Dual-Closure and Islamic Metaphysics: Consciousness, Normativity and the Structure of Ultimate Grounding

This thesis makes a two-fold contribution. First, it formally develops and defends the Dual- Closure framework as a constraint-based metaphysical model for ultimate grounding. Second, it deploys this framework to conduct a comparative analysis of the classical Islamic intellectual tradition, revealing structural convergence on its core requirements. The Dual-Closure Thesis posits that any metaphysically adequate account of reality must non-contingently ground both (i) the irreducibility of subjective consciousness and (ii) the objective binding force of normativity, thereby terminating explanatory regress without arbitrariness, circularity, or brute termination. While employing contemporary analytic terminology, the thesis demonstrates that structurally isomorphic commitments are discernible across Islamic philosophy (falsafa), theology (kalām), and post-classical metaphysics. These are articulated through indigenous conceptual vocabularies, such as necessary being (wājib al-wujūd) and presential self-knowledge ('ilm hudhūrī). Through detailed examination, fgures including al-Fārābī, Ibn Sīnā, al-Ghazālī, Fakhr al- Dīn al-Rāzī, al-Māturīdī, al-Taftāzānī, and Muhammad Iqbal are shown to address versions of this dual closure problem. The analysis elucidates how their treatments of intellect ('aql), selfhood (nafs, khudī), and divine wisdom (hikma) satisfy the framework’s constraints, revealing deeper continuities in their approaches to irreducibility and binding force. The investigation includes detailed mappings of epistemic modes (acquired husūlī vs. presential hudhūrī knowledge), rational teleology (ghāya), and non-voluntarist normativity, while systematically cross-referencing the author's prior foundational works. It concludes that the internal logic of the tradition, driven by the need to solve these twin grounding problems, culminated in the robust syntheses of post-classical kalām, particularly in the work of al-Taftāzānī. The thesis offers a comparative synthesis that clarifes continuities and divergences while emphasizing demonstrable structural necessity over doctrinal allegiance, thereby remaining accessible to both secular philosophers and theologically minded audiences. It concludes by inviting further cross-traditional applications, including formal axiomatization, AI consciousness diagnostics, and post-empirical extensions.