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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Sohravardi and the Question of Knowledge Illuminationist Philosophy Prior to the appearance of Illuminationist Philosophy, peripatetic philosophy, represented by thinkers such as Farabi, Ibn Sina, and Ibn Rushd, was the dominant philosophy in the Islamic world. Peripatetic philosophy is rooted in speculative reason and Aristotelian syllogistic logic and marginalizes or pays no attention to mystical ideas and experiences.

Mystics/Sufis of that era rejected reason or at least did not relied upon reason and logic, emphasizing instead the spiritual journey and immediate vision ( shuhud ) of reality. Ghazali’s harsh attack on philosophy is an example of the struggle against philosophy that existed in this era; this attack went far in the weakening or destruction of philosophy among Sunni Muslims.

Sohravardi, inspired by Islamic teachings on the importance of both reason and spirituality and benefiting from the philosophical and mystical heritages of Islamic culture and other ancient traditions such as those of Greek and Persia, attempted to revive and reconstruct a system of wisdom which in his view was one with the perennial wisdom of prophets and sages.

He revived an intellectual-spiritual tradition that prophets and sages such as Zoroaster, Hermes (or Idris, the father of wisdom), Pythagoras, Agathadimon, Asklepios , Empedocles, Socrates and Plato had taught, synthesizing their teachings and the teachings of Muslim philosophers and mystics as well as the Quran and Hadith and Muslim philosophers and mystics into one unique system.

According to Sohravardi, this wisdom had always been present among ancient nations including Indians, Persians, Babylonians, Egyptians and Greeks until the time of Plato, as well as among Sufis in the Islamic world. Through Greek philosophers this wisdom came to Zulnon Mesri and Sahl al-Tusturi, and from Zoroaster and other Persian sages like Keyumarth, Feraydun, Keykhosrov, Jamasb, and Bozorgmehr it came to Sufis such as Bayazid Bastami and Hallaj.

Finally these two traditions joined together in the person of Sohravardi. Sohravardi did not accept rationalistic thinking in isolation or the domination of Aristotelian philosophy; therefore his philosophy is in part a criticism of peripatetic philosophy. However he did not deny all aspects of this philosophy; rather he accepted many of its principles.