الغائية الميتافيزيقية في الإسلام من الغرض الكوني إلـى الإنسان الكامل

Metaphysical Teleology in Islam From the Cosmic Purpose to the Perfect Human

  • Abdul Hakeem bin Yousuf al-Khalifi الخليفي Professor, faculty of Shariah and Islamic Studies, Qatar University, Qatar.
Keywords: metaphysical teleology, Philosophy, Islam, Mu'tazilites, Sufi

Abstract

This article aims to present the Metaphysical teleology in Islam; Metaphysical teleology is one of the Greek philosophical ideas that were adopted by some schools of Islamic thought to delineate the relationship between divinity and man, or between it and the world. What I mean by metaphysical teleology is to say that there is an ultimate purpose that governs the relationship of divinity to man or to the world, and that this ultimate purpose has a metaphysical existence independent of the divine will, and that; in addition, a kind of necessity or necessity is exercised upon it.

The maxim of metaphysical teleology goes back to Greek philosophy, especially Plato in his theory known as the miṯhal and specifically the example of good and right and its role in being a model for the Platonic universe maker to follow in shaping the world.

From Plato to Aristotle and his theory of the four causes, especially the final cause, to the Stoics and their belief in divine providence, these ideas were transmitted to Muslims through their early contact with Hellenistic thought, so that this kind of thinking appears in some schools of Islamic thought, from theologians, philosophers and Sufi philosophers.

 

 

Published
2021-07-02