Iran commemorates influential philosopher Mulla Sadra

May 21, the first day of the Persian month of Khordad, is marked as the national day of the great Persian scholar and philosopher Mulla Sadra.

Born in the Iranian city of Shiraz, Ṣadr ad-Din Muḥammad Shirazi (AKA Mulla Sadra) is considered as the most influential Islamic philosopher of the last four centuries and a great Persian Islamic mystic and theologian after Avicenna.

The renowned scholar is recognized as the leader of cultural renaissance in the 17th century Iran. He lived during the Safavid dynasty and played a key role in developing the Islamic and Iranian culture.

Mulla Sadra was the creator of transcendental philosophy which is the third angle of the Islamic philosophy.

His works are divided into four fields, including philosophy, logic, hadith and interpretation of the Holy Quran.

According to Ali Mohammad Sajedi, a professor at Shiraz University, “Mulla Sadra had the same role as great philosophers such as Immanuel Kant and Rene Descartes in the West and Western philosophy. He created a link between originality of existence and mysticism.”

Mulla Sadra House is a historical building and a tourist attraction in Kahak city, the Iranian province of Qom, where he lived for fifteen years.

iFilm English TV Channel has aired a biopic about Mulla Sadra titled ‘Lighter than Darkness’. Click here to watch the series online.

MM/MG