The Need for a Sacred Science

Abstract

Looking through humanity's experience of history one finds, in a variety of ways, a tendency to go beyond time. This was true in premodem man and is equally prevalent in the postmodern view of human spirituality, even though postmodemism as an entity has failed to recognize the need and logic of such an idea. In response, contemporary religious thinkers, philosophers, and spiritualists have argued for the revival of "tradition," religious values, and spirituality. Some of the main proponents of this "traditionist school" (p. 53) are Huston Smith, Frithjof Schuon, Gai Eaton, Titus Burckhardt, Martin Lings, and, of course, Seyyed Hossein Nasr. Nasr has written on several topics within the field of Islamics as well as other related disciplines. However, the major portion of his writings have been permeated with such themes as scientia sacra, perennial philosophy, and the revival of spiritual traditions. These are indicative of his concern for and commitment to the cause of the revival of tradition. In the words of Jane Smith, he is the "defender of the sacred." His works on Islam, especially on Sufism, the philosophy of religion, Shi'ite thought, and various topics in world religions are too innumerable to be accounted for here. But Nasr's relevance extends far beyond the areas of Islamic studies and comparative religion, for he writes for the specialist and for the wider public and appeals to those who are interested not only in religion and spirituality as such but also in their interrelation to philosophy, science, social science, policy making, art, and youth issues. Above all, Nasr provides material for those who simply seek to understand life's deeper mysteries. It has been rightly pointed out that Nasr has been one of the leading figures in ... the "neo-traditionist" movement in modem Islam and has contributed enormously to the enrichment of ideas earlier propounded by Rene Guenon. [Further] his defense of the "whole and integral tradition of Islam" separates him from other contemporary Shi'ite Muslim thinkers and brings him closer to the mainstream of Islamic thought ...