The Nature, Necessity, and Key Characteristics of Revealed Wisdom (A Scholarly Dialogue with Ayatollah Fayyazi)

The present article, structured as a face-to-face interview with Ayatollah Gholamreza Fayyazi -a prominent scholar of Islamic philosophical studies in both seminary and university settings- seeks to introduce a significant yet often overlooked approach to philosophical thought known as Revealed Wisdom (Ḥikmat-e Waḥyānī). The conversation begins with a semantic exploration of the concept, portraying Revealed Wisdom as a philosophical interpretation of the Qur'anic verses and a rational extraction of doctrinal teachings from religious texts. In this dialogue, Ayatollah Fayyazi outlines the defining features and characteristics of Revealed Wisdom, exploring its various dimensions and proposing two primary pathways for its development. The first involves the rhetorical questions found in the Holy Qur’an, which present fundamental religious principles -both ontological (“what there is”) and normative (“what ought to be”) -as self-evident and innate. The second pathway consists of the Qur’an’s rational arguments, the comprehension of which requires philosophical training and demonstrative reasoning. However, given the limitations of human reason, Revealed Wisdom is not confined solely to what can be grasped through rational means. In conclusion, Ayatollah Fayyazi emphasizes the need to promote Revealed Wisdom and proposes the establishment of advanced seminary-level courses (dars-e khārej) in doctrinal theology based on this approach.