Category Archives: Philosophy

Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i born 1904 in Tabriz, Iran is the first modern islamic philosopher we talked about. Tabataba’i continued the philosophy of the medieval period, especially the beliefs of Isfahan. He was taught in Avicennan, Mulla Sadra, Mysticism, mathematics and logic. Writes that his mission is to “correct the beliefs of students on the basisContinue reading “Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i”

Today I’ll look at the philosophers of Isfahan, specifically Muhammad Ibrahim Shirazi, born in 1635. The Isfahan School rose out of Shii Islam and was a mix of philosophy and mysticism. Shirazi is seen as a very important Islamic philosopher. He informed about religion, mythicism and neoplatonist philosophy. He wrote on Transcendental Philosophy and seemContinue reading “The Philosophers of Isfahan”

The Ismailis philosophers were a sect like esoteric group that is based on esoteric beliefs and strong secrecy. This secrecy is also what lead to lots of misconceptions and fear of this group of philosophers/theologians. Their Taqiyya, which is a way to defend themselves against attacks on their beliefs, came to be what people seemedContinue reading “Ismailis”

Maimonides is a jewish philosopher born 1138 in Spain. Maimonides tried to bring Judaism and philosophy closer together. Jewish philosophy is split in three topics: Jewish-centric philosophy, which is philosophy surrounding Jewish beliefs and ideas from religion, like the torah and the arrival of the messiah. Common topics, which includes topics like the general existenceContinue reading “Maimonides”

I thought that the lecture about Ibn Arabi and Arabic Mythicism was very interesting, especially the part about the Sufi Weltanschauung. Sufism is a Persian theological/philosophical school of thought. Big elements of mystical, otherworldly beliefs are what Sufism is based upon and the main idea is the Mystical Experience. The Mystical Experience is a religiousContinue reading “Ibn Arabi”

I liked this week’s session a lot. We discussed the, probably, best known Middle Eastern Philosopher Avicenna and his work. Avicenna wrote between 40 – 275 titles, although the real number is unclear. He systemised philosophy and further introduced philosophy into theology. Avicenna suggests a tripartition of the soul into a Vegetative part, an AnimalisticContinue reading “Avicenna”

I think that this weeks lecture was one of the most interesting ones so far. I really liked the information we got about Kalam and I enjoyed that it was taught with a PP presentation, because it really helps me follow the lecture. I think more lectures should be taught supported by digital presentations. TheContinue reading “Kalam”