi ta’wil-i Mulla Sadra wa-hirminutik-i Haydigar.” Khirad-Nama-yi Sadra 53 (1387/2008): 61–72.
Bonmariage, Cécile. Le Réel et les réalités: Mulla Sadra Shirazi et la structure de la réalité. Paris: Vrin, 2008.
Burrell, David. “Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) and Mulla Sadra Shirazi (980/1572-1050/1640) and the Primacy of esse/wujûd in Philosophical Theology.” Medieval Philosophy and Theology 8 (1999): 207–219. doi:10.1017/S1057060899082055
Burujirdi, Mustafa. “The Impact of the Quran in the Development of the Transcendent Philosophy.” In Mulla Sadra and Transcendent Philosophy (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran), 2: 397–407. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2001.
———. “Ta'thir-i Quran-i karim dar shaklgiri-yi hikmat-i muta‘aliya.” Khirad-Nama-yi Sadra 20 (1379/2000): 57–60.
Corbin, Henry. “Introduction.” In Mulla Sadra, Le livre des pénétrations métaphysiques. Trans. Henry Corbin, 9–78. Paris: Verdier, 1988, repr. ed.
Crow, Karim. “Mulla Sadra on the First Intellect in his Sharh Usul al-Kafi.” In Eschatology, Exegesis, Hadith (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran), 571–590. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2005.
Dakake, David. “Defining Ambiguity: Early and Classical Commentary on the Mutashabih Verses of the Qur’an.” PhD diss., Temple University, in progress.
Dakake, Maria. “The Origin of Man in Pre-Eternity and his Origination in Time: Mulla Sadra and Imami Shi‘ite Tradition.” In Eschatology, Exegesis, Hadith (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran), 147–166. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2005.
Dihqanpur, ‘Ali-Rida. “Ruykard-i hikmat-i Sadra’i ba-tafsir-i Quran.” Khirad-Nama-yi Sadra 56 (1388/2009): 54–68.
Ernst, Carl. “Sufism and Philosophy in Mulla Sadra.” In Mulla Sadra and Transcendent Philosophy (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran), 1: 173–192. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2001.
Eschraghi, Armin. “‘I was a Hidden Treasure’: Some Notes on a Commentary Ascribed to Mulla Sadra Shirazi: Sharh hadith: ‘Kuntu kanzan makhfiyyan (sic)’.” In Islamic Thought in the Middle Ages: Studies in Text, Transmission and Translation, in Honour of Hans Daiber, ed. Wim Raven and Anna Akasoy, 91–100. Leiden: Brill, 2008. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004165656.i-711.22
Ešots, Janis. “Mulla Sadra’s Teaching on Wujud: A Synthesis of Philosophy and Mysticism.” PhD diss., Tallinn University, 2007.
———. “The Quranic Hermeneutics of Mulla Sadra.” In Esoteric Approaches to the Quran, ed. Annabel Keeler and Sajjad Rizvi, forthcoming.
Hermansen, Marcia. “Mulla Sadra’s Commentary upon the Light Verse (Ayat al-Nur 24:35).” In Eschatology, Exegesis, Hadith (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran), 409–428. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2005.
Husayn-Dust, Abu l-Qasim. “Hurif-i munqati‘a-yi Quran dar hikmat-i muta‘aliya-yi Mulla Sadra.” Khirad-Nama-yi Sadra 36 (1383/2004): 58–63.
Ja‘fari, ‘Ali Asghar. “Sharh-i hadith ‘kuntu kanzan makhfiyyan’.” Khirad-Nama-yi Sadra 32 (1381/2002): 61–63.
Jambet, Christian. L’acte d’être: la philosophie de la révélation chez Mollâ Sadrâ. Paris: Fayard, 2002; trans. Jeff Fort as The Act of Being: The Philosophy of Revelation in Mulla Sadra. New York: Zone Books, 2006.
———. ““L’essence de Dieu est toute chose”: Identité et différence selon Sadr al-Din Shirazi (Mulla Sadra).” In Le shi‘isme imamite quarante ans après: hommage à Etan Kohlberg, ed. Mohammad Ali-Amir Moezzi et al., 269-92. Turnhout, Brepols, 2009.
———. Mort et résurrection en islam: L’au-delà selon Mullâ Sadrâ. Paris: Albin Michel, 2008.
———. Pas de contrainte en religion: Une approche de la question de la liberté en Islam. Paris: ESCP-EAP, 2004.
———. Se rendre immortel. Saint-Clément-de-Rivière: Fata Morgana, 2002.
Kalin, Ibrahim. “An Annotated Bibliography of the Works of Mulla Sadra with a Brief Account of his Life.” Islamic Studies 42(1), (2003): 21–62.
———. “Between Physics and Metaphysics: Mulla Sadra on Nature and Motion.” Islam and Science 1(1), (2003): 59–90.
———. Knowledge in Later Islamic Philosophy: Mulla Sadra on Existence, Intellect and Intuition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
———. “Mulla Sadra on Theodicy and the Best of All Possible Worlds.” Journal of Islamic Studies 18(2), (2007): 183–207. doi:10.1093/jis/etm002
Kamada, Shigeru. “Mulla Sadra Between Mystical Philosophy and Qur’an Interpretation through his Commentary on the ‘Chapter of the Earthquake.’” International Journal of Asian Studies 2 (2), (2005): 275–289. doi:10.1017/S1479591405000136
———. “Transmigration of Soul (tanasukh) in Shaykh al-Mufid and Mulla Sadra.” Orient 44 (2009): 105–119.
Kamal, Muhammad. Mulla Sadra’s Transcendent Philosophy. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006.
Karamati, Muhammad Taqi. Ta'thir-i mabani-yi falsafi dar tafsir-i Sadr al-muta'allihin. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 1385/2006.
Keeler, Annabel. “Mulla Sadra’s Commentary on Surat al-Sajda.” In Eschatology, Exegesis, Hadith (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran), 343–356. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2005.
Khamenei, Muhammad. “Fahm-i kalam-i Khuda dar maktab-i Mulla Sadra.” Khirad-Nama-yi Sadra 31 (1382/2003): 19–25; originally published in Khameini, Principles of Interpretation and Qur’anic Hermeneutics According to Mulla Sadra, 49–64.
———. Mulla Sadra: zindagi, shakhsiyyat, wa-maktab-i Sadr-i muta'allihin. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2000.
———. Principles of Interpretation and Quranic Hermeneutics According to Mulla Sadra. London: ICAS, 1999.
———. “Usul-i tafsiri wa-hirminutik-i Qurani nazd-i Mulla Sadra.” Khirad-Nama-yi Sadra 18 (1378/1999): 64–71; originally published in Khamenei, Principles of Interpretation and Quranic Hermeneutics According to Mulla Sadra, 27–47.
Kinberg, Leah. “Muhkamat and Mutashabihat (Koran 3/7): Implications of a Koranic Pair of Terms in Medieval Exegesis.” Arabica 35 (1998): 142–172.
Khwajawi, Muhammad. Lawami‘ al-‘arifin fi sharh ahwal Sadr al-muta'allihin. Tehran: Ariyan Press, 1987.
———. “Muqaddimat al-musahhih.” In Mulla Sadra, Mafatih al-ghayb, ed. Muhammad Khwajawi, 5–74. Beirut: Mu'assasat al-Ta‘rikh al-‘Arabi, 2002, repr. ed.
Kuspinar, Bilal. “Mulla Sadra on the Light-Verse.” In Eschatology, Exegesis, Hadith (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran), 357–368. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2005.
Landolt, Hermann. “Henry Corbin’s Understanding of Mulla Sadra.” In Mulla Sadra and Transcendent Philosophy (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran), 1: 163–172. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2001; reprinted in Landolt, Recherches en spiritualité iranienne, 357–364.
———. Recherches en spiritualité iranienne. Tehran: University of Tehran Press, 2005.
Mangabadi, Dihqan. “Mulla Sadra’s Method of Qur’an Commentary.” In Eschatology, Exegesis, Hadith (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran), 429–444. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2005.
Mohaghegh, Mehdi. “Mafatih al-ghayb-i Mulla Sadra.” In Mohaghegh, Bist guftar. Tehran: Naqsh-i Jahan, 1971, ch. 8.
Moris, Megawati. Mulla Sadra’s Doctrine of the Primacy of Existence (asalat al-wujud). Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC, 2003.
Moris, Zailan. Revelation, Intellectual Intuition and Reason in the Philosophy of Mulla Sadra: An Analysis of the al-Hikmah al-‘Arshiyyah. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002.
Morris, James. “Civilization as Dialogue: Spirituality and Philosophy in Mulla Sadra and Today.” In Mulla Sadra’s School and Western Philosophies (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the Second World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 2004, Tehran), 1: 261–272. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2005.
Nakudiyan-Isfahani, Abu l-Qasim. “Didgah-i Mulla Sadra piramun-i nam-ha wa-sifat-i Quran.” Khirad-Nama-yi Sadra 24 (1380/2001): 83–87.
Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. “The Qur’anic Commentaries of Mulla Sadra.” In Consciousness and Reality: Studies in Memory of Toshihiko Izutsu, ed. Jalal al-Din Ashtiyani et al., 47–57. Leiden: Brill, 1998; also in Nasr, Sadr al-Din Shirazi and His Transcendent Theosophy, ch. 7.
———. Sadr al-Din Shirazi and His Transcendent Theosophy. 2nd ed. Tehran: Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, 1997.
Peerwani, Latimah. “Mulla Sadra Shirazi on the Hermeneutics of the Qur’an: His Philosophical Meditation.” In Eschatology, Exegesis, Hadith (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran), 369–390. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2005.
———. “Qur’anic Hermeneutics: The Views of Sadr al-Din Shirazi.” Proceedings of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (1991): 468–477.
Riyahi, ‘Ali Arshad. “Ta'thirat-i muthbat wa-ya manfi-yi falsafa-yi Sadra dar fahm-i u az ayat-i Quran.” Khirad-Nama-yi Sadra 35 (1383/2004): 50–58.
Rizvi, Sajjad. “Mulla Sadra and Causation: Rethinking a Problem in Later Islamic Philosophy.” Philosophy East and West 55(4), (2005): 570–583. doi:10.1353/pew.2005.0042
———. Mulla Sadra and Metaphysics: Modulation of Being. London: Routledge, 2009.
———. Mulla Sadra Shirazi: His Life and Works and the Sources for Safavid Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Rustom, Mohammed. “Mulla Sadra’s Prolegomenon to the Mafatih al-Ghayb.” Journal of Qur’anic Studies 9(1), (2007): 128–133.
———. “Psychology, Eschatology, and Imagination in Mulla Sadra Shirazi’s Commentary on the Hadith of Awakening.” Islam and Science 5(1), (2007): 9–22.
———. “An Annotated Bibliography of Mulla Sadra’s Qur’anic Writings.” Journal of Islamic Philosophy 7 (special issue on Mulla Sadra, guest-edited by Mohammed Rustom) (2011): forthcoming.
Safavi, Seyed (ed.). Mulla Sadra and Comparative Philosophy on Causation. London: Salman-Azadeh, 2003.
——— (ed.). Perception According to Mulla Sadra. London: Salman-Azadeh, 1999.
Sa‘idi, Hasan. “Illumination, Unveiling and Intuition in Mulla Sadra’s Qur’anic Commentary.” In Eschatology, Exegesis, Hadith (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran), 519–538. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2005.
Saleh, Mohsen Mahmoud. “Being: The Light of Lights: An Analysis of Mulla Sadra’s Commentary on the Verse of Light.” In Eschatology, Exegesis, Hadith (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran), 321–342. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2005.
———. “The Verse of Light: A Study of Mulla Sadra’s Philosophical Qur’an Exegesis.” PhD diss., Temple University, 1992.
Shirazi, Muhammad b. Ibrahim (Mulla Sadra). Asrar al-ayat wa-anwar al-bayyinat. Ed. S.M. Musawi. Tehran: Intisharat-i Hikmat, 1385/2006.
———. The Elixir of the Gnostics. Ed. and trans. William Chittick. Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2003.
———. Le livre des pénétrations métaphysiques. Trans. Henry Corbin. Paris: Verdier, 1988, repr. ed.
———. Mafatih al-ghayb. Ed. Muhammad Khwajawi. Beirut: Mu'assasat al-Ta‘rikh al-‘Arabi, 2002, repr. ed.
———. Mutashabihat al-Quran in Sadra, Sih risala-yi falsafi. Ed. Jalal al-Din Ashtiyani. 2nd ed. Tehran: Markazi-yi Intisharat-i Daftar-i Tablighat-i Islami, 1379/2000, 255-284.
———. On the Hermeneutics of the Light Verse of the Qur’an. Trans. Latimah Peerwani. London: ICAS Press, 2004.
———. Schiitische Theosophie: Die Koranexegese von Mulla Sadra. Trans. Sasha Dehgani. Berlin: Suhrkamp Insel, forthcoming.
———. Sih asl. Ed. Seyyed Hossein Nasr. Tehran: Tehran University Press, 1961; Trans. Colin Turner as Challenging Islamic Fundamentalism: The Three Principles of Mulla Sadra. London: Routledge, 2010.
———. Tafsir al-Quran al-karim. Ed. Muhammad Khwajawi. 7 vols. Qum: Intisharat-i Bidar, 1987–1990.
———. Tafsir-i Sura-yi jumu‘a. Trans. Muhammad Khwajawi. Tehran: Intisharat-i Mawla, 1364/1984.
———. Tafsir-i Sura-yi mubaraka-yi nur. Trans. Muhammad Khwajawi. Tehran: Intisharat-i Mawla, 1363/1983.
———. Le verset de la lumière commentaire. Trans. Christian Jambet. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2009.
Stewart, Devin. “Mulla Sadra’s Commentary on Usul al-Kafi as a Response to the Akhbari Revival.” In Eschatology, Exegesis, Hadith (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran), 563–570. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2005.
Taheri, Sayyid Sadruddin. “A Critical Study of Resurrection in the Qur’anic Commentary and Philosophical Ideas of Sadr al-Muta'allihin.” In Eschatology, Exegesis, Hadith (Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue: The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May, 1999, Tehran), 45–76. Tehran: SIPRIn, 2005.
———. “Guzarashi az tafasir.” Khirad-Nama-yi Sadra 1 (1374/1995): 57–63.
Zanjani, Abu ‘Abd Allah. Maqalat fi ta‘rikh al-Quran wa Sadr al-Din Shirazi. Damascus: al-Mustashariyya al-Thaqafiyya li-l-Jumhuriyya al-Islamiyya al-Iraniyya bi-Dimashq, 2002.
