Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Ghada Hasem Talhami, Palestine and 

Egyptian National Identity (New York: Praeger, 1992); 

James Jankowski, Nasir’s Egypt, Arab Nationalism, and 

the United Arab Republic (Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rein-

ner Publishers, 2002); Gilles Kepel, Muslim Extremism 

in Egypt: The Prophet and the Pharaoh. Translated by Jon 

Rothschild (Berkeley: University of California Press, 

2003); Gamal Abdel Nasir, The Philosophy of the Revo-

lution (Washington, D.C.: Public Affairs Press, 1955); 

P. J. Vatikiotis, Nasir and His Generation (London: C. 

Helm, 1978).

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein

 

(1933–  )  

internationally known Iranian-American Muslim 

philosopher whose writings examine Islamic science, 

philosophy, and Sufi mysticism

Born in Tehran, i

ran

, Nasr completed his prepara-

tory education at the Peddie School in New Jersey, 

and his undergraduate education in physics at the 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At Harvard 

he received his master’s degree in geology and 

geophysics and his Ph.D. in the history of 

science

under the direction of Bernard Cohen, H.A.R. 

Gibb, and Harry Wolfson. After returning to Iran, 

he held academic appointments at the University 

of Tehran as professor, dean and vice chancellor, 

and he served as president of Aryamehr Univer-

sity and later chief of the cultural bureau for the 

empress of Iran, Farah Diba (b. 1938). Since leav-

ing Iran permanently, following the i

ranian

 r

evo

-

lUtion

 

oF

 1978–79, he has held professorships 

at the University of Utah, Temple University, and 

George Washington University.

Central to Nasr’s thought is the idea that, 

beginning with the Enlightenment, 

philosophy

and even the great quest for knowledge itself, 

has become separated from the sacred. This 

separation has led to the tragic plight of modern 

humans who have tried to find truth in purely 

scientific-technical endeavors. This has caused 

a gap between science, religion, and philosophy 

with the result that people seek their origins 

in incomplete Darwinism, denigrate religion to 

mere belief, and demean philosophy to analysis 

of language and scientific claims. Nasr’s philoso-

phy attempts to remedy these failings by taking a 

holistic approach to these three disciplines.

In his early scientific studies, Nasr encountered 

a chasm between his need for a complete scientific 

understanding of the world and his deep devotion 

to Islam as well as to perennial philosophy. His 

explorations into the q

Uran

 regarding cosmic 

and human origins, geology, oceanography, and 

medicine led him to advocate that real science 

is  sapientia, knowledge engendering wisdom. He 

points out that a number of the great Islamic phi-

losophers, such as al-Kindi (d. 866), i

bn

  r

Ushd

(d. 1198), and i

bn

 s

ina

 (d. 1037), were also sci-

entists and physicians. Furthermore, philosophers 

inspired by s

UFism

, such as i

bn

 

al

-a

rabi

 (d. 1240), 

m

Ulla

  s

adra

 (d. 1640), and al-Suhrawardi (d. 

1191), connect the task of philosophy to the expe-

rience of the divine. Nasr’s comparative philoso-

phy shows that the aim of philosophy from Plato 

(d. ca. 348 

b

.

c

.

e

.) in Greece to Shankara (ca. ninth 

century 

c

.

e

.) in India to Confucius (d. 479 

b

.

c

.

e

.)