Studying the Method of Religious Knowledge from the Viewpoint of Mīrzā Mahdī Iṣfahānī
Journal Title: جستارهایی در فلسفه و کلام - Year 2016, Vol 48, Issue 97
Abstract
Mīrza Mahdī Iṣfahānī, the founder of Tafkīk School (separatism) and one of the contemporary figures opposing philosophy in the present era, has falsified the method of the theologians, philosophers, and mystics concerning acquiring religious knowledge and believes that he has provided a new way that is compatible with religious law (sharī‘a). Separating Divine knowledge from human knowledge, he believes that the Divine knowledge that is acquired through paying attention to luminous intellect, innate knowledge, and by referring to the external meanings (ẓawāhir) of traditions is totally distinct from human knowledge, which is achieved through logical argument. In justification of this viewpoint, Mīrza Mahdī Iṣfahānī has presented new meanings for intellect, science, and reasoning and calls the knowledge acquired in this method as Divine knowledge in contrast to human knowledge. Nevertheless, in practice, Mīrza Mahdī has not abided by this viewpoint and when explaining and proving what he claims, he has employed the very logical argument that he has called it human. On the other hand, despite his recommendation as to understanding religious text with a clear mind, Mīrzā’s impressions are totally based on his separatist (tafkīkī) preconceptions and, as a result, in many instances he has drifted away from the external meanings of the traditions and has interpreted the traditions according to his own viewpoints and contrary to their external meanings. It is attempted in this writing to critically examine Mīrzā Mahdī’s viewpoint on religious knowledge method and disclose the incompatibilities existing in Mīrzā’s viewpoint in theory and in practice.
Authors and Affiliations
Jawad Raqavi
Keywords
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- EP ID EP204734
- DOI 10.22067/philosophy.v48i2.32683
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