A Comparative-Critical Study of the Immateriality of the Soul from the Exegetic Views of Fakhr al-Razi and Allamah Tabatabaie

Document Type : Academicm and Research

Authors

1 Prof. and academic staff member of the Department of Philosophy and Theology, University of Qom

2 Academic staff member, Ulum va Maaref-i Quran-i Karim University

3 Ph.D. candidate, Islamic Theology, University of Qom; Fourth Level seminary student, Comparative Exegesis (corresponding author)

Abstract

Some thinkers believe that Fakhr al-Razi’s silence regarding the immateriality of the soul shows that he considers it to be material; whereas, one can conclude the immateriality of the soul from his words and views. However, Fakhr al-Razi’s explanation differs from that of other philosophers such as Allamah Tabatabaie. Thus, the present article compares the views of these two great exegetes of the Islamic world through a descriptive-analytic method, critiques their views, and raises the authoritative view. There are three views regarding the matter of the immateriality of the soul. Some consider it to be material. The second group has regarded it to be immaterial and the third group believes in two dimensions of the soul. In the action dimension, it depends on matter, and in the essence dimension, it is immaterial. What can be analyzed from the works of Fakhr al-Razi is the immateriality of the soul in both essence and action. In contrast, Allamah Tabatabaie presents the best view and proves through verses of the Quran and logical and rational arguments that the soul is essentially immaterial; however, in terms of actions, it needs matter because if it were immaterial in the action dimension, it cannot be joined with the physical body in this material world.
 

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

References
Holy Quran
Al-Jowhari, I. (1418 AH). Al-Sihah. Research by S. D. Abu Umar. Beirut: Dar al-fikr.
Alusi, M. (1415 AH). Ruh al-maʿani fi tafsir al-Quran al-azim. Beirut: Sar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Manshoorat Muhammad Ali Beydoon.
Al-Zarkan, M. S. (1383 SH). Fakhr al-Din Razi wa iraʾih al-kalamiyyah wa al-falsafiyyah. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr.
Ansari Shirazi, Y. (1385 sh). Duroos-i sharh Manzumah. Qom: Bustan-i Ketab.
Aristotle (Arastoo). (1378 SH). Darbare-yi nafs. (A. Davoodi, Trans.). Tehran: Hekmat.
Avicenna (Ibn Sina). (1375 SH). Al-Nafs fi kitab al-Shifaʾ [Book of healing: metaphysics]. Research by H. Hasanzadeh Amoli. Qom: Maktabat al-Aalaam al-Islami.
Avicenna (Ibn Sina). (1395 AH). Al-Shifaʾ: al-tabiʿiyaat [Book of healing: natural sciences]. Research by J. Qanawati & S. Zaid. Cairo: al-Maktabat al-Arabiyyah.
Avicenna (Ibn Sina). (1403 AH). Al-Isharat wa al-tanbihat [Remarks and admonitions]. Commentary by N. D. Tusi & Q. D. Razi. Tehran: n.p.
Badvi, A. R. (1984). Mowsuʿat al-falsafeh. Beirut: Muassasat Arabiyyah al-Derasaat wa al-Nashr.
Bastani, F. A. (1375 SH). Farhang-i abjadi. Tehran: Islami.
Dehkhoda, A. A. (1377 SH). Logatname-yi Dehkhoda. Under the supervision of M. Moein & J. Shahidi, 2nd ed. Tehran: University of Tehran.
Fakhr Razi, M. (1407 AH). Al-Matalib al-ʿaaliyah. (S. A. Hijazi, Trans.). Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi.
Fakhr Razi, M. (1415 AH). Sharh ʿuyun al-hikmah. Research by A. Hejazi Saqa. N.P.: Muassasat al-Sadeq.
Fakhr Razi, M. (1976). Tafsir Kabir. N.P.: Dar al-Jameaat al-Misriyyah.
Fakhr Razi, M. (2009). Al-Arbaʿeen fi usul al-din. M. Abdul Aziz Mahmoud. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah.
 Fakhr Razi, M. (2009). Al-Nafs wa al-ruh sharh quwahuma. Research by M. S. Hasan al-Masoumi. Cairo: Maktabat al-Thaqafat al-Diniyyah.
Fakhr Razi, M. (n.d.). Sharh al-Isharat wa al-tanbihat. N.P.: Ayatollah Marashi Library.
Farahidi, K. (1409 AH). Kitab al-ʿain. Qom: Hejrat.
Fayd Kashani, M. (1415 AH). Tafsir al-Safi. Tehran: Maktabat al-Sadr.
Ghazali, A. H. M. (1363 SH). Maqasid al-falasefah. (M. Khazaeli, Trans.). Tehran: Amir Kabir Publications.
Hasanzadeh, H. (1387 SH). Sharh al-ʿuyun fi sharh al-ʿUyun. Qom: Bustan-i Ketab.
Ibn Faris, A. (n.d.). Maqayees al-lughah. Research by M. Haroun. Egypt: Maktabat al-Mustafa and awladah.
Ibn Manzour, A. F. J. (1414 AH). Lisan al-Arab. Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi.
Iji, A D. & Jorjani, M. S. S. (1325 AH). Sharh al-Mawaqef. Qom: Al-Sharif al-Radi.
Jorjani, A. (n.d.). Al-Taʿrifat. Tehran: Naser Khosro.
Juwayni, M. (1416 AH). Al-Irshad ila qawatiʿ al-adillah fi awwal al-iʿtiqad. Annotations by Z. Amirat. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah.
Khadem Jahromi, H., & Saeedi Mehr, M. (2016). Proofs for incorporeality of the soul as viewed by Fakhr-e Razi. The Epistemological Research, 2(6), 65-94.
Makarem Shirazi, N. & Et. al. (1379 SH). Al-Amthaal fi tafsir ketabillah al-munzal. Qom: Madrasat al-Imam Ali b. Abi Taleb.
Makarem Shirazi, N. (1374 SH). Tafsir Namunah. Tehran: Dar al-Kitab al-Islamiyyah.
Mirdamad, M. B. (n.d.). Al-Qabasat. Tehran: University of Tehran.
Moein, M. (1381 SH). Farhang-i Moein. Tehran: Moein Publications.
Muntaziri, H. A. (1387 SH). Akhlaq dar Islam. Tehran: Sayeh.
Mustafavi, H. (1368 SH). Al-Tahqiq fi kalimaat al-Quran. Tehran: Ilmi Farhangi Publications.
Nasiri, M. (2010). Allameh Tabatabai’s soul and body theory. Naqd va Nazar (A journal of philosophy and theology), 15(59), 151-178.   
Ragheb Isfahani, H. (1412 AH). Mofradat alfaz Quran. Beirut: Dar al-Qalam.
Sadr al-Din Shirazi, M. (Mulla  Sadra). (1337 SH). Al-Hikmat al-mutaʿaliyah fi al-asfar al-ʿaqliyat al-arbaʿa [The transcendent philosophy of the four journeys of the intellect]. Tehran: Afast.
Sajjadi, J. (1379 sh). Farhang-i istelahaat-i falsafi-yi Mulla Sadra. Tehran: Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance.
Suyuti, J. D. A. (1404 AH). Al-Durr al-manthour fi tafsir al-maʾthour. Qom: Ayatollah Marashi Najafi Library.
Tabari, A. J. M. (1412 AH). Jamiʿ al-bayan fi tafsir al-Quran. Beirut: Dar al-Marefah.
Tabarsi, F. (1372 SH). Majmaʿ al-bayan fi tafsir al-Quran. Beirut: Naser Khosro.
Tabarsi, F. (1377 SH). Tafsir Jawamiʿ al-jami. Tehran: University of Tehran & Qom Seminary Management.
Tabatabaie, M. H. (1364 SH). Usul-i falsafi va ravish-i realism [The principles of philosophy and the method of realism]. Intro and footnotes by M. Mutahhari. Tehran: Sadra Publications.
Tabatabaie, M. H. (1374 SH). Al-Mizan fi tafsir al-Quran. Beirut: al-Aalami Printing Institute.
Tabatabaie, M. H. (1378 SH). Tarjume-yi tafsir al-Mizan. (M. B. Mousavi Hamedani, Trans.). Qom: Daftar-i Intisharat-i Islami.
Tabatabaie, M. H. (1391 SH). Bidayat al-hikmah. (A. Shirwani, Trans.). Qom: Dar al-Ilm.
Tabatabaie, M. H. (n.d.). Hayat ma baʿd al-mawt. Iraq: al-Atabat al-Husayniyyah al-Muqaddasah Publications.
Tahanavi, M. (1996). Mowsuʿat kashshaf istilahat al-funun wa al-ʿulum. Beirut: Maktabat Lubnan Nashiroon.
Thaqafi Tehrani, M. M. (1383 SH). Tafsir Ravan Javid. Qom: Borhan.
Turayhi, Fakhr al-Din (1375 SH). Majmaʿ al-bahrain. Research by A. Husayni. Tehran: Farhang-i Islami Publication Office.
Tusi, N. D. (1351 SH). Kashf al-murad fi tajrid al-iʿtiqad. Commentary by Allamah Hilli. (A. H. Sharani, Trans.). Tehran: Islamiyyah Publications.
Tusi, N. D. (1360 SH). Akhlaq-i Naseri. Tehran: Khwarazmi.
Zakeri, M. (2011). Fakhr  Razi’s Quranic arguments for the soul’s distinction from the body and its immateriality. Naqd va Nazar (A journal of philosophy and theology), 16(61), 186-211.
 
Send comment about this article
CAPTCHA Image
Comparative Interpretation Research
Volume 8, Issue 2 - Serial Number 16
October 2022
Pages 185-214

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics