On the Science of the Soul: A Conversation with Seyyed Hossein Nasr – Samuel Bendeck Sotillos

By Samuel Bendeck Sotillos

The monopolistic tendency of modern science in asserting itself as the exclusive interpreter of the human psyche or mind through its psychology does so while negating the most crucial dimension that makes it a complete psychology, the metaphysical order as is found across the world in all times and places. The reductionistic turn of modern Western psychology away from its metaphysical roots has deformed the original “science of the soul” rendering it null and void. That spirituality and metaphysics have been marginalized and deemed irrelevant in modern science was assumed to be the logical course of progress. Ironically, however, their fundamental absence is the reason contemporary psychology is in disarray. Numerous individuals may see this as preposterous and think that to suggest this is to turn back the clock to the dark ages of knowledge. However, if psychology is returned to its origin in metaphysics, sacred science, and spiritual principles, it can again become worthy of being called a “science of the soul.” This interview with Islamic philosopher, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, on the discipline of psychology explores the original meaning of the “science of the soul” as it is understood across the diverse cultures of the world.

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Why should we study Islamic Psychology – Amber Haque

This is an outline of my talk at the first Islamic Psychology Seminar in Paris, May 12, 2024. The question “why” is essential because it helps us gain new knowledge and make better decisions. It all boils down to understanding and staying true to our faith, identity, and purpose in this life and aſterlife while maintaining the fiṭrah or innate nature on which we are born

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Life after life: Mulla Sadra on death and immortality – Muhammad U. Faruque

Abstract:

The purpose of this article is twofold: first, I will reconstruct Mullā Ṣadrā’s complex arguments for the soul’s immortality based on its immaterial nature. Second and finally, I will briefly probe and assess various epistemological and metaphysical objections against Ṣadrā’s immaterialist conception of the soul. Ṣadrā contends that our bodily death marks an awakening to the reality of our con- sciousness on the plane of the imaginal realm (the imaginal world is an isthmus between the sens- ible world and the world of intelligible forms). For Ṣadrā, ‘death’ does not mark an end or discontinuity in human consciousness, rather it signifies an awakening to a new mode of existence in which the soul, having once been the active principle controlling the actions of the physical body, now manifests itself as the passive recipient of the form given to it by its imaginal reality – a reality shaped by the actions it had performed in its earthly, embodied state. Thus, death is seen as the passage of the soul from the sensible to the imaginal world, until the soul unites with the intelligible world (ʿālam al-ʿaql).

Keywords: soul; death; immateriality; Mullā Ṣadrā; imaginal world; materialism

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“Caring for the Ill” – Kristin Zahra Sands

Abstract:

“God will say on the Day of Resurrection, “O child of Adam, I was sick but you did not visit me.”  [The child of Adam] says, “My Lord, how could I visit you when you are the Lord of all beings?”  God says, “But didn’t you know that my servant so-and-so was sick and yet you did not visit him?  Did you not know that if you had visited him, you would have found me present with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food but you did not feed me.”  [The child of Adam] says, “My Lord, how could I feed you when you are the Lord of all beings?”  God says, “Didn’t you know that my servant so-and-so asked you for food and you did not feed him?  If you had given him food, you would have found that in my presence.  O son of Adam, I was thirsty but you did not give me water.”  [The child of Adam] says, “My Lord, how could I give you water when you are the Lord of all beings?”  He says, “My servant so-and-so asked you for water but you did not give it to him.  If you had given him water, you would have found that in my presence.”

ʿAyn al-Quḍāt on Chivalry – Mohammed Rustom

Abstract:

“This article investigates the multi-dimensional presence of the important Persian Sufi concept of jawānmardī or chivalry in the writings of the famous 6th/12th century metaphysician, martyr, and mystic ʿAyn al-Quḍāt Hamadānī (d. 525/1131). The article begins by situating jawānmardī vis-à-vis its Arabic Sufi equivalent of futuwwa. Both of them convey a wide range of spiritual perfections ranging from wisdom and de- tachment to justice and pure generosity. Moreover, the article explores the specifically Persian emphasis on jawānmardī as an embodiment of the ideal type of lover of God. It will consequently be shown how, in the writings of such an influential figure as ʿAyn al-Quḍāt, jawānmardī is most prominently featured in three distinctive modes: an as- pirational ideal, a realised concept, and the key to unlock the mystery of one of the greatest chevaliers, namely Iblīs“

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Contentment, Satisfaction and Good-Pleasure: Rida in Early Sufi Moral Psychology -Atif Khalil

Abstract: 

“The article examines early Sufi notions of  rida, usually translated as ‘‘contentment,’’ ‘‘satisfaction,’’ and ‘‘good-pleasure.’’ It does so through a close textual analysis of some of the most important works of the tradition authored up until what has been identified as the ‘‘formative period of Sufi literature,’’ a period which ends in the 11th century. In the process, the article situates rida within the larger context of early Islamic moral psychology as it was formulated by the fledgling Sufi tradition. The article analyses early definitions of  rida, the role of  rida in tribulation, contentment and the ills of complaint, the higher levels of  rida, and the role of love in rida. It ends with a brief overview of the paradox of  rida inherent within a largely deterministic theology which traces all acts back to God”

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PERSONAL IDENTITY – Edited by Ellen Frankel Paul, Fred D. Miller Jr and jeffrey Paul

Abstract:

“Despite the fact that it continues to have followers, and that it can be said to have enjoyed something of a micro-revival in recent years, dualism either in the philosophy of mind
or in the theory of personal identity persists in being more the object of ridicule than of serious rational engagement. It is held by the vast majority of philosophers to be anything fro
(and not mutually exclusively) false, mysterious, and bizarre, to obscurantist, unintelligible, and/or dangerous to morals. Its adherents are assumed to be biased, scientifically ill-informed, motivated by prior theological dogma, cursed by metaphysical anachronism, and/or to have taken leave of their senses. Dualists who otherwise appear relatively sane in
their philosophical writings are often treated with a certain benign, quasi parental”

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Meditations on Scuba Diving and Snorkeling – Oludamini Ogunnaike

Abstract:

“I recently had the pleasure of spending my honeymoon on the small island of Culebra off the coast of Puerto Rico. There my wife, herself an avid snorkeler and scuba diver, introduced me to the wonders of life under the sea, taking me on several dives and snorkeling trips along the island’s teeming reefs. We had many discussions on the spiritual significance and symbolism of this contemplation of the world under the water, and I have tried to organize my thoughts on this topic in this short essay. I take a ‘kaleidoscopic’ approach in this piece, meaning that I consider the same phenomena from several distinct, and often contrasting, symbolic perspectives.“

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Taḥrīr al-bayān Saʿīd al-Dīn Farghānī on the Psychology of Dhikr

Abstract:

The praise belongs to God, who illumined the hidden thoughts of
the lords of the religion with the lights of submission, faith, and
guidance and who gave to the insights of the companions of certainty
the seeing of the secrets of beneficence, beautiful-doing,
and protection [walāya]; who unveiled the curtains of the soul
from their hearts and gave eminence to the precincts of holiness
with their eyes. So they were upon insight [Quran 12:108] from
their Lord, and the open and the secret had equal standing in their
kernels……………………

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SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR’S CONCEPTION OF THE HUMAN BEING

Seyyed Hossein Nasr is among the most important spokesmen of traditional thought and stated that approximation to the creative will, that he placed at the center, in the contemplative life fed by religious sources is the most important factor in guiding human beings to the straight path………………………

SEYYED_HOSSEIN_NASRS_CONCEPTION_OF_THE_H

Spiritual Chivalry

Abstract:

IT IS NOT  POSSIBLE to discuss Islamic spirituality :Without dealing with
that spiritual reality which is called futuwwah in Arabic and jawan  mardi
in Persian and which can be rendered into English as “mystical
youth” or spiritual chivalry………………

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