The Reason of Imam Khomeini's Attraction towards Mulla Sadra's Philosophy

Head of the theology faculty of Imam Sadiq (a.s.) University, Muhammad Rida Muhammadzadeh, pointing to Imam Khomeini's poem about the position of philosophy, said: "Imam believed that Mulla Sadra's philosophy was based on Quranic verses and Islamic narrations."

Muhammadzadeh mentioning that Imam Khomeini was among those who believed in philosophical thought and the values related to rationality in Iran, said: "From his youth, Imam had studied philosophy at the classes of great professors such as the late Sayyid Abulhassan Rafie Qazwini and the late Ayatollah Shahabadi and he had also taught a number of students in this field, including the late Sayyid Jalaluddin Ashtiani and Sheikh Mahdi Haeri Yazi."

He pointed to the common thought of the Qum Hawza (theological school) during Imam's teaching and added: "Imam Khomeini started to teach philosophy as a philosophic professor in a time that Hawzas (theological schools) weren't in a suitable situation for these contents and the philosophers who were teaching these issues were in pressure, but Imam bared all the difficulties."

Philosophy & Rationality Are Tools for Better Understanding of the Religion's Principles

Muhammadzadeh pointing to the 16^th Commemorational Congress of Mulla Sadra on May 21^st stated: "Imam Khomeini had taught Mulla Sadra's "Four Journeys" and "Transcendent Theosophy" for several years and had delivered notable students, Imam didn't count himself only a philosopher and though he was great in philosophy and even taught it and always gave importance to rational and philosophic issues, but he didn't consider his mission to being only melt in philosophy and not paying attention to other fields."

"What was in Imam's mind is that philosophy and rationality are tools in the hands of mankind to use so they could understand the capabilities of life and the routs and principals of religion." he continued.

Philosophy Could Lead the Society through the Doubts

The head of the theology faculty of Imam Sadiq (a.s.) University clarified: "There will be some among the humans that in the afterlife would say if only we would've listened to the wise men and used our mind we wouldn't have in this much trouble in this life. Imam believed that by using rationality, reality would be obvious and we could act based on it."

He added: "One of Imam's arts in teaching philosophy was that he always taught in in a way that it was understandable and it could be used as a sample for removing the doubt from the society, he believed that there is no contrast between thought and intellect in one hand and religious thought in the other hand, though some philosophers that are usually non-Muslims believe there is a contrast between thought and religion, but Imam never believed in such a matter."

Imam's Attraction towards Mulla Sadra's Transcendent Theosophy

He added: "I mean that philosophy shouldn't be mankind's consistency path, but it should be a tool for reaching to the goal, so those who consider it as a consistency path, then philosophy itself would be as a cover to them. According to the writings, speeches and books of Imam we could understand that among Initiation, Sadraee and Illumination philosophical methods, Imam Khomeini most of all was attracted to Mulla Sadra's Transcendent Theosophy.

Imam Khomeini's Philosophical Thoughts in his Islamic Jurisprudence, Kalam [1], Ethics and Islamic Principle Works

This philosophy expert by naming some of Imam Khomeini's works said: "Philosophic issues are notable among a lot of books and works which are available from Imam, for instance "Adab as-Salat (The Disciplines of the Prayer)", "Anwar al-Hedayyah fi at-Taliqah ala al-Kefayyah" [2] and "The Description of the Hadith of Goliath's Head", also some of Imam's students such as Abdulqani Ardebili have written Imam's sayings about these issues and those who are interested in Imam Khomeini's philosophic issues could read those sources."

The Effects of Self-Determined Thoughts in the Deviation of Mankind

Talking about the Reason of Imam Khomeini's Attraction towards Mulla Sadra's philosophy, Muhammadzadeh added: "Imam believed that a lot of issues mentioned through the ideas of others are all well solved in the transcendent theosophy, for instance he believes that Intuitionism and thinking aren't practical for placing the divine aspects and communion confirmations as a base, and he always advised not to follow self-determined thoughts because it won't save mankind and it isn't a reliable source.

[1] The Islamic philosophical discipline of seeking theological principles through dialectic.

[2] A work in Arabic on rational discourses of the science of the principles of jurisprudence (Fiqh), in the form of marginal comments.