ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Philosophical Instructions Translator’s Introduction Philosophical Instructions: An Introduction to Contemporary Islamic Philosophy is a textbook compiled for the purpose of introducing the students of the Islamic seminaries in Qom to the rudiments of Islamic philosophy.

It is arranged in the form of seventy short lessons which cover the breadth of Islamic philosophy, including discussions of the history of philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics and philosophical theology. The lectures were originally presented by the author to students and taped at the Dar Rāh-e Haqq Institute in Qom in 1981 and 1982, the transcriptions of the tapes were revised and edited by Prof. Miṣbāḥ and published in two volumes by the Islamic Propagation Organization in Qom.

In the Persian edition, titled Āmūzesh-e Falsafeh , first printed in 1985-86, each lesson is followed by a summary and review questions, but the lessons themselves are so concise that we decided to omit these materials from the translation. The book was not written for an English speaking audience, and for this very reason it serves that audience as a very good introduction to Islamic philosophy as it is seen from within the seminaries of Qom.

The author, Ayatullah Miṣbāḥ Yazdī, is one of the most highly respected clerics in the Shī‘ī world, and a revered professor of philosophy. His Philosophical Instructions is a unique work, not only because of its survey of the topics of Islamic philosophy, but because the author self-consciously attempts to defend his considered views from opponents at home and abroad. So, the work is polemical as well as instructional.

What is defended is a controversial way of looking at Islamic philosophy as a foundation for religious thought.

Philosophy and the interpretation of the Qur’ān, like mysticism, ‘irfān , are looked upon with suspicion by many Shī‘ī clerics who teach Islamic law and jurisprudence, fiqh and uṣūl , although the situation has improved somewhat since the Islamic Revolution due to the fact that Imam Khomeini promoted these areas of learning, and due to the esteem in which ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī is held, whose works in these areas have become standards.

[^1] What is at issue is not so much the methods of philosophy as the doctrines with which it is associated in the Islamic world.