The Principle of Basīṭ al-Ḥaqīqah and Its Application in the Interpretation of Juridical Texts, Religious Scriptures, and Political Theology (A Comparative Study of the Views of Mullā Ṣadrā and Imam Khomeini)

The principle of Basīṭ al-Ḥaqīqah Kull al-Ashīāʾ (the Simple Reality is All Things) is a foundational tenet of transcendent theosophy (al-ḥikmah al-mutaʿāliyah), according to which the absolutely simple being possesses all perfections and realities of things in the most sublime and complete manner. This principle, which Mullā Ṣadrā expounded through the demonstration that "sheer existence (ṣirf al-wujūd) does not admit of repetition," possesses considerable potential across various domains of religious knowledge. Employing an analytical-comparative method, the present article examines the application of this principle in three areas—namely, the interpretation of religious texts, juridical texts, and political theology—as articulated by Mullā Ṣadrā and Imam Khomeini. The findings indicate that Mullā Ṣadrā, on the basis of this principle, advances the theory of "comprehensive knowledge in the very mode of detailed disclosure" (al-ʿilm al-ijmālī fī ʿayn al-kashf al-tafṣīlī) with respect to the divine knowledge, thereby addressing enduring philosophical challenges concerning God's pre-eternal knowledge of things. Imam Khomeini, likewise, in his exegesis of Sūrat al-Tawḥīd, invokes this very principle to interpret the divine pronoun "Huwa" (He) as "sheer existence" and thereby establishes six philosophical theses concerning the Essence of the Truth. In the juridical domain, the principle, by furnishing ontological foundations, enables a distinction between "coextension" (musāwaqah) and "equivalence" (musāwāt) in religious rulings, leading to a dynamic and issue-oriented jurisprudence. In political theology as well, the principle—through its elaboration of the concept of the Perfect Human (al-insān al-kāmil) as the locus of manifestation of the all-comprehensive divine Name and the theory of substantial motion coupled with volition (al-ḥarakah al-jawhariyyah al-irādiyyah)—demonstrates the link between philosophical principles and revolutionary agency, thereby contributing to the theorization of the Guardianship of the Jurist (wilāyat al-faqīh) and the leadership of Islamic society. In this manner, the principle of Basīṭ al-Ḥaqīqah in the thought of Mullā Ṣadrā and Imam Khomeini constitutes the connecting link among ontology, religious epistemology, jurisprudence, and politics, revealing the hitherto neglected interdisciplinary capacities of transcendent theosophy.