Happiness and Its Relationship with Religion in the Thought of Ibn Sina and Feydh Kashani

In the present essay, using an analytic-comparative method and focusing on the ideas of Avicenna and Feydh Kashani, we seek to show that in Islamic approach both from philosophical and theological perspectives, happiness has a close relationship with the problem of religiosity. However, Avicenna and Feydh have adopted different modes of expression for dealing with the latter problem. Upon reflection on the words of Avicenna that include the philosophical and rationally grounded method and its point of strength is taking advantage of the independent reason, we see that the rationality itself is understood in terms of divine connection while Feydh insists on the problem of faith and divine guidance. Nevertheless, these two thinkers despite their different intellectual orientations have reached common conclusions of the otherworldly end of man. Accordingly, Avicenna by his philosophical approach and Feydh by his theological method, have shown that happiness is the highest end that man can struggle after it. Thus, both thinkers show that there is a close relationship between practical reason and moral life of people; although in explanation of happiness, Avicenna introduces understanding of intelligible truths as the foundation and axis of one’s understanding of happiness, existential perfections and more importantly, happiness in general, have their origin in Absolute Perfection