Analysis and Examination of the Issue of Bodily Resurrection (Maʿād-e Jismānī) in the Isfahan and Tehran Philosophical Schools, with Emphasis on the Views of Mullā Ṣadrā and Ḥukamā-ye Arbaʿa (the Four Sages)
3
department of islamic theolgy and philosophy.ilam university
10.30473/pms.2026.75042.2151
Abstract
Abstract The issue of bodily resurrection (Maʿād-e Jismānī) holds great significance in Islamic philosophy, particularly within the Isfahan and Tehran philosophical schools. Mullā Ṣadrā, as one of the prominent philosophers of the Isfahan school, employed the foundational principles of his Ḥikmat-e Mutaʿāliyah (Transcendent Theosophy) to provide a rational explanation for the nature of bodily resurrection. Among the Ḥukamā-ye Arbaʿa of the Tehran philosophical school, only Āqā ʿAlī Modarres Zonūzī Tehranī engaged in a serious and innovative analysis of bodily resurrection. Āqā ʿAlī Modarres Tehranī attempts, without altering Ṣadrā’s philosophical foundations, to present a novel depiction of bodily resurrection that yields a different logical conclusion from Ṣadrā’s own deductions. He neither accepts the theory of elemental resurrection (Maʿād-e ʿUnṣurī), which posits the return of the soul to the earthly body, nor does he regard the body in the hereafter as a mere product of the soul’s creative power. Instead, he argues that after death, the earthly body, under the influence of the soul, undergoes perfection and ultimately unites with the soul in the hereafter. The success of his theory lies in resolving ambiguities and objections that logically arise. These reflections can be articulated along two axes: (1) the relationship between the soul and the body, and (2) the teleological movement (ḥarakat-e takāmulī) of the soul and body toward perfection. Although Modarres Tehranī, in explaining the soul-body relationship in this world, adheres to the unionist composition (tarkīb-e ittiḥādī) and other Ṣadrāyan principles, he derives divergent conclusions regarding resurrection. His teleological justification centers on the idea that the body, while retaining its worldly characteristics, unites with the soul as its ultimate end (ghāyat) in resurrection. Through this approach, he seeks to distinguish his theory from both Ṣadrā’s doctrine and the literalist view of elemental resurrection (ẓāhir-garāyi).
golrokh, S. , seraj, S. and ziaei, M. (2026). Analysis and Examination of the Issue of Bodily Resurrection (Maʿād-e Jismānī) in the Isfahan and Tehran Philosophical Schools, with Emphasis on the Views of Mullā Ṣadrā and Ḥukamā-ye Arbaʿa (the Four Sages). SADRĀ’I WISDOM, (), -. doi: 10.30473/pms.2026.75042.2151
MLA
golrokh, S. , , seraj, S. , and ziaei, M. . "Analysis and Examination of the Issue of Bodily Resurrection (Maʿād-e Jismānī) in the Isfahan and Tehran Philosophical Schools, with Emphasis on the Views of Mullā Ṣadrā and Ḥukamā-ye Arbaʿa (the Four Sages)", SADRĀ’I WISDOM, , , 2026, -. doi: 10.30473/pms.2026.75042.2151
HARVARD
golrokh, S., seraj, S., ziaei, M. (2026). 'Analysis and Examination of the Issue of Bodily Resurrection (Maʿād-e Jismānī) in the Isfahan and Tehran Philosophical Schools, with Emphasis on the Views of Mullā Ṣadrā and Ḥukamā-ye Arbaʿa (the Four Sages)', SADRĀ’I WISDOM, (), pp. -. doi: 10.30473/pms.2026.75042.2151
CHICAGO
S. golrokh , S. seraj and M. ziaei, "Analysis and Examination of the Issue of Bodily Resurrection (Maʿād-e Jismānī) in the Isfahan and Tehran Philosophical Schools, with Emphasis on the Views of Mullā Ṣadrā and Ḥukamā-ye Arbaʿa (the Four Sages)," SADRĀ’I WISDOM, (2026): -, doi: 10.30473/pms.2026.75042.2151
VANCOUVER
golrokh, S., seraj, S., ziaei, M. Analysis and Examination of the Issue of Bodily Resurrection (Maʿād-e Jismānī) in the Isfahan and Tehran Philosophical Schools, with Emphasis on the Views of Mullā Ṣadrā and Ḥukamā-ye Arbaʿa (the Four Sages). SADRĀ’I WISDOM, 2026; (): -. doi: 10.30473/pms.2026.75042.2151