The origin of matter in Mula Sadra's philosophy

Abstract

The history of Islamic thought has recorded extensive and heated debates between philosophers and theologians over whether the world, the first creature of God, was created in time, or whether it is not a time-limited being. Given the fact that philosophers argue that first God's creature, the world of intellect, is not limited in time by its essence, the question of the relationship between the eternal and temporal being can certainly be considered within the study of the origin of matter. Therefore, this paper will focus on the creation of the material world. To resolve the question of the origin of the material world and the relationship between the temporal matter and its ontological cause, meta-temporal intellect, Mulla Sadra Shirazi uses philosophical innovative ideas and principles to prove that the entire material world is one whole being that has no beginning in time. Substantial movement, his innovative theory of crucial importance in resolving this issue, represents a turning point in the philosophical interpretation of the material world in Islamic philosophy. Typically and in accordance with his idiosyncratic style of writing, in the seventh volume of his impressive book Asfar, Mulla Sadra Shirazi surpasses the theory of substantial movement and suggests the idea that, according to the author of this paper, is not sufficiently represented among contemporary representatives of Transcendental philosophy.