Methodology of Comparative Theology in Transcendental Wisdom (Hekmat-e Mota‘aliyeh)

Abstract

The contemporary encounter with religious diversity poses critical challenges for theologians in their engagement with the “religious other,” frequently resulting in theological exclusivism and hermeneutical impasse. Within this context, Comparative Theology emerges as a distinctive and transformative theological approach that, while remaining deeply rooted in one’s own faith tradition, deliberately pursues profound learning from other religious traditions. Such engagement enriches faith and understanding by refining existing doctrines, illuminating shared moral and metaphysical insights, and ultimately extending the classical definition of theology, fides quaerens intellectum (“faith seeking understanding”), beyond rigid confessional boundaries. Given the remarkable and systematic development of Comparative Theology within Christian contexts, together with the profound intellectual and theological resources of Islam, it becomes imperative to articulate a corresponding and authentically grounded model within Islamic thought. Imported methodologies, although valuable, often fail to address the indigenous philosophical and theological concerns inherent to Islamic intellectual traditions. This dissertation advances the thesis that Mulla Sadra’s Transcendental Wisdom (Hekmat-e Mota‘aliyeh) provides the most comprehensive and coherent theoretical and methodological foundation for constructing an Islamic Comparative Theology. Through a systematic analysis of its integrative methodology, sophisticated ontology, dynamic epistemology, and interpretive theology of religions, the study shows that Transcendental Wisdom offers essential grounding principles, including Methodological Integration and Comprehensiveness, the hierarchical gradation of existence (Tashkik al-Wujūd) which accommodates non-reductive truth claims, and esoteric hermeneutics (Ta’wīl), all of which are necessary for developing a rigorous and dynamic model of genuine interreligious learning.