Islamic Philosophy from Its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the ...

250 Part 3: Islamic Philosophy in History
al-Islåm Tabr¥z¥ who apparently benefited from ‘A∑∑år’s knowledge of
the Asfår. After the violent death of Thaqat al-Islåm, ‘A∑∑år left Tabriz
for Europe through Caucasia and spent some time studying in the
West. He was in fact the first member of the traditional class of ‘ulamå˘
in Persia to have done so. He then returned to the East, studying for
some fourteen years in Najaf to complete his mastery of the transmitted
sciences before coming to Tehran, where he settled and where he
devoted himself completely to teaching both fiqh and philosophy. He
taught at the Sipahsålår School, where he gave a regular course on fiqh
followed by one in philosophy in which usually the Shar÷ al-manz.¶mah
of Sabziwår¥ was used as text. But he was also professor of Islamic
philosophy in both the Faculty of Divinity and the Faculty of Letters
of Tehran University. The latter position was particularly important
because the philosophy department of the Faculty of Letters was then
the most important philosophy department in Persia and one in which
the teaching of Western philosophy was predominant. The doctoral
students of the department, who became teachers in philosophy
throughout the country, were therefore instructed in Islamic philosophy
by ‘A∑∑år. 44 This great master died in Tehran in 1396/1975.
Sayyid Mu±ammad Kåπim ‘A∑∑år was a recognized authority in
both the religious and philosophical sciences. He was at once a great
mujtahid, ÷ak¥m, and ‘årif who had an incredible intelligence and a
wonderful sense of humor which caused him to laugh at the follies of
the world. He refused to receive religious tax or to enter into the
political and economic aspects of the life of many mujtahids. He devoted
his life entirely to teaching and writing and gave of his time
freely to those who sought his advice or yearned to learn from him.
Although he had spent some time in Europe, he avoided all modernistic
mannerisms and even in his teaching rarely referred to Western
thought. He had penetrated the mask of the modern world, and knew
fully well what stood behind it and was therefore not fooled by modernist
tenets. Often he would make fun of not only modernized Persians,
but also those among the ‘ulamå˘ who would make reference to
some modern idea in a shallow way in order to appear up to date.
As a philosopher he was both a master of traditional texts and a
creative interpreter of them. He had studied ÷ikmat and ‘irfån with
such luminaries as ≈qå M¥rzå ¡asan Rasht¥, who was himself a student
of ≈qå ‘Al¥ Mudarris; ≈qå Mu±ammad Ri∂å Qumsha˘¥; ≈qå
M¥rzå ¡asan Kirmånshåh¥, that celebrated philosopher and physician
of the Qajar period; and ≈qå M¥rzå Shihåb al-D¥n Nayr¥z¥, who was
also a foremost disciple of ≈qå Mu±ammad Ri∂å; and ≈qå ‘Al¥
Mudarris. Having studied with such masters was fully reflected in