ISHRAQ studies the reception of Shihab al-Din al-Suhrawardi's (d. 584/1191) Illuminationist (ishraqi) philosophy from the seventh/thirteenth to the beginning of the eleventh/seventeenth century. Initially developed in critical relation to Avicenna, Illuminationism became one of the prominent doctrinal options in Islamic philosophy. In modern scholarship, Illuminationism is widely perceived as a form of syncretistic mysticism. This picture does not match Suhrawardi's philosophical output, and we should be cautious about its validity for the reception of his thought as well. A philosophically oriented study of Suhrawardi's legacy can (i) revise our understanding of postclassical Islamic philosophy by showing that it retains the high rational standards of the classical period, (ii) contribute to the inclusion of Islamic philosophy as a self-standing part of the global history of philosophy, and (iii) help to build bridges between analytic philosophy and contemporary Islamic philosophy.

2026

2031