Multiplicity of Knowledge Forms

Abstract

And say (O Mohammed): My Lord! Increase me in knowledge. (20:114) In the above verse from the Qur'an, God enjoins the Prophet Muhammad to literally plead for knowledge. I believe that this verse has very significant implications for the topic of Islamic epistemology. Not only does God make a categorical statement about the importance of the pursuit of knowledge in human endeavor,' but He also declares Himself to be the fountainhead of all knowledge in the universe. Does all knowledge come from God? If so, what is the nature of humanity's pursuit of knowledge? Can we discern between various forms of knowledge and make qualitative or moral distinctions between them? These are fundamental questions that constitute the building blocks of Islamic epistemology. In traditional Western philosophical circles, however, Islamic epistemology has been relegated to the status of a historical artifact, an older fonn of inquiry which has been supplanted in the current age by Western concerns. The importance of Mama Mehdi Ha'ii Yazdi's book The Principles of Epistemology in Islamic Philosophy: Knowledge by Presence is precisely that it reintroduces Islamic epistemology as a living, vibrant, and practiced tradition. For that reason alone, this is a very important book I am not a philosopher by training; as a consequence, I found this book to be heavy going. But to the extent that I was able to understand it, it was a very illuminating experience. This article addresses people such as myself, who are concerned with issues of epistemology and yet would be more comfomble with a weaker dose of philosophical terminology. In my ...