(An excerpt from Murtada Mutahhari, THE ISSUE OF HIJAB, pp. 23-33. Paperback available HERE.) Causes of Man’s Inclination toward Monasticism The connection of the issue of covering with the philosophy of mortification and monasticism is thus explained that the woman is the greatest source of man’s pleasure and delight, and if a man and a woman interact and are attracted to each other, they will consciously or unconsciously seek for such pleasure and delight. In order to keep the atmosphere
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Archives for Philosophy
What is Ma‘rifat Allah?
Text .أوّلُ عِبادةِ اللّهِ مَعرفتُه، وأصلُ مَعرفةِ اللّهِ تَوحيدُه Terminologies Awwal [أوّل]: that which is earlier and followed by another—be it material or spiritual, and the other is called “last” [ākhir].
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Fiṭrah and Ibn Athīr’s View
The word fiṭrah Now, we shall begin with the first issue. What kind of word is the word fiṭrah as it appears in the Qur’an? فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لاَ تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ …the origination of Allah according to which He originated mankind. (30:30)
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Transmigration and Resurrection
The Literal and Technical Meanings of Tanāsukh (Transmigration) Tanāsukh is derived from the root word n-s-kh and its literal function is associated with two characteristics: Change and transfer, and Succession of two things, one succeeding another.[1] As such, the word naskh in the parlance of jurisprudence (fiqh) and its principles (uṣūl al-fiqh) means a ruling (ḥukm) in the sharī‘ah which is abrogated by another ruling, and each of these two characteristics of the literal meaning exist in it. In the
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Assessment of Hume’s Objections to the Argument of Design
David Hume (1711-1776) of Scotland was one of the empiricist and skeptic philosophers of the West. He opposed many metaphysical foundations such that he had also disputed the proofs of the existence of God. In view of the fact that during his time the most popular proof ever presented for the existence of God in the Western world was the argument of design or teleological argument, he had also posed a serious challenge to it, raising some objections to it.
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The Natural and the Moral Action
Now, in general, what is akhlāq or, in the expression of the Noble Messenger, akhlāq mukarramatī? From where should we begin? We have said that we shall begin from the admitted opinions and indisputable facts. For the meanwhile, we are not concerned with doubtful issues which one school of thought may regard as ‘moral’ while another school of thought may not regard the same as ‘moral’. What is certain is that most of the human actions are natural actions and
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Definitions of Religion Based on Metaphysical Foundation
Some of the philosophers of religion regard as religion any school of thought which has the following three principal elements of belief: There is a world beyond the world of tangibles; The world of nature has a purpose; and The world of being has a moral system. The third element can be analyzed in two ways. One way is that the world of being is such that it perceives what is morally good or evil. The other way is that the
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