Dealing with Mystical Philosophy

Much of Hossein Ziai's academic work was devoted to bringing the thought of al-Suhrawardī into (Western) philosophical curricula, where it had received comparatively little attention. Readings from al-Suhrawardī's allegories occasionally make it into the last, "grab bag" week of courses on Islamic thought, together with (perhaps) the writings of the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ and various other peculiar individuals and groups. In this presentation I will introduce a pedagogical strategy for incorporating al-Suhrawardī's work into undergraduate studies in Islamic philosophy.

There are several benefits in implementing such a strategy. First of all, al-Suhrawardī, like al-Ghazālī, offers a striking counterpart to the Peripatetic tendencies in "classical" Islamic philosophy; indeed, his method seems to depend on expertise in Peripatetic metaphysics, thereby demonstrating a dialectic characteristic of post-Avicennan philosophy. His approach bears comparison to the theological reaction to the Avicennan tide evident in the post-Ghazālian Kalām tradition. Secondly, the critical and interpretive variety of Orientalist and philosophical responses to the Suhrawardian corpus offers students unique insight into the problems of Orientalist hermeneutics. Ziai's efforts to defuse Corbin's reading of al-Suhrawardī are in themselves instructive in the analysis and evaluation of Orientalist techniques; Corbin's original positions, however, remain influential. Finally, the accessibility of Ziai and John Walbridge's edition of Ḥikmat al-ishrāq allows for significant penetration of the material.

Teaching al-Suhrawardī introduces students to the most crucial aspects of Islamic thought from a rather unexpected perspective; the tension at the heart of the Islamic tradition—between what can be known and asserted and what must remain veiled from human cognition—is exemplified and even exploited in al-Suhrawardī's system. Hossein Ziai's legacy would be well served by the deliberate re-introduction of this system into our pedagogical practices.