History of Islamic Philosophy

History of Islamic Philosophy

"Critique of Mulla Sadra's Theory of the Afterlife Body from the Perspective of Hakim Sabzevari (With Emphasis on the Eternal Body and Preservation of Individual Identity)"

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 theology faculty- university of tehran- Iran
2 department of Islamic philosophy & theology- faculty of theology- university of Tehran- Iran
Abstract
The issue of bodily resurrection is one of the fundamental questions in Islamic philosophy, holding a special place in the transcendent theosophy of Mulla Sadra. Drawing on his foundational principles—such as the primacy of existence, substantial motion, and the unity of the intellect and the intelligible—Mulla Sadra presents an innovative and evolutionary theory of resurrection. According to this view, the resurrected body is the result of the soul’s ontological and existential development, rather than a return to the worldly material body. In contrast, the philosopher Haj Mulla Hadi Sabzavari, while accepting the general framework of Sadrian philosophy, raises substantial critiques concerning the realization of the resurrected body and its relation to personal identity. He proposes the theory of the "eternal (dahri) form of the body," emphasizing the preservation of personal identity in the afterlife. Sabzavari regards the resurrected body not as the outcome of substantial motion in the hereafter, but as the return of the same worldly body in a supra-temporal and immaterial mode of existence. This article offers a comparative analysis of the views of Mulla Sadra and Sabzavari, examines the philosophical foundations of both theories, addresses Sabzavari’s critiques of the Sadrian perspective, and ultimately explores the explanatory potential of the theory of the eternal form in articulating a philosophical understanding of resurrection.
Keywords
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The Holy Qurʾān (in Arabic)
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  • Receive Date 31 May 2025
  • Revise Date 14 February 2026
  • Accept Date 15 February 2026