Mullā Sadrā’s Criticism of Suhrawardī in Context of the Distinction Between Being and Quiddity

In this article, Suhrawardi’s evidences to prove the idea of essence nobility in his Ḥikmat al-Ishrāq was examined by taking into account the interpretations of Qutb al-Din al-Shīrāzī and Shams al-Din Shahrazūrī and Sadra’s criticisms on the book was presented. Avicenna developed the Aristotelian distinction of being and quiddity to its final limits and included this distinction among the main topics of Islamic philosophy. Suhrawardi, with his objections to Avicenna, took the issue into the category of primary controversial issues, on the other hand Mullā Ṣadrā responded to some criticisms of Suhrawardī in his talikāt that had an effect in turning the discussion in favor of Avicenna. Especially the problem of whether being or quiddity has the primacy was clearly put forward by Mīr Dāmād and his student Mullā Ṣadrā, and the discussion continued in this line. Suhrawardī and his commentators have criticized the Peripatetic (Mashshāʼī) philosophy in many ways, while forming the Ishrāqī system. It is obvious that these criticisms made a very important contribution to the development of Islamic philosophy. In addition, although Suhrawardī claimed to have established a new system, it is clear that the Ishrāqī community used the Peripatetic foundations. For example, the debate on being and quiddity in the Peripatetic philosophy has turned into the doctrine of the vertical and horizontal lights in Ishrāqī philosophy. Suhrawardī replaced the concept of being with the concept of light with accepting that the distinction between being and quiddity is only a mental distinction and claimed that the primacy in the external world belongs to the quiddity. Accordingly, the concept of being is one of the mental universal concepts that have no external reality. Furthermore, this concept is too far from having an external reality to reveal metaphysical truths, since it is widely used by the Peripatetic philosophers to include bodies. Because, metaphysical beings such as God, light and angel cannot be grouped under the same ...