Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Palgrave Macmillan
Book cover

Knowledge and Power in the Philosophies of Ḥamīd al-Dīn Kirmānī and Mullā Ṣadrā Shīrāzī

  • Book
  • © 2018

Overview

Authors:
  1. Sayeh Meisami

    1. University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Provides insight into similar political and religious narratives across time

  • Examines texts by Ayatollah Khomeini in the light of Mulla ?adra’s influence

  • Offers a comparative study of two prominent scholars of the rivalling Shi?a branches, the Isma?ilis and the Twelvers

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (5 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-viii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Sayeh Meisami
    Pages 1-23

  3. Ḥamīd al-Dīn Kirmānī on the Human Soul and Knowledge

    • Sayeh Meisami
    Pages 25-75

  4. Kirmānī’s Discourse on the Imamate and its Influence

    • Sayeh Meisami
    Pages 77-124

  5. Mullā Ṣadrā on Knowledge and the Imamate

    • Sayeh Meisami
    Pages 125-183

  6. Mullā Ṣadrā’s Legacy and Concluding Remarks

    • Sayeh Meisami
    Pages 185-216

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 217-227
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This book is a comparative study of two major Shīʿī thinkers Ḥamīd al-Dīn Kirmānī from the Fatimid Egypt and Mullā Ṣadrā from the Safavid Iran, demonstrating the mutual empowerment of discourses on knowledge formation and religio-political authority in certain Ismaʿili and Twelver contexts. The book investigates concepts, narratives, and arguments that have contributed to the generation and development of the discourse on the absolute authority of the imam and his representatives. To demonstrate this, key passages from primary texts in Arabic and Persian are translated and closely analyzed to highlight the synthesis of philosophical, Sufi, theological, and scriptural discourses. The book also discusses the discursive influence of Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī as a key to the transmission of Ismaʿili narratives of knowledge and authority to later Shīʿī philosophy and its continuation to modern and contemporary times particularly in the narrative of the guardianship of the jurist in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Reviews

“Sayeh Meisami’s remarkable study brings two major Shīʿī thinkers into conversation with one another, highlighting their points of convergence and divergence on the central problem of the nature of knowledge and authority. There is no doubt that this book will propel the study of Islamic thought to new and unforeseen heights, demanding of the intellectual historian a vision which straddles the worlds of pre-modern and contemporary philosophy and politics.” (Mohammed Rustom, associate professor at Carleton University,Canada, and author of The Triumph of Mercy: Philosophy and Scripture in Mullā Ṣadrā) “Knowledge and Power in the Philosophies of Ḥamīd al-Dīn Kirmānī and Mullā Ṣadrā is a significant addition to the study of the discursive bond between philosophy and Shiʿism. The book probes with distinct ability into the relation between the narratives of Islamic epistemology/psychology and that of Shiʿi authority as displayed in the works of al-Kirmānī and Mullā Ṣadrā. Besides detailing other works on similar subjects with rigour, the author articulates her arguments with relevance, offering a welcomed and valuable volume.” (Maria De Cillis, Research Associate and Managing Editor for the Shii Heritage Series at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, UK)

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA

    Sayeh Meisami

About the author

Sayeh Meisami is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at University of Dayton in Ohio, USA. She has also taught at the University of Toronto and Queen’s University in Canada. She published Mulla Sadra in 2013 and has several journal articles in the area of Islamic philosophy and religion.  

Bibliographic Information

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation