The Metaphysics and Cosmology of Process According to Shaykh 'Aḥmad al-'Ahsā'ī:

Abstract: The subject of this study is the process metaphysics and cosmology of Shaykh ’Ahmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-’Ahsā’ī (d. 1826), especially as outlined in al-Fawā’id al-Hikmiyyah (The Wisdom Observations), his philosophical epitome, which we have edited and translated. With Shaykh ’Ahmad ended the cycle of the great and original philosophers of traditional Muslim civilization, a cycle that began with al-Kindi (d. 870). Shaykh ’Ahmad belonged to the period of Muslim scholasticism that stemmed from the work of both the kalām theologian Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 1209) and the last great philosopher in the post-Hellenic tradition, Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (d. 1274). In particular, Shaykh ’Ahmad worked two centuries after Mulla Ṣadrā (d. 1640–41). The latter, through his theory of motion in the category of substance, marked the beginning of a turn towards process philosophy in Muslim scholasticism, a turn marked by a still strict adherence to Peripatetic method. My general contention is that Shaykh ’Ahmad, whose philosophy in part consists of a critique of Mulla Ṣadrā, went beyond the confines of Muslim scholasticism and Peripatetic technique to develop a true process metaphysics and cosmology, in contrast with the more traditional substance metaphysics.

This four-part study constitutes an investigation of an author and of a tradition that remains virtually unknown to Western philosophers. In Part I, we first give an account of the development and context of Muslim scholasticism. Then we give a brief account of the life, works, influence, and philosophical context of Shaykh ’Ahmad. Finally, we discuss some problems of textual analysis and interpretation pertaining to the text of the Fawā’id. Part II of this study is an analysis of what we consider to be some of the fundamental themes of the metaphysics and cosmology of Shaykh ’Ahmad. We begin with an investigation and attempt to determine the author’s concept of metaphysics and its aim, object, method, and principles. Next, we consider Shaykh ’Ahmad’s theory of subsistence. We discuss the relation of that theory to his ontology of the fundamental reality of processes and acts as well as to what he considers to be the aim of metaphysics: cognizance of God and reality. We then discuss the application of the author’s theory of subsistence and of the ontology of acts and processes to the traditional distinctions of existence-essence and substance-accident. On the basis of our investigation, we claim to show that Shaykh ’Ahmad’s system of thought is a true process metaphysics and cosmology. We end this part with a very brief comparison and contrast of select elements of the author’s ontology with corresponding elements in Whitehead’s metaphysics. Part III is our translation of the bulk of the Fawā’id, while Part IV contains our critical edition of the original twelve fawā’id or “observations” penned by the author. (from academia.edu)