al-`Ilm al-Huduri: Knowledge by Presence: Volume 1

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.