شراب ہندی، جام یونانی: مسلم مابعد الطبعیات پرعبدالحمید کمالی کی تنقید کا ایک جائزہ

Greek Goblet, Indian Wine: A Critical Examination of ‘Abd al-ḥamīd Kamālī’s Critique of Muslim Metaphysics

Abstract

This paper introduces ‘Abd al-ḥamīd Kamālī’s work, focusing on his True Islamic Philosophy project and discusses it vis-à-vis Iqbal’s Reconstruction. It critically examines Kamālī’s claim that by accepting Neo-Platonic influence Muslim thinkers deviated from fundamental Islamic intuition, embodied in three principles: non-delimited Being, transcendence, and relation. It also considers his historical claim that Neo-Platonism itself was a synthesis of Greek and Indian intellectual tendencies, disparaging the infinite and reducing Being to consciousness. It is shown that despite significant differences between their projects, Kamālī’s work can be considered a continuation of Iqbal’s Reconstruction. Thus, contrary to his claim, Muslim philosophers, theologians, and mystics did not directly deny divine infinity, nor did they identify consciousness as the foremost onto-theological category. They awarded primacy to divine oneness or immateriality and derived other categories from these. The claim about Greco-Indian synthesis is also examined and it is shown that such synthesis not only did not take place, it also could not have happened because Neo-Platonism rejected the prevailing Greek tendency to disparage the infinite and Plotinus held that the One Who does not think is beyond intellect.

This paper consists of three parts. The first part introduces the life and works of Professor ‘Abd al-ḥamīd Kamālī while in the second and the third parts, we present and critically examine his True Islamic Philosophy project respectively.