A Philosophical Analysis of Elemental Bodily Resurrection: Between the Body’s Conjunction with the Soul and the Soul’s Epistemic Reorientation

This paper addresses the question of whether, on the basis of the principles of *Transcendent Philosophy* (al‑ḥikma al‑mutaʿāliyah), the resurrection of the elemental body can be justified through either of two theories: the body’s accession to the soul or the soul’s cognitive reorientation toward the body. The importance of this question lies in the fact that elemental resurrection has been proposed by some thinkers as one of the possible interpretations derived from Qurʾānic verses and transmitted reports; hence it requires careful philosophical examination.



The method of inquiry is descriptive–analytical: the relevant arguments are first explicated and then critically evaluated. The study concludes that the ascent of the elemental material body—while retaining its materiality—to other realms, including the abode of Resurrection and the immaterial world, is incompatible with the principles of this philosophical tradition, and attributing such a form of resurrection to certain philosophers is mistaken. Among contemporary thinkers, however, it is only the late ʿAllāmah Ḥusaynī Ṭihrānī who presents an account of the soul’s comprehensive relation to the body and its cognitive reorientation toward the material body, thereby arguing for the presence of the elemental material body, with all the characteristics it possessed throughout its lifetime, for the soul.