Islamic Philosophical Doctrines

A Critical Analysis of Nietzsche’s Self-Grounded Anthropology Based on the Theory of Fitrah in Islamic Theology (With Emphasis on Allameh Tabataba’i’s Philosophical Interpretation)

Mohammad Heydarifard

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 11 May 2026

https://doi.org/10.30513/ipd.2026.8065.1712

Abstract

Anthropology occupies a fundamental position in Nietzsche’s thought and forms the basis of many of his ethical views. By rejecting divine authority and denying any fixed essence ... Read More

A Comparative Analysis of Mullā Ṣadrā’s Burhān al-Ṣiddīqīn and Antony Flew’s Critiques of the Metaphysical Foundations of the Proofs for God’s Existence

Mohammad Heydarifard

Volume 20, Issue 37 , December 2025, , Pages 109-142

https://doi.org/10.30513/ipd.2025.7905.1690

Abstract

Mullā Ṣadrā’s Burhān al-Ṣiddīqīn (Proof of the Truthful), as one of the most significant formulations of the proof for God’s existence in Islamic philosophy, is ... Read More Mullā Ṣadrā’s Burhān al-Ṣiddīqīn (Proof of the Truthful), as one of the most significant formulations of the proof for God’s existence in Islamic philosophy, is based on the principles of the principality of existence (Aṣālat al-Wujūd), the gradation of existence (Tashkīk al-Wujūd), and an ontological interpretation of causality. In this respect, it differs fundamentally from essence‑based and classical cosmological arguments. In contrast, Antony Flew, as a prominent figure of analytic atheism in the twentieth century, advanced extensive critiques against the proofs for God’s existence, focusing mainly on the Aristotelian‑Thomistic argument from causality, the teleological argument, and explanations based on essentialist and empirically grounded causality. The central question of this research is whether these critiques - given Flew’s epistemological and semantic presuppositions - apply also to the ontological structure and the interpretation of causality in Mullā Ṣadrā’s Burhān al-Ṣiddīqīn. The present study, employing conceptual and comparative analysis and comparing the metaphysical foundations of the two traditions-Transcendent Theosophy (al-Ḥikmah al-Mutaʿāliyah) and analytic philosophy of religion-examines the relationship between Flew’s critiques and the Burhān al-Ṣiddīqīn. The findings indicate that the reason Flew’s critiques do not extend to the Burhān al-Ṣiddīqīn lies in the fundamental difference between the two conceptions of causality and explanation. Flew’s critiques are directed at a model of empirical and essence‑based causality that is meaningful within the framework of classical cosmological arguments, whereas the Burhān al-Ṣiddīqīn is based on an analysis of “existence as such” (al-Wujūd bi mā Huwa Wujūd), the gradational continuum of the degrees of being, and the existential necessity of the Necessary Existent (Wājib al-Wujūd), and is not essentially a kind of event‑based or empirical explanation. Therefore, the Burhān al-Ṣiddīqīn not only falls outside the direct scope of Flew’s critiques but can also, through a conceptual reformulation, provide capacities for dialogue and the reconstruction of proofs for God’s existence in the context of contemporary philosophy of religion.

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Author = Heydarifard, Mohammad

A Critical Analysis of Nietzsche’s Self-Grounded Anthropology Based on the Theory of Fitrah in Islamic Theology (With Emphasis on Allameh Tabataba’i’s Philosophical Interpretation)

Abstract

A Comparative Analysis of Mullā Ṣadrā’s Burhān al-Ṣiddīqīn and Antony Flew’s Critiques of the Metaphysical Foundations of the Proofs for God’s Existence

Abstract