Mulla Sadra (1571–1640)

Sadr al-Din Muhammad Shirazi, widely known as Mulla Sadra, was a Persian philosopher, theologian, mystic, and reformer. He is considered the most important Islamic philosopher after Ibn Sina, known especially for developing the philosophical system called al-Hikmah al-Muta‘aliyah (Transcendent Philosophy), which brought together multiple streams of Islamic thought.

1. Background

Origin – Born in Shiraz, in present-day Iran, during the Safavid dynasty.

Career – He studied in Isfahan under leading scholars, then withdrew to a period of spiritual retreat in Kahak. Later in life, he returned to Shiraz, where he taught and produced his most important works.

2. Education and Influences

Teachers

• Mir Damad: His most influential teacher, known for integrating philosophy with Shi‘i theology.

• Shaykh Baha’i (Baha al-Din al-‘Amili): A prominent scholar of theology, jurisprudence, and esoteric sciences who shaped Sadra’s spiritual and intellectual outlook.

Influences

• Ibn Sina: Mulla Sadra drew heavily on his metaphysics and philosophical method.

• Suhrawardi: The founder of Illuminationist philosophy, whose ideas on light and intuitive knowledge deeply influenced Sadra.

• Ibn Arabi: The great Sufi mystic whose doctrine of wahdat al-wujud (unity of existence) informed Sadra’s metaphysical views.

• Shi‘i theology: Sadra integrated Shi‘i kalam into his philosophical system, especially concepts like Imamate and divine justice.

• The Qur’an: Sadra considered the Qur’an a source of philosophical insight and used it to validate and deepen his metaphysical positions.

3. Main Themes of His Philosophical Thought

Primacy of Existence (Asalat al-Wujud)

Mulla Sadra’s central doctrine, asserting that existence (wujud) — not essence (mahiyyah) — is the fundamental reality.

• Existence is graded (tashkik): all beings share existence but in varying degrees of intensity and perfection.

• God is Pure Existence, and all other existents are its manifestations.

• This principle reconciles philosophical rationalism, mystical experience, and theological monotheism in one vision of being.

Substantial Motion (al-Harakat al-Jawhariyyah)

He proposed that substance itself is in continuous motion, not just its accidental properties.

• The entire cosmos is a process of perpetual becoming.

• Time, change, and motion are intrinsic to the very fabric of existence.

• This doctrine allowed him to integrate creation, evolution, and spiritual ascent within one ontological framework.

Theory of Origination and Time (Huduth Dahri)

Sadra adopted and expanded Mir Damad’s theory, employing these distinctions to harmonize the Qur’anic concept of creation in time with the philosophical notion of eternal emanation, thereby articulating a hierarchy of being and temporality:

• Huduth Zamani – Temporal origination (things created in time).

• Huduth Dahri – Eternal origination (in a timeless, intermediary realm).

• Huduth Sarmadi – Atemporal origination (pertaining to the divine).

Reconciliation of Peripatetic and Illuminationist Traditions

He combined Avicenna’s rationalism and Suhrawardi’s illuminationism:

• Retained Avicennian logical rigor while grounding metaphysical truths in inner illumination (ishraq) and spiritual experience.

• His Transcendent Philosophy (al-Hikmah al-Muta‘aliyah) sought to harmonize reason, revelation, and mysticism as complementary modes of knowledge.

Epistemology and Intuition

For Sadra, knowledge was not merely representational but existential (al-‘ilm al-huduri).

• True knowledge arises from presence (hudūr) and spiritual unveiling (kashf).

• Intellectual understanding must be united with inner purification and divine illumination.

Philosophy of Prophethood and Imamate

Influenced by Twelver Shi‘ism, Sadra viewed the Prophet and Imams as ontological intermediaries between God and creation.

• The Imam functions as a metaphysical axis, akin to the Neoplatonic Intellect.

• Revelation, reason, and spiritual illumination converge in the person of the Prophet or Imam, who embodies the fullest human perfection.

4. Influence on His Generation and Beyond

In His Own Time

• Mulla Sadra’s teachings were initially met with resistance by conservative scholars, especially due to his mystical and philosophical synthesis. However, he later gained official patronage and established a school of philosophy in Shiraz.

On Later Generations

• He founded the School of Shiraz, which continued his intellectual legacy.

• His student Fayd al-Kashani became a major transmitter of Sadra’s ideas, blending them with hadith and Shi‘i law.

• In the modern era, Sadra’s thought became central to Shi‘i seminaries in Iran, especially in Qom and Mashhad.

5. Major Works

• Al-Asfar al-Arba‘ah (The Four Journeys) – His magnum opus, a vast synthesis of metaphysics, epistemology, psychology, and theology.

• Sharh al-Usul al-Kafi (Exegesis of the Foundations of the Book of the Sufficient) – Philosophical commentary on the hadith collection al-Kafi.

• Al-Mabda’ wa’l-Ma‘ad (The Origin and the Return) – On cosmology and eschatology.

• al-Tafsir (A commentary upon the Qur'an) – A detailed commentary on the Qur'an.

• Al-Hikmah al-‘Arshiyyah (The Wisdom of the Throne) – On divine wisdom and the hierarchy of being.