Dictionary of Islamic Philosophical Terms

Waw

al-wajib al-wujud

Necessary Being, i.e. that which exists by itself or that which cannot but exist, for non-existence of it is unthinkable; an expression used by philosophers for God. See also mahiyah and al-mumkin al-wujud. "Being the most significant entity in the metaphysical system of ibn Sina"

al-wahid bi’l-ittisal

Unity through contiguity like the unity of any material body which is considered one thing: the parts therein are so closely conjoined with one another that they together make one single body in actuality (bi’l-fi’l) even though that body can be resolved into a multiplicity of parts in potentiality (bi’l-quwwah).

al-wahid bi’l-irtibat

Unity through conglomeration like a mechanical aggregate in which the parts, though actually (bi’l-fi’l) separte from each other, are so conjoined that they make one whole; also called al-wahid bi’l-tarkib.

al-wahid al-haqiqi

The real or pure unity, altogether divested of multiplicity (kathrah), i.e. in potentiality as well as in actuality, like God or a point in geometry; opposed to al-wahid al-majazi (see below).

al-wahid al-majazi

Conceptual or figurative unity which is composed of different parts or items colligated or subsumed mentally under some kind of logical relation or category such as genus (jins, q.v.), species (nau‘, q.v.), accident (‘ard), etc. See also ’ittihad fi’l-jins and ’ittihad fi’l-nau‘ .

wa'id

Mu'tazili doctrine of the unconditional punishment of the unrepentant sinner in the hereafter.  (AnAc)

wahib al-suwar

The dispenser of forms or dator formarum, a name given to the active intellect (al-‘aql al-fa‘‘al, q.v.). According to the Muslim Peripatetics like al-Farabi and Ibn Sina, it is the active intellect which gives to each individual thing its proper form and it also gives to a body a soul, which in fact is its form (surah, q.v.) when that body is read to receive it. Moreover, the human intellect comes to know of the universal forms of the particulars only as activated by the active intellect. See also al-‘aql al-fa‘‘al.

wajdaniyat

The intuitive cognitions, i.e. the apprehension through the inner senses (al-hawas al-batinah, q.v.) of the meanings or significations of things. See also al-quwwat al-mudrikah.

wad‘

The category of "position" as one of the ten Aristotelian categories (al-maqulat al-‘ashr, q.v.), also called nusbah (situation). It denotes the "posture" of a thing, e.g. when we say that a man or animal is standing, or sitting, or lying down.

wad‘ al-tali

The fallacy of the affirmation of the consequent; see mughalatah wad‘ al-tali.

wad‘ ma laisa bi ‘illat-in ‘illat-an

The fallacy of non causa pro causa; it consists in assigning a reason for some conclusion which reason in fact is irrelevant to that conclusion; see mughalatah wad‘ ma laisa bi‘illat-in ‘illat-an.

wad‘ al-muqaddam

The affirmation of the antecedent in the minor premise of a mixed hypothetical syllogism (al-qiyas al- sharti al-muttasil, q.v.) leading to the affirmation of the consequent in the conclusion, a valid mode of reasoning know as Modus Ponens, i.e. the positive mode of hypothetical syllogism. It is opposed to raf ‘al-muqaddam (denial of antecedent) which is a form of logical fallacy (see mughalatah raf‘ al-muqaddam).

wahm

Apprehension of the meanings of the sensible objects, a kind of cognitive experience which is also available to the animals, and one on the basis of which they are enabled to draw inferences for their physical well-being and safety. See also tawahhum and al-quwwat al-mutawahhimah.

Ibn Sina and Wahm: (from "The Metaphysics of Ibn Sina" by Prof. Parviz Morewedge): ...the ability to have a mental experience of an even in contrast to the actual happening of that event. Most references to wahm indicate conceptual operations on bodies which clarify the nature of bodily substances....

wahmiyat

Imagined data or premises, i.e. propositions which though based on mere opinion, are such that the faculty of imagination necessitates our belief in them. See also maznunat.

wujud

Existence, concretion, actuality. Wujud or 'existence', the masdar of the Arabic verb wajada (literally 'to have found'), is maujud, meaning an 'individual existent', or the property of an individual existent. Wujud differs from both 'essence' and 'being'. The chief example of maujud is an individual substance. Only the Necessary Existent is said to have wujud as its essence. Other examples of entities having wujud are accidents of an individual substance which has been realized, such as the color pink in Parviz's skin, In any instance of wujud other than the Necessary Existent, the essence of the wujud, i.e. 'what it is', differs from its existence, i.e. from

the fact 'that it is'. [from "The Metaphysics of Ibn Sina" by Prof. Parviz Morewedge, p. 325. with minor changes.]