The two religions: Metaphysical reality and formal duty in Shāh Walī Allāh’s Ḥujjat Allāh al-bāligha [God’s conclusive proof]

This article argues that the Indian polymath Shāh Walī Allāh’s (d. 1762) concept of the two religions represents a synthesis of Platonic, Neoplatonic, Ghazālīan, and Akbarian influences to formulate a metaphysical-theological outlook that is completely unique, highly sophisticated, and yet structured entirely around the Qur’an and prophetic traditions (aḥādīth). Walī Allāh takes Platonic idealism and merges it with the theological metaphysics of later Neoplatonism. He further amalgamates this theological Hellenism with Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī’s (d. 1111) religious psychology and Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn ‘Arabī’s (d. 1240) metaphysical ontology to devise a metaphysical-historical outlook that represents the maturation of Graeco-Arabic learning in the context of eighteenth-century India.