The Ontological and Epistemological Role of Riyāḍa in Illuminationist Philosophy

In Suhrawardī’s Illuminationist philosophy, riyāḍa (ascetic discipline) is generally treated as a moral and Sufi practice of purification; yet within his account of knowledge and being, it carries a more comprehensive meaning. This study examines how, within Illuminationist philosophy, riyāḍa is grounded as an epistemological and ontological necessity for the cognition of truth, the soul’s relation to the realm of lights, and the human being’s existential perfection, rather than as a merely moral–practical method of purification. The article evaluates riyāḍa as a transformative process that restricts bodily desires, reduces sensory preoccupations, prepares the soul for witnessing, and directs it from representational knowledge toward presential knowledge. Within this scope, Suhrawardī’s Ḥikmat al-Ishrāq, al-Talwīḥāt, al-Mashāriʿ wa-l-Muṭāraḥāt, Kalimat al-Taṣawwuf, Hayākil al-Nūr, and other related works are examined through a text-centered, conceptual, and philosophical method. Riyāḍa is discussed in relation to the distinction between baḥth and taʾalluh, presential knowledge, witnessing, tranquility, annihilation, felicity, and orientation toward the Light of Lights. The study further argues that practices such as hunger, fasting, reduced sleep, dhikr, seclusion, and silence carry a meaning beyond the regulation of conduct; they redirect cognition from the sensory domain toward inner awareness. The study concludes that, in Illuminationist philosophy, riyāḍa is conceived as an essential preparatory process for the cognition of truth, the soul’s openness to light, and human existential perfection.