Religious Inquiries (Jun 2021)
The Symbolic, Mysterious Language in the Thought of Muslim Philosophers
Abstract
Man employs a variety of methods to communicate his ideas and intentions. When he trusts that his audiences are competent enough to comprehend his oral or written message, and when he feels assured that no prejudice or misunderstanding exists on the part of the audience; he speaks directly and avoids figurative or ambiguous language. In contrast, if he feels or predicts otherwise, he tends to apply another strategy, expressing meanings implicitly under the guise of allusion, symbolism, and/or allegories. Some researchers believe that symbolic mysterious language (ramz) is exclusively employed in mathematics and mysticism to express topical objectives, but in this article, we will attempt to explain the application of this language in philosophy, and demonstrate why Muslim philosophers leaned toward using this encoded language. The author of the present study believes, to the best of his knowledge, that this research study is the first of its kind that seeks to explore the motives and considerations behind the use of this encoded language by philosophers.Man employs a variety of methods to communicate his ideas and intentions. When he trusts that his audiences are competent enough to comprehend his oral or written message, and when he feels assured that no prejudice or misunderstanding exists on the part of the audience; he speaks directly and avoids figurative or ambiguous language. In contrast, if he feels or predicts otherwise, he tends to apply another strategy, expressing meanings implicitly under the guise of allusion, symbolism, and/or allegories. Some researchers believe that symbolic mysterious language (ramz) is exclusively employed in mathematics and mysticism to express topical objectives, but in this article, we will attempt to explain the application of this language in philosophy, and demonstrate why Muslim philosophers leaned toward using this encoded language. The author of the present study believes, to the best of his knowledge, that this research study is the first of its kind that seeks to explore the motives and considerations behind the use of this encoded language by philosophers.
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