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 Suhrawardî and Mullâ Sadrâ Shîrâzî, 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, Mullâ Sadrâ's doctrine of knowledge by presence (al-'ilm al-hudûrî) studied in the context of his philosophical system (al-hikmah al-muta'âlîyah). Mullâ Sadrâ's multidimensional methodology is also discussed in this book. The aim of this study is to explore the Mullâ Sadrâ's theory of knowledge by presence, al-'ilm al-hudûrî, and examine it as an epistemological bridge between philosophy and mysticism within the context of Mullâ Sadrâ's philosophical system (al-hikmah al-muta'âlîyah). Hence, Mullâ Sadrâ'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-hudûrî and al-'ilm al-husûlî, 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 Suhrawardî's theory, evaluated in this book.
About the Author: Dr. Sayyed Mohammad Reza Hejazi is Professor of Islamic Philosophy, Religious Studies and Islamic 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 holds a Master of Arts degree in Islamic Jurisprudence from Elmiyeh Seminary of Qom, a doctorate in Islamic Philosophy from B.U.C. Institute of Qom, a second Master of Arts degree in Epistemology and Islamic 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 14 books in Arabic, Persian and English. He has also published more than 17 articles in different languages and participated in about 28 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.