Mulla Sadra’s Philosophy’s Capacities for Contemporary Interfaith Dialogue

Given that most religions have significant claims regarding truth and salvation, their exclusivist approach often hinders the realization of rational interfaith dialogues. In this context, Mulla Sadra’s Transcendent Philosophy and Wisdom offers valuable capacities for engaging in interfaith dialogue from a religious perspective. These capacities include the principality of existence, the gradation of the reality of existence, and the substantial motion. By acknowledging the principality of existence, in dialogue with followers of other religious traditions, the belief in a divine truth or God can serve as a focal point, with its nature considered subsequently. Through the notion of gradation of existence, it can be demonstrated that adherents of all divine religions, and occasionally some non-divine religions, benefit from the truth of their faith to varying degrees and proportionally share in the gift of salvation. Considering the substantial motion, it can be argued that all or most believers are evolving toward God according to their level of faith and that we are continually evolving until death. Consequently, the principle of belief in divine truth is highly valuable for dialogue with followers of other religions, suggesting that as we are always in a state of evolution, we should never claim exclusive possession of the absolute truth or consider ourselves self-sufficient without others. Therefore, Mulla Sadra’s Transcendent Philosophy (Wisdom) has the potential to facilitate the discourse of dialogue with most or all religious and, occasionally, philosophical traditions, which should be reconsidered in the light of our contemporary needs.

کلیدواژه ها:

Transcendent Philosophy (Wisdom) ، religious dialogue ، the principality of existence ، The Substantial Motion ، Gradation