تاملاتي درزندگي و انديشه هاي سيد حسين نصر

Reflections on Sayyed Hussein Nasrʹs Life and Thoughts

Many views have been proposed as solutions for the challenge between tradition and modernity. Among them mention may be made of the traditionalistsʹ answer represented now most famously by Sayyed Hussein Nasr, who has composed many works on this subject; here, reflections on his ideas have been made while considering some of these works. Nasrʹs stress on tradition in criticizing modernity, and his attempt in escaping the fundamentalismʹs trap, as well as a belief in the traditional Islamʹs capacity in offering solutions for different problems, is a proper orientation. However, the traditional Islam and the traditionalism insisted on by Nasr in general pose a challenge to the jurisprudential Islam - as the proper criterion for understanding the religious knowledge - in different problems. Nasrʹs pluralistic tendencies for closing religions in European and American societies have had good consequences. Nevertheless, accepting pluralism in notion of truth and relinquishing the pure religion are inconsistent with jurisprudential Islam and the explicit Quranic verses. Besides, the overt presence of Sufism in Nasrʹs ideas has given his works a Sufist flavor, which deserves reflection and scrutiny. Unlike Sufists, however, Nasr has no religious Law-phobia and even considers all individual and social aspects to be within the realm of religious Law. For this very reason, he is in a serious opposition to secular trend, though admitting monarchy as a form of state having the least deficiency in Occultation Period, in opposition to jurisprudential authority {Wellayat-e Faqih) as the central point of jurisprudential Islam.