Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Khamenei says Avicenna wrote 20 volumes about Illuminationist Philosophy under the title of 'Al-Ensaf v Al-Entesaf' that were later destroyed – whether by chance or by intention. This book proves Avicenna's illuminationist interests.
The
two-day Avicenna and Islamic Philosophers Conference began on Tuesday morning
(October 18) with the prologue of Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Khamenei, director
of Sadra Islamic Philosophy Foundation.
Referring
to the Ismaili Shia, he stressed on the large number of their followers unto
the land of Khorasan whose most outstanding figure was Naser Khosrow and Hassan
Sabbah.
According
to him, all the inheritors of Ismaili School have also inherited the
Aristotelian philosophy (Mashaa'). The Ismailis made use of the Aristotelian
philosophy to debate with non-Shia scholars and hence to promote the concept of
guardianship, the same method applied by Avicenna before them.
Khamenei
continued: "The Ismailis challenged the common belief in the Caliphs and
sought to prove the guardianship of Imams through Aristotelian philosophy. In
order to cope with their rebellious propagations, the government of the time
sent Imam Qazzali to that area in order to debilitate the Aristotelian schools there
in favor of the reinforcement of Seljuqi reign."
He
then cast doubt on the issue of unification of Aristotelian and Illuminationism
in the period and intentional endeavors to hide this and added: "Both
schools of philosophy were preserved by Shia scholars, and people like Allameh
Helli kept both schools together. Illumination was not merely an academic
subject of the time; it was rather an essential part of Shia education. And
that is why we find Avicenna also involved with illuminationism."
As
another proof to this, Khamenei referred to the 20-volume 'Al-Ensaf v
Al-Entesaf' penned by Avicenna on illuminationism that was later destroyed by
chance or by intention.
Avicenna
was also interested in the life and adventures of the mystics and this shows
that he is interested in the mysticism, he continued. So we should not regard
him separable from Illusminationism.
Therefore,
he concluded, one should not compare Avicenna with radical Aristotelian
scholars like Ibn Roshd, and illuminationst references in his works is what
needs further expertise.
Source:
IBNA News Agency