Journal Of Islamic Denominations

Journal Of Islamic Denominations

A Re-examination of Humanity's Epistemic Need for Religion; With an Emphasis on the Views of the Followers of Transcendent Philosophy (al-Ḥikmah al-Mutaʿāliyah)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
mohsen izadi 1
bagher ebrahimi 2
1 Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, University of Qom, Qom, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran
10.22034/jid.2025.492130.2535
Abstract
Although God has bestowed upon humanity the valuable and dignifying blessing of intellect (ʿaql), and many Qur'anic verses have been revealed regarding the importance and status of this divine gift, what humankind needs in the realm of knowledge and awareness to attain happiness is not obtained solely through the power of reason and thought. Rather, there are spheres of cognition and knowledge that, without religion, humanity would either remain entirely unaware of or its awareness would be incomplete. Therefore, even the advancement of science and the enhancement and expansion of certain dimensions of intellect will by no means render humanity needless of religion. The feeling of self-sufficiency from religion by some who have succumbed to extremism in scientism or rationalism is due to their unawareness of the spheres in which humans are perpetually in need of acquiring knowledge from religious truths and divine revelation. The human intellect is incapable of discovering the unseen of this world and the world of the unseen (ghayb); thus, to reach this destination and purpose, it must utilize the path of the heart (dil, qalb). However, on this path, it also requires the guidance and support of revelation (waḥy), for the method of attaining purity of the soul (ṭahārat al-nafs), which is an essential condition for this path, must be learned from divine revelation. This article attempts, using a descriptive-analytical method and by drawing upon the various views of Ṣadr al-Muta'allihīn (Mulla Sadra) and other followers of Transcendent Philosophy (al-Ḥikmah al-Mutaʿāliyah), to analyze and examine the aspects of humanity's epistemic need for religion. Through this, both the status of intellect (or reason) in relation to religion and the nature of their interaction are further investigated and introduced, and the continuity and permanence of humanity's inherent need for religion throughout all historical eras is proven and explained.
Keywords
epistemic need
human
religion
intellect (ʿAql)
Transcendent Philosophy (al-Hikmah al-Mutaʿāliyah)
Subjects
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