Customer Reviews

The Principles of Epistemology in Islamic Philosophy: Knowledge by Presence (SUNY Series in Muslim Spirituality in South Asia) (Suny Series, Teacher Preparation and Development)

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I had the great privilege of studying privately with the author ijtahid Dr. Mehdi Hairi Yazdi, to my knowledge the only person to master Islamic philosophy in the Iranian medressah system as well as European philosophy, gaining a Ph.d from the University of Toronto. This gave him an unrivalled perspective on a wide variety of philosophical questions.

While this book was written on the topic of epistemology, the question of how we know what we know, it is, in fact, much broader. Dr. Hairi gives a very useful introduction to Islamic philosophy up to the present day. Most European philosophers and historians of philosophy are unaware of the remarkable developments of Islamic philosophy after Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes). One can easily get the impression in European sources that Islamic philosophy ceased after these two medieval figures. This could not be further from the truth.

Dr. Hairi explains the work of Al-Farabi in reconciling Plato and Aristotle's views of knowledge, still considered to be in opposition in European philosophy. He discusses the Hikmat al Ishraq or Wisdom of Illumination of Suhrawardi. His main emphasis, however, is knowledge as seen through the school of Islamic existentialism of Sadr din al Shirazi (Mulla Sadra).

Dr. Hairi not only fully explains the key concept of knowledge by presence, but also shows how this principle is reflected through the mystic science of irfan and the language of the Sufis, the mystic orders of Islam.

Fascinating reading by a key figure who bridged Islamic and European philosophy.

Who would have thought that an Ayatollah could make some of the hardest theological-philosophical stuff in Islam -- Illuminationism -- so easy to understand.

The best part is that there is a constant referencing back to Plato and Aristotle so someone who is primarily educated in Western philosophy can easily grasp the differences between the different streams of knowledge (Islamic v. Greek).

One thing that is a little tricky is that the book makes it seem like this is the only kind of "Islamic" philosophy there is. That is probably not the case.