By Abu’l‑Hasan Ghaffari, Associate Professor of Islamic Philosophy and Senior Seminary Instructor at the Qom Islamic Seminary.

Originally published on the second pilot issue of RISE

Introduction

The past century in the history of the Qom Seminary (Ḥawza) represents one of the most dynamic and influential periods in the intellectual life of this institution. During this era, alongside the foundational disciplines of the ḥawza, such as fiqh (jurisprudence) and uṣūl (principles of jurisprudence), ḥikma (wisdom) and philosophy have also acquired an elevated status and have continued their trajectory of growth with consistency and vitality. The sustained commitment to teaching philosophy, the critique of contemporary intellectual schools, and the cultivation of distinguished thinkers in the fields of ḥikma, logic, and philosophy constitute some of the defining features of this century. The outcome of this approach has been the training of hundreds of researchers and philosophers, the production of thousands of scholarly works, and the emergence of significant innovations within the sphere of philosophical thought.

Drawing on written sources as well as interviews with teachers and specialists in philosophy within the Qom Seminary, this study examines the evolution of philosophy across four historical phases:

1. The period of Āyatullāh Shaykh ʿAbd al-Karīm Ḥāʾirī Yazdī and the establishment of the Qom Seminary;
2. The period of administration of the Qom Seminary by the “Three Marājiʿ”;
3. The era of Āyatullāh Burūjirdī; and
4. The post-Islamic Revolution period.

The aim of the article is to elucidate the place of philosophy in the past century and to analyze its developmental trajectory within the Qom Seminary.

First Period: The Era of the Founder of the Ḥawza of Qom, Āyatullāh ʿAbd al-Karīm Ḥāʾirī Yazdī

Āyatullāh Ḥājj ʿAbd al-Karīm Ḥāʾirī Yazdī—widely known as “Āyatullāh al-Muʾassis” (the Founder Āyatullāh)—was one of the eminent marājiʿ (religious authorities) and the reviver of the Qom Seminary. From 1922 to 1936 CE, he presided over this institution. His intellectual and academic leadership was marked by reforms in pedagogical methods, the specialization of fiqh sub-disciplines, the expansion of the traditional sciences of the ḥawza, and an attention to the teaching of foreign languages. He regarded his mission as the training of scholars and comprehensive mujtahids—figures accomplished both in knowledge and in vision.^[1] The significance of his work was such that Imam Khomeini considered the establishment of the Qom Seminary by him to be, in its sociopolitical impact, comparable to the establishment of the Islamic Republic in his own time.^[2]

In the thought of Āyatullāh ʿAbd al-Karīm Ḥāʾirī Yazdī, philosophy and the rational sciences held an essential and esteemed place. With a comprehensive outlook on the spectrum of Islamic knowledge, he regarded the ḥawza as an environment conducive to the cultivation of all branches of scholarship—from fiqh and uṣūl to ḥikma and philosophy. Through his wise and balanced leadership, he fostered an atmosphere of calm, scholarly seriousness, and equilibrium that enabled research across all these domains. His commitment to maintaining harmony between reason and revelation, and to avoiding any dichotomy between them, allowed the newly established Qom Seminary to become, from the outset, a fertile ground for the continuity and flourishing of the rational-philosophical tradition of Islam.

A clear example of this intellectual orientation may be seen in his unmistakably philosophical and ḥikma-based analysis in Durar al-Fawāʾid,^[3] as well as in the academic trajectories of his two sons. Shaykh Murtaḍā Ḥāʾirī (d. 1985), a distinguished jurist and teacher of the ḥawza, studied philosophy under Imam Khomeini. Dr. Mahdī Ḥāʾirī Yazdī (d. 1999), after studying Islamic philosophy under Imam Khomeini and ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī, pursued analytic philosophy and the critique of Descartes in the West, later teaching philosophy for many years both in Iran and abroad. This reality demonstrates that philosophy within the family of the founder of the Qom Seminary was not merely accepted but constituted an integral part of their scholarly and intellectual disposition.

During the leadership of Āyatullāh Ḥāʾirī, renowned instructors such as Āyatullāh ʿAlī-Akbar Ḥikamī Yazdī, Āyatullāh Mīrzā Muḥammad ʿAlī Shāhābādī, and Āyatullāh Mīrzā Abū al-Ḥasan Rafīʿī Qazwīnī freely taught ḥikma and philosophy, and there is no report of any prohibition or restriction from the founder of the Seminary. In particular, Āyatullāh Rafīʿī Qazwīnī—one of Āyatullāh Ḥāʾirī’s outstanding students—played an important role in training prominent teachers such as Imam Khomeini, Sayyid Raḍī Shīrāzī, and Sayyid Jalāl al-Dīn Āshtiyānī.^[4] These philosophical activities, alongside Imam Khomeini’s instruction of Mullā Ṣadrā’s al-Asfār al-Arbaʿa and Mullā Hādī Sabziwārī’s Manẓūma, continued with the tacit approval of Āyatullāh Ḥāʾirī and paved the way for the renewed expansion of the rational sciences and the consolidation of philosophy’s place in the ḥawza.^[5] On this basis, one may say that the period of Āyatullāh Ḥāʾirī’s leadership marked the beginning of a balanced revival of philosophical rationalism in the Qom Seminary.

Before the arrival of Āyatullāh Burūjirdī—when Imam Khomeini was teaching philosophy alongside fiqh and uṣūl—there were internal objections within the ḥawza to the teaching of philosophy. Yet, because the ḥawza acknowledged Imam Khomeini’s mastery in jurisprudence, opposition to him remained limited.^[6]

Āyatullāh Fayyāḍī remarks regarding Imam Khomeini’s role in the expansion of ḥikma and philosophy:
“By the blessing of Imam Khomeini, the situation changed profoundly. Whenever he spoke of fiqh and uṣūl, he also mentioned philosophy; moreover, he himself was a master of philosophy. After the Revolution, his philosophical stature—combined with his position as the Leader of the Revolution—had a tremendous impact on the acceptance and establishment of philosophy within the ḥawza.”^[7]

Philosophical Subjects and Curricular Materials

During Āyatullāh Ḥāʾirī’s leadership, philosophy in the Qom Seminary was taught according to the classical tradition of Islamic ḥikma. Instruction was text-based, and works such as the Ilāhiyyāt of al-Shifāʾ, al-Ishārāt wa al-Tanbīhāt, al-Asfār al-Arbaʿa, and the Sharḥ al-Manẓūma formed the core philosophical curriculum. Discussions of the soul (nafs) were examined in accordance with the natural philosophy of earlier thinkers.^[8] Alongside these lessons, teachers such as Mīrzā ʿAlī-Akbar Ḥikamī Yazdī also taught mathematics, astronomy, and arithmetic.^[9] During this period, applied philosophies—such as philosophy of ethics or aesthetics in their modern sense—had not yet emerged; their development came later through figures such as Murtaḍā Muṭahharī and Muḥammad-Taqī Jaʿfarī.^[10]

Works and Innovations

Although the written philosophical output of this period was limited, noteworthy innovations emerged at the level of conceptual analysis and exposition. Mīrzā ʿAlī-Akbar Ḥikamī introduced novel insights into the relationship between acquired knowledge (ʿilm ḥuṣūlī) and immediate, presentational knowledge (ʿilm ḥuḍūrī), and advanced an original formulation of the argument from the soul (burhān al-nafs) for demonstrating the Necessary Existent.^[11] Likewise, Āyatullāh Muḥammad ʿAlī Shāhābādī, through his philosophical and mystical doctrine of “fiṭra” (innate nature), offered major innovations in Islamic epistemology and anthropology. He conceived of fiṭra as the foundation of human perfections and spoke of its various forms, such as the fiṭra of self-perception, the fiṭra of self-love, the fiṭra of disclosure, of comfort-seeking, and of the desire for freedom. It is for this reason that he was later remembered as the “philosopher of fiṭra.”^[12]

Engagement with Western Philosophy

During this period, serious engagement with Western philosophy had not yet taken shape; encounters with it remained limited and calm.^[13] Mīrzā ʿAlī-Akbar Ḥikamī—known as the “philosopher of Qom”—was among the first to show interest in studying Western thought.^[14] After him, certain writings of ʿAllāma Shaʿrānī reveal familiarity with Western philosophy, but neither undertook a substantial or critical confrontation with the Western philosophical tradition. Systematic efforts to critique or engage Western philosophy emerged only in later decades with the rise of new intellectual figures.

Second Period (1936–1944): The Historical Era of the Three Marājiʿ Leadership (Āyatullāh Ḥujjat, Āyatullāh Ṣadr, Āyatullāh Khānsārī)

After the passing of Āyatullāh ʿAbd al-Karīm Ḥāʾirī Yazdī in 1936 CE, the leadership of the Ḥawza of Qom was entrusted to three senior marājiʿ: Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥujjat Kūh-Kamariʾī, Sayyid Ṣadr al-Dīn Ṣadr, and Sayyid Muḥammad-Taqī Khānsārī. During this period, although the primary focus was on administrative organization and the consolidation of the seminary’s institutional structure, the teaching of philosophy continued without interruption.

Āyatullāh Ḥujjat, who had studied in Tabriz and Najaf under distinguished scholars such as Mīrzā Nāʾīnī and Āqā Ḍiyāʾ ʿIrāqī,^[15] possessed expertise not only in fiqh and uṣūl but also in the rational and philosophical sciences. With the establishment of the Ḥujjatiyya School, he expanded opportunities for the intellectual advancement of students and supported those inclined toward philosophy. Āyatullāh Ṣadr, a member of the renowned Ṣadr scholarly family, after studying with prominent jurists and philosophers in Najaf and Mashhad, came to Qom at the invitation of Āyatullāh Ḥāʾirī and played a major role in training notable students. His two sons—Sayyid Riḍā Ṣadr and Imām Mūsā Ṣadr—later emerged as influential philosophical and intellectual figures.

Taken as a whole, the era of the “Three Marājiʿ” can be described as a period of consolidation and elevation of philosophy within the Qom Seminary—an era in which ḥikma encountered no opposition, and the conditions for its preservation and transmission to later generations were secured.

The Status of Ḥikma and Philosophy in This Period

The period of the Three Marājiʿ coincided with the intellectual and political repression of Reza Shah Pahlavi, as well as the spread of materialist and communist ideologies in Iran. In this climate, the Qom Seminary bore a heavy responsibility in defending religion and Islamic rationality. Intellectuals such as Ahmad Kasravi and Sayyid Hasan Taghizadeh on one hand, and politically affiliated parties on the other, challenged religious foundations. In response, Imam Khomeini, through his teaching of philosophy and his writings—most notably Kashf al-Asrār—criticized deviant currents and kept the tradition of philosophy alive in Qom. He trained students such as Āyatullāh Muṭahharī, Āyatullāh Bihishtī, and Sayyid Jalāl al-Dīn Āshtiyānī. During this period, there was no restriction whatsoever imposed by the Three Marājiʿ on the teaching of philosophy.

The apex of this trajectory came with the arrival of ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī in 1946 CE. Fully aware of the intellectual needs of the time, he restructured the teaching of philosophy and—with tireless effort—brought renewed vitality to the rational sciences.^[16] In addition to Imam Khomeini and ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī, other figures such as Shaykh Mahdī Āshtiyānī and ʿAllāma Ilāhī Qumshaʾī also played significant roles in philosophical instruction.

The Transfer of Philosophy from the Seminary to the University

From this period onward, a process began through which philosophy gradually moved from the traditional seminaries into the modern universities. Scholars such as Muṭahharī, Fāḍil Tūnī, Sayyid Kāẓim ʿAṣṣār, and ʿAllāma Jaʿfarī taught at universities. ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī served as a key intellectual link among the seminaries of Tehran, Qom, and Najaf, thereby strengthening the connection between seminary-based thought and academic philosophy.

Subjects and Curricular Materials

The core of instruction remained the classical texts of Islamic philosophy—al-Asfār al-Arbaʿa and Sharḥ al-Manẓūma. However, ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī opened a new horizon by introducing epistemological discourse. Recognizing that Islamic ḥikma lacked systematic treatments of epistemology, he produced the influential work Uṣūl-i Falsafih va Ravish-i Riʾālīsm (The Principles of Philosophy and the Method of Realism). This work, while offering a rational defense of religion, critically engaged with materialist and positivist schools and laid the groundwork for modern Islamic philosophy.

Innovations and the Critique of Western Philosophy

During this period, the Qom Seminary emerged from its earlier passivity toward Western philosophy and developed a critical stance toward materialist schools. Uṣūl-i Falsafih va Ravish-i Riʾālīsm, along with Āyatullāh Muṭahharī’s commentaries on it, provided a systematic foundation for critiquing Western philosophies and affirming the principles of Islamic realism.^[17] Subsequently, works by ʿAllāma Jaʿfarī, Āyatullāh Miṣbāḥ Yazdī, and others criticized Marxism and existentialism.

Beyond its role in establishing epistemology as a discipline, Uṣūl-i Falsafih became a generative force in modern Iranian philosophical and religious thought. It represented the first organized and direct confrontation between Islamic philosophy and the foreign ideologies entering Iranian intellectual life from the West. The intellectual developments of the post-Renaissance West had unfolded on distinct philosophical assumptions: Western modernity began by reshaping its intellectual and philosophical foundations, challenging its religious heritage, and formulating rationalities severed from metaphysical intuition—developing empiricist and positivistic paradigms of knowledge and constructing culture and civilization upon these principles.

By training a generation versed in rational thought, ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī composed Uṣūl-i Falsafih in order to respond to the challenges posed by Western philosophies to Islamic thought. He also advanced fundamental critiques of materialist and contemporary philosophical doctrines. The book served as a firm bulwark safeguarding the intellectual foundations of religious belief in Iranian society and, since the publication of its first volume in the early 1950s, has remained an influential text. ʿAllāma’s critiques of Western philosophers appear clearly throughout the work. Its fourteen treatises—such as the treatise on knowledge and perception, and the treatise on the value of cognitions—critique materialist views of epistemology and demonstrate that, contrary to positivist claims, cognition is immaterial; all forms of cognition, including sensory perception, are non-material, though intellectual cognition represents its highest and most immaterial degree. In other treatises, such as those on cause and effect, and on actuality and potentiality, ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī not only demonstrates the strength of Islamic philosophy but also challenges materialist and positivist systems in a decisive manner.

Third Period: From the Arrival of Āyatullāh Burūjirdī to the Islamic Revolution

Āyatullāh Sayyid Ḥusayn Ṭabāṭabāʾī Burūjirdī (1875–1961 CE), one of the most prominent contemporary marājiʿ, studied philosophy in Isfahan under the sage Mīrzā Jahāngīr Khān Qashqāʾī and Ākhūnd Mullā Muḥammad Kāshī,^[18] and later in Najaf he studied under Ākhūnd Khurāsānī and Sayyid Muḥammad Kāẓim Yazdī. After returning to Burūjird, he taught fiqh, uṣūl, and philosophy and instructed students in Fayyāḍ Lāhījī’s Shawāriq^[19]—a work combining the Peripatetic, Illuminationist, and theological traditions, reflecting his mastery of Mullā Ṣadrā’s Transcendent Philosophy. Reports from his students, including Āyatullāh Fāḍil Lankarānī and Āyatullāh Subḥānī, indicate that even in advanced uṣūl sessions, he occasionally presented philosophical analyses and cited verses from Mullā Hādī Sabziwārī’s Manẓūma, offering original insights on rational issues.^[20]

Accounts suggest that his objection to the public teaching of al-Asfār by ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī did not stem from opposition to philosophy itself but from a desire to preserve the cohesion of the seminary and to avoid provoking the more rigidly traditionalist circles. ^[21] Āyatullāh Burūjirdī held that philosophy is a demanding discipline suitable only for capable and intellectually prepared students. His objection, therefore, was not to the discipline per se, but to its indiscriminate dissemination among the general body of students. It is reported that even in Burūjird, he had ceased teaching philosophy due to the protests of certain zealots.^[22] At the time, Imam Khomeini himself affirmed Āyatullāh Burūjirdī’s view that such topics should be taught in a limited, specialized setting.^[23]

The leadership of Āyatullāh Burūjirdī may thus be described as an era of preservation and structured guidance of seminary rationalism: a period in which philosophy was not only maintained but continued in a deliberate, disciplined, and elite-directed fashion.

The Status of Ḥikma and Philosophy

The period from Āyatullāh Burūjirdī to the eve of the Islamic Revolution represents the most fruitful and dynamic stage in the expansion of philosophy in the Qom Seminary. Philosophy extended beyond the confines of traditional seminary settings and entered the universities—so much so that many university professors of the time had been trained in Qom. Traditional opposition to philosophy gradually diminished as its effectiveness in rationally defending religion against waves of liberal, Marxist, and socialist ideologies became evident. The works of ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Āyatullāh Muṭahharī, and Āyatullāh Miṣbāḥ Yazdī in articulating the rational foundations of religion and critiquing materialism stand among the major intellectual achievements of this era.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the central figure of philosophical activity in Qom was unquestionably ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī. Through his revival of Ṣadrian philosophy, he presented it as an instrument for rational engagement with Western and materialist schools of thought. He modernized the course of Islamic philosophy and, with an inter-philosophical outlook, brought Islamic reason into dialogue with modern reason.^[24] His students—including Āyatullāh Muṭahharī and Āyatullāh Miṣbāḥ Yazdī—combined traditional philosophy with the intellectual needs of the contemporary world, laying the foundations of modern Islamic philosophy. Alongside them, figures such as ʿAllāma Ḥasan-zāda Āmulī and Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī played prominent roles in explicating theoretical mysticism and advancing Transcendent Philosophy.

Teachers of Philosophy and Ḥikma

During this period, the growing popularity of philosophy led to a significant increase in the number of instructors. ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī initially taught the Ilāhiyyāt of al-Shifāʾ in the Salmāsī Mosque, and later al-Asfār in the Fāṭimiyya Mosque, forming a distinguished circle of students. Simultaneously, Āyatullāh Sayyid Muṣṭafā Khomeini, Āyatullāh Ḥusayn-ʿAlī Muntaẓirī, Āyatullāh Muḥammad-ʿAlī Girāmī, and Āyatullāh Yaḥyā Anṣārī Shīrāzī also taught philosophy. Āyatullāh Muṭahharī regularly traveled from Tehran to teach al-Asfār in Qom, and with his combination of philosophical arguments and physical laws such as thermodynamics, he opened new horizons for the analysis of motion.^[25]

Subjects and Curricular Materials

The principal texts remained al-Shifāʾ, al-Asfār al-Arbaʿa, and Sharḥ al-Manẓūma. Alongside these, the teaching of logic saw renewed vigor. Though traditional texts such as Sharḥ al-Shamsiyya and Mullā ʿAbdullāh Yazdī’s Ḥāshiya remained part of the curriculum, the composition of Shaykh Muẓaffar’s al-Manṭiq in Najaf introduced a major pedagogical shift. By adding exercises and a new instructional structure, this work paved the way for the composition of more effective educational texts in the Qom Seminary.^[26]

Works and Innovations

The peak of philosophical innovation in this period is found in the works of ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī—especially Uṣūl-i Falsafih va Ravish-i Riʾālīsm, Nihāyat al-Ḥikma, and his commentaries on al-Asfār. His theory of “iʿtibāriyyāt”—a systematic account of the relationship between normative concepts and ontological realities—constitutes one of the major innovations in Islamic philosophy. By critiquing Hume and defending the connection between “is” and “ought,” he strengthened the foundations of moral rationality and the principle of causality, protecting Islamic philosophy against relativistic tendencies.^[27] His students—including Āyatullāh Muṭahharī, Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī, and ʿAllāma Miṣbāḥ Yazdī—continued this trajectory and, by expanding its discussions, laid the groundwork for the formation of “Neo-Ṣadrian Philosophy” after the Islamic Revolution.^[28]

In sum, this period represents the maturation of religious rationality and the consolidation of Islamic philosophy within contemporary Iranian intellectual life—a period that restored philosophy from the margins to the center of Islamic thought.

Fourth Period: The Era after the Islamic Revolution

The victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran marks a turning point in the history of Islamic thought and philosophy. The serious attention of seminary elites to philosophy constituted one of the epistemic foundations of this great transformation. In the 1950s and 1960s, when materialist, socialist, and existentialist intellectual currents were challenging religious foundations, a purely jurisprudential approach was no longer sufficient; rather, the need for philosophical reinforcement was strongly felt. Thinkers such as ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Āyatullāh Muṭahharī, Āyatullāh Bihishtī, and Āyatullāh Mufattiḥ, drawing upon Islamic ḥikma, confronted these currents and, relying on reason and argument, laid the intellectual groundwork of the Revolution within the cultural layers of society.

The Status of Ḥikma and Philosophy

With the advent of the Islamic Revolution and the support of Imam Khomeini and Āyatullāh Khamenei, philosophy in the Qom Seminary witnessed remarkable acceleration. Philosophical lessons and research not only continued but expanded into new fields such as applied philosophies, modern logic, epistemology, critique of Western philosophies, and the development of Islamic human sciences. Whereas before the Revolution, the critique of Marxist philosophy was central, after the Revolution, the critique of positivism, analytic philosophy, philosophy of language, and existentialism also gained prominence. From the 1980s onward, the quantitative and qualitative growth of philosophical studies and the growing inclination of seminarians toward Western philosophy indicate the intellectual maturity of this period.^[29]

Teachers of Ḥikma and Philosophy

Most of the prominent teachers of this era were direct or indirect students of ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī, who continued the trajectory of Islamic philosophy. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī, Āyatullāh Ḥasan-zāda Āmulī, Āyatullāh Miṣbāḥ Yazdī, and Āyatullāh Anṣārī Shīrāzī were among the most important masters of philosophy during this period. As intellectual freedom expanded in the seminary, the number of philosophy teachers and classes grew significantly, attracting many students to the lessons of figures such as Āyatullāh Ghulām Riḍā Fayyāḍī and Professor Ḥishmatpūr.

Subjects and Curricular Materials

The foundation of philosophical education in the Qom Seminary rests on two seminal works of ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī: Bidāyat al-Ḥikma and Nihāyat al-Ḥikma. These have formed the backbone of seminary philosophical training from before the Revolution to the present day.^[30] After the Revolution, philosophy rose from a peripheral subject to one of the principal academic disciplines of the seminary. Alongside Bidāya and Nihāya, classical works such as Sharḥ al-Manẓūma, Ilāhiyyāt of al-Shifāʾ, al-Ishārāt wa al-Tanbīhāt, al-Asfār al-Arbaʿa, and al-Shawāhid al-Rubūbiyya were added to the advanced curriculum. Thus, philosophy gained a stable, institutionalized place in seminary education and became one of the essential pillars of scholarly formation with the formal support of seminary administration.

Expansion and Development of Philosophy

After the Islamic Revolution, Islamic philosophy in the Qom Seminary experienced substantial and multidimensional growth. This expansion took place not only within the framework of Ṣadrian philosophy, but also in the emergence of “applied philosophies”. Philosophies applied to domains—such as philosophy of culture, philosophy of technology, philosophy for children, philosophy of art—and those applied to the sciences—such as philosophy of science, philosophy of ethics, philosophy of economics, and philosophy of psychology—came to be seriously discussed in seminary and university circles. Reviews of official curricula in schools affiliated with the Qom Seminary Management Council show that these fields now constitute integral components of the educational and research structure of the seminary.

Supplying University Professors

A key dimension of seminary–university interaction during this period was the prominent presence of seminary scholars in universities. Before the Revolution, figures such as Fāḍil Tūnī, Muḥyī al-Dīn Ilāhī Qumshaʾī, Sayyid Kāẓim ʿAṣṣār, and Āyatullāh Muṭahharī played an important role in transmitting the philosophical heritage of the seminary to the university. After the Revolution, this trend accelerated dramatically. Many students of ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī and Qom-based thinkers began teaching across universities in the country, introducing new intellectual atmospheres. Some of these academics, although trained in the seminary, became recognized as prominent university scholars—an indication of the institutionalized interaction between the two major scholarly centers of Iran.^[31]

Innovations

The innovations of this period largely developed along the lines established by ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī and his students in ontology, epistemology, theology, and methodology. Important contributions include the theory of sensory connection, new formulations of the Burhān al-Ṣiddīqīn based on the principle of reality, renewed interpretations of philosophical realism, novel analyses of will and the intrinsic power of the Necessary Being, revival of demonstrative method, the theory of iʿtibāriyyāt, and the possibility of establishing burhān limmī^[32] in philosophical issues.^[33] These achievements deepened the foundations of contemporary Islamic philosophy.

Reformulation, Re-researching, and Re-production

During this era, the rewriting and scholarly commentary of classical philosophical texts—through analytical and critical approaches—became widespread. Works such as Amūzish-i Falsafih (Teaching Philosophy) by Āyatullāh Miṣbāḥ Yazdī, Raḥīq Makhtūm by Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī, and new commentaries on the Ilāhiyyāt of al-Shifāʾ and Sharḥ al-Manẓūma by Āyatullāh Anṣārī Shīrāzī were not mere commentaries but genuine re-productions of philosophical thought, greatly facilitating researchers’ access to the foundations of Islamic ḥikma.

 

Monitoring Intellectual Doubts and Responding to Them

The seminary’s rational defense of religion became more systematized during this period. As new intellectual currents emerged after the Revolution, critical engagement with Western philosophies—from Marxism and positivism to philosophies of language and existentialism—became a central mission of the seminary. The composition of dozens of works critiquing these schools shows that Qom has played a leading role not only in maintaining religious boundaries but also in expanding Islamic philosophical thought in the contemporary world.

Figures such as Āyatullāh Miṣbāḥ Yazdī, Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī, Āyatullāh ʿĀbidī Shāhrūdī, and ʿAllāma Jaʿfarī each made significant contributions to the development of Islamic philosophy. Āyatullāh Miṣbāḥ, through works such as Amūzish-i Falsafih and his involvement in monitoring intellectual challenges, greatly advanced Islamic philosophy and trained many scholars in rational sciences and applied philosophical fields. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī, in works such as Raḥīq Makhtūm, Falsafih-yi Ḥuqūq-i Bashar (Philosophy of Human Rights), and Manzilat-i ʿAql dar Hindisih-yi Maʿrifat-i Dīnī (The Status of Reason in the Architecture of Religious Knowledge), both strengthened Islamic philosophy and addressed new fields such as philosophy of religion, ethics, and environmental ethics. Āyatullāh ʿĀbidī Shāhrūdī, with mastery of Western philosophy and critique of Kant’s epistemology, produced important works such as Naqd-i Quwwih-yi Shinākht (Critique of the Faculty of Cognition) and Qanūn-i Akhlāq (The Law of Ethics). ʿAllāma Jaʿfarī, with profound knowledge of Western philosophy and culture, through correspondence and dialogue with philosophers such as Russell and Whitehead, emerged as a distinctive figure known as the “philosopher of culture and humanity.”

The Tradition of Critiquing Rival Philosophies

Among the intellectual activities of the Qom Seminary, one of the most prominent areas is the tradition of critiquing rival philosophies. Rooted in the era of ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī and continued by his students, this tradition exemplifies intellectual maturity and philosophical self-consciousness in the seminary. In this approach, philosophers of Qom did not merely reproduce Islamic philosophical heritage; rather, they engaged in critical and comparative examination of Western philosophies and materialistic schools.

In ontology and epistemology, foundational critiques of dialectical materialism and Marxism were presented by ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī and Āyatullāh Muṭahharī.^[34] Through demonstrative analysis, they argued that materialist dependence on sensory perception is insufficient and showed that reality extends beyond matter and empirical experience.^[35] Āyatullāh Muṭahharī, in many works—including his critiques of Marxism and Philosophy of History—challenged the theoretical foundations of that school and revived the bond between philosophical rationality and Islamic theology.^[36]

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī, through critique of Anselm’s argument^[37] and reevaluation of Hume’s claims on sensory perception and necessity and contingency,^[38] contributed significantly to purifying Islamic philosophy from modern eclecticisms. He also advanced deep dialogue between Islamic philosophy and analytic philosophy by formulating new proofs for the Necessary Being.

Āyatullāh Miṣbāḥ Yazdī, adopting a systematic approach, examined and critiqued Western ethical theories—from Bentham and Mill’s utilitarianism to Kant’s deontology and Nietzsche’s theory of the will to power.^[39] In works such as Taʿlīqāt bar Nihāyat al-Ḥikma and Falsafih-yi Akhlāq (Philosophy of Ethics), while analyzing the theoretical foundations, he demonstrated the insufficiency of non-theistic ethics in explaining the ultimate purpose of human beings.^[40]

ʿAllāma Muḥammad-Taqī Jaʿfarī, with an existential and humanistic orientation, critiqued Hume on causality, arguing that the denial of causality is essentially the denial of reality.^[41] He rejected Hume’s separation of “is” and “ought” and presented a philosophical foundation for a rational link between value and reality.^[42] In the same vein, Āyatullāh Subḥānī, with critical analyses of Hegel’s principles^[43] and Darwin’s theory of evolution,^[44] redefined the relationship between philosophy and religion from the standpoint of Islamic reason.

In the continuous progress of the Transcendent Philosophy, numerous teachers have played significant roles. Āyatullāh ʿĀbidī Shāhrūdī, with a precise approach, critiqued Kant’s epistemological system and authored important works such as Naqd-i Quwwih-yi Shinākht.^[45] Shaykh Ḥasan Ramaḍānī, through a new interpretation of knowledge by presence and the linkage of theoretical mysticism with Ṣadrian philosophy, strengthened the continuity of intuitive experience within the rational system of Mullā Ṣadrā.

Āyatullāh Ghulām Riḍā Fayyāḍī, by formulating the theory of Islamic applied philosophies and designing logic of philosophical inference, further theorized the grounds for transformation in Islamic humanities. Āyatullāh ʿAlī Akbar Rashād, through the theory of logic of epistemic ijtihād and system-building jurisprudence, established a model for the production of religious knowledge.

Ḥujjat al-Islām Qadrdān Qarāmalikī, by founding Islamic applied ethics and critiquing instrumental rationality, reinterpreted the relation of science and value within the religious framework. Ḥujjat al-Islām ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn Khusruwpanāh, with the theory of philosophical rationality and philosophy of Islamic epistemic systems, contributed to the renewal of philosophical foundations of the humanities.

Ḥujjat al-Islām Ḥamīd Pārsāniyā, by developing the theory of revelatory social knowledge and reconstructing the philosophy of Islamic history, demonstrated the foundations of epistemic civilization-building. Finally, Ḥujjat al-Islām Yadullāh Yazdānpanāh, through the exposition of rational mysticism and philosophical interpretation of human existential manifestations, reflected more than ever the coherence among reason, revelation, and intuition in scholarly assemblies.

In recent decades, younger researchers such as Ḥujjat al-Islām Mahdi ʿAbdullahi, by critiquing Keith Lehrer’s coherence theory and other currents of contemporary epistemology, have continued this tradition of philosophical critique at academic levels.^[46]

Altogether, these efforts testify that the Qom Seminary stands not in a passive position but as an active participant in intercultural dialogue and critique—a movement through which Islamic philosophy has been able both to stand against Western schools and to assist in reconstructing religious rationality in the modern age.

1. Alireza Seyyed Kabari, Ḥuwzihhā-yi ʿIlmiyyih-yi Shīʿa dar Gustarih-yi Jahān, p. 384. ↑
2. Majmūʿih-yi Sukhanān va Dīdgāhhā-yi Imam Khomeini darbārih-yi Ruwḥāniyyat, p. 173. ↑
3. Philosophical topics such as individuation, the primacy of existence, and various philosophical notions like possibility and impossibility frequently appear throughout this scholarly work. ↑
4. Āyatullāh Sayyid Mūsā Shubayrī Zanjānī, Jurʿih‑ʾī az Daryā, vol. 3, p. 662. ↑
5. Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ghanī Ardabīlī, Taqrīrāt-i Falsafah-yi Imam Khomeini, p. 12. ↑
6. Interview with Professor Fanāʾī Ishkawarī. ↑
7. Interview with Āyatullāh Ghulām Riḍā Fayyāḍī. ↑
8. See Risāla Ḥikamiyya. ↑
9. See Risāla Ḥikamiyya, pp. 15-16. ↑
10. See the article, Paydāyish va Basṭ-i Falsafih-yi Hunar va Ḥikmat-i Zībāʾī dar Sadih-yi Akhīr-i Ḥowzih-yi ʿIlmiyyih-yi Qum, by Dr. Muḥammad Mahdī Ḥikmat‑Mihr. ↑
11. See the article, Shakhṣiyyathā-yi Dānishī va Barjastih va Nuwʿāvarīhā dar ʿIlm al-Nafs-i Falsafī dar Sadih-yi Akhīr-i Ḥowzih-yi ʿIlmiyyih-yi Qum, by Abū al-Ḥasan Ghaffārī. ↑
12. Muḥammad ʿAlī Shāhābādī; Fīlsūf-i Fiṭrat: Nigāhī bih Aḥwāl va Afkār-i ʿĀrif-i Ḥakīm Āyatullāh Muḥammad ʿAlī Shāhābādī; compiled by ʿAlī Ḥaydar Murtaḍavī; Tehran: Research Institute for Islamic Culture and Thought, 1387 [2008]. ↑
13. See the article, Darāmadī bar Muwājihih va Naqdhā-yi Fīlsūfān-i Sadih-yi Akhīr-i Ḥowzih-yi ʿIlmiyyih-yi Qum bar Falsafih-yi Gharb, by Leyla Mohsenian. ↑
14. See Risāla Ḥikamiyya, p. 139. ↑
15. Mohammad Alvansaz Khuʾi, Ḥujjat-i Faqīhān, p. 54. ↑
16. Interview with Āyatullāh Ghulām Riḍā Fayyāḍī. ↑
17. Uṣūl-i Falsafih va Ravish-i Riʾālīsm, vol. 1, p. 13; see the article, Muvājihih-yi Fīlsūfān-i Islāmī bā Maʿrifat-shināsī-yi Gharbī, by Mahdi ʿAbdullahi. ↑
18. ʿAlī Davānī, Zindigī-yi Zaʿīm-i Buzurg-i ʿĀlam-i Tashayyuʿ Āyatullāh Burūjirdī, p. 362. ↑
19. Ibid. ↑
20. Āyatullāh Jaʿfar Subḥānī, Majallih-yi Ḥowzih, no. 43–44, Spring 1370 [1991], p. 175. ↑
21. See Āyatullāh Sayyid Mūsā Shubayrī Zanjānī, Jurʿih‑ʾī az Daryā, vol. 2, p. 668. ↑
22. ʿAlī Davānī, Zindigī-yi Zaʿīm-i Buzurg-i ʿĀlam-i Tashayyuʿ Āyatullāh Burūjirdī, p. 387. ↑
23. See Āyatullāh Sayyid Mūsā Shubayrī Zanjānī, Jurʿih‑ʾī az Daryā, vol. 2, p. 668. ↑
24. Interview with Professor Fanāʾī Ishkawarī. ↑
25. Interview with Professor Zamānī Qumshih-ʾī. ↑
26. Interview with Professor ʿAskarī Sulaymānī. ↑
27. See the article, Muwājihih-yi Ḥukamā-yi Ḥowzih-yi ʿIlmiyyih-yi Qum bā Falsafih-yi Akhlāq dar Sadih-yi Akhīr, by Majid Abolqasemzadeh. ↑
28. Interview with Āyatullāh Ghulām Riḍā Fayyāḍī. ↑
29. Interview with Ḥujjat al-Islām Shīrvānī. ↑
30. Interview with Āyatullāh Ghulām Riḍā Fayyāḍī. ↑
31. Interview with Ḥujjat al-Islām Shīrvānī. ↑
32. A burhān limmī is an argument that moves from a known cause to its effect, using knowledge of the cause to infer the existence of the resulting phenomenon. ↑
33. For information on ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī’s innovations, see Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī, Shams al‑Waḥy Tabrīzī, p. 187. ↑
34. ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Uṣūl-i Falsafih va Ravish-i Riʾālīsm, second article. ↑
35. Ibid. ↑
36. Āyatullāh Muṭahharī, Naqdī bar Marxism. In this book, Āyatullāh Muṭahharī critiques Marx’s philosophy, the principles of dialectics, and the principles of motion in Hegel’s philosophy. ↑
37. Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī, Tabyīn-i Barāhīn-i Ethbāt-i Khudā, pp. 52–58. ↑
38. Ibid., p. 156. ↑
39. Āyatullāh Miṣbāḥ Yazdī, Naqd va Barrasī-yi Makātib-i Akhlāqī, pp. 178, 192, 211, 275. ↑
40. Āyatullāh Miṣbāḥ Yazdī, Naqd va Barrasī-yi Makātib-i Akhlāqī. The entire book is devoted to criticizing Western ethical schools and approaches, such as emotivism, prescriptivism, communitarianism, contractualism, hedonism, utilitarianism, and others. ↑
41. Ibid., p. 22. ↑
42. ʿAllāma Muḥammad-Taqī Jaʿfarī, Barrasī va Naqd-i Hume dar Chahār Masʾalih-yi Falsafī, p. 37. ↑
43. Āyatullāh Subḥānī has written several articles on Hegel’s philosophy and has offered critiques of it. See Nuqṭih Naẓarhāʾī dar Farḍiyyih‑yi Hegel: Āyā Har Nowʿ Tafsīr va Taḥavvul Mustalzim‑i Takāmul Ast?, Darshāʾī az Maktab‑i Islām, 1359, no. 4; Aṣlī bih Nām-i Nafy dar Nafy, ibid., no. 12; Mikānīsm‑i ʿUmūmī‑yi Taḥavvulāt‑i Jahān va Falsafih‑yi Hegel, ibid., no. 3. ↑
44. Āyatullāh Subḥānī, Darvinism yā Takāmul-i Anwāʿ, Naqd va Taḥlīl. ↑
45. Āyatullāh ʿĀbidī Shāhrūdī, Naqd-i Quwwih-yi Shinākht. In this work, Kant’s philosophy is examined and critiqued in detail. ↑
46. Mahdi ʿAbdullahi, Insijām‑giravī dar Towjīh bā Taʾkīd bar Ārāʾi Keith Lehrer. Keith Lehrer is regarded as the most important theorist of coherence theory. In this book, his theory—as well as those of several Western thinkers—is critiqued from the standpoint of Islamic philosophy. ↑