The paper argues that the Islamic concept of ‘Ālam al-Mithāl (the Imaginal World) provides a rigorous philosophical framework for understanding religious experiences as objectively real, rather than merely subjective or psychological. It analyzes Mullā Ṣadrā’s principles of the fundamentality of existence and the union of intellect and intelligible to substantiate the objective reality of experiences within this intermediate realm. The study also examines the role of esoteric interpretation in unveiling symbolic encounters. This framework challenges reductionist modern paradigms and highlights the imaginal realm’s significance for self-realization and acquiring divine knowledge.
David Chalmers' property dualism, which treats consciousness as a fundamental feature of reality present in all entities (pan-physicalism), is examined through the lens of Neosadrian Islamic philosophy. Chalmers argues that consciousness emerges from complex material processes while remaining distinct from matter, and that epiphenomenal interaction offers the best explanation for the hard problem of consciousness. Neosadrian thinkers critique this view, contending that Chalmers' pan-physicalism fails to establish an ontological relationship between consciousness and matter, leaving the ontological gap unresolved, and that it violates the principle that from the One only one can proceed, while improperly elevating structured reality over simple reality.