Sayyed Mohammad Reza Hejazi

Al-ilm Al-huduri: Knowledge by Presence Sayyed Mohammad Reza Hejazi

Publisher Marketing: This book explores the issue of knowledge by presence as an epistemological problem in philosophy. Al-Ilm al-Huduri (knowledge by presence) deserves as an epistemological bridge between philosophy and mysticism. This book is a comparative study of the epistemology of Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra Shirazi, two Muslim thinkers of the 6th/12th and 11th/17th century. It focuses on two main issues: Illuminative theory of knowledge and, in the framework of this theory, Mulla Sadra's doctrine of knowledge by presence (al-'ilm al-huduri) studied in the context of his philosophical system (al-hikmah al-muta'aliyah). Mulla Sadra's multidimensional methodology is also discussed in this book. The aim of this study is to explore the Mulla Sadra's theory of knowledge by presence, al-'ilm al-huduri, and examine it as an epistemological bridge between philosophy and mysticism within the context of Mulla Sadra's philosophical system (al-hikmah al-muta'aliyah). Hence, Mulla Sadra's doctrine of knowledge by presence is the corner stone of his epistemological system. In the light of this doctrine, he gives a new definition of knowledge, an innovative interpretation of its division into al-'ilm al-huduri and al-'ilm al-husuli, and, finally, a systematic chain of various kinds of knowledge by presence (e.g., self-knowledge, God's knowledge of His Essence and God's knowledge of things). These three aspects of his doctrine have been surveyed and, in comparing them with Suhrawardi's theory, evaluated in this book. Contributor Bio:  Hejazi, Sayyed Mohammad Reza The Author: Dr. Sayyed Mohammad Reza Hejazi is Professor of Religious Studies, Mysticism, Moral Philosophy and Theology at I. M. Seminary, Director of the Islamic Studies and Research Academy (ISRA), California, USA, Chairman of A. B. A. Assembly of North America, and a founder member and a Trustee of the Ibn Sina Health Foundation of North America (ISHFNA). He has also served as Director at the I. E. C., Washington D. C. and was a Chairman at the I. I. N. Y., New York, USA. He has graduated from Elmiyeh Seminary of Qom in Islamic Jurisprudence and Islamic studies. He holds a doctorate in Philosophy and Mysticism from B. U. C. Institute of Qom, a second Master of Arts degree in Epistemology and Philosophy of Mysticism from McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and a second doctorate in Philosophy of Ethics from Catholic University of America, Washington D. C., USA. Dr. Hejazi has published 24 books in English, Arabic, and Persian. He has also published more than 22 articles in different languages and participated in about 32 international and inter-disciplinary Seminars, Conferences and Academic Workshops. In addition to his teaching and writing, Dr. Hejazi serves as a consultant in the fields of education, morality, religion and philosophy.