| Chapter 1: | Discourse on Motivation and Children |
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two ‘equal’ paths to safety, he chooses one of them because of a perceived benefit, not an inclination that follows this perception.48
Philosophers’ Definitions
The medieval Muslim philosophers relied upon Aristotle's theory of the soul to define ir
da. Aristotle (384–322 BCE) indicated that the intellect is differentiated into cognition (idrk) and irda, which he called ‘rational desire’.49 According to al-F
rb
(259/870–339/950–951) in Al-Mad
na al-F
ila, the irda is made up of a combination of conative forces and the human intellect. It is an inclination towards what is recognised via perception, imagination, or the faculty of speech; the ruling pertaining to it is to either take it or leave it. The irda is from the unique characteristics of human behaviour and is described as intrinsic.50 According to Ibn Sn, the irda is a stimulative force that stems from mental perception.51
Al-Ghazzl's Attempt at Reconciliation
Al-Ghazzl occupies a unique position in the definition of irda by attempting to reconcile its linguistic, psychological, Sufi, theological, and philosophical connotations (although he appears to use the Sufi definition when he is talking solely about Sufism).52 He used the Sufi definition in his I
y’, where he defined irda as ‘spiritual wayfaring in the Path of God’, while ‘the murd is the spiritual wayfarer’.53 In the same work, he also relied on the psychological and ethical connotations of irda by stating that it is ‘the impulse of the heart towards that which it deems to be in accordance with an objective’.54
On the one hand, when discussing Sufism in his Iy’, al-Ghazzl stated that ‘whosoever observes the Hereafter with certainty in his heart necessarily becomes a murd who cultivates the Hereafter within himself and longs for it’.55 On the other hand, based on its psychological meaning, he wrote that irda results from the collaboration of two forces: (1) the stimulative force that produces the carnal desires and (2) the capacity to act. The capacity to act is what distinguishes human beings from animals and causes the body to carry out specific acts after deliberation. This is