There’s a widespread myth that the Infallible Imams of the Ahlul Bayt (peace be upon them) never explicitly condemned philosophy.
On the contrary, the eyes of Imamate could see in the distant future, where the lines between true religion and man-made philosophy would stand blurred.
In Hadiqat al-Shiʿa, al-Allāma al-Ardebili, quoting Sayyid al-Murtaza ibn al-Daʿī al-Husayni al-Razī, with his chain of narration from Shaykh al-Mufid, reports from Imam Hasan al-ʿAskarī (peace be upon him), informed Abu Hashim al-Jaʿfarī:
“O Abu Hāshim, a time will come upon the people when their faces will be laughing and cheerful, but their hearts will be dark and troubled. The Sunnah among them will be considered a bidʿa (innovation), and bidʿa will be regarded as Sunnah. The believer among them will be humiliated, and the sinner will be honoured.
Imam (peace be upon him further said:
أُمَرَاؤُهُمْ جَاهِلُونَ جَائِرُونَ وَ عُلَمَاؤُهُمْ فِي أَبْوَابِ الظَّلَمَة
“Their rulers will be ignorant and unjust, and their scholars will follow the doors of oppressors.”
He (peace be upon him continued:
“Their wealthy will steal from the sustenance of the poor, and the younger ones will assume precedence over their elders. Every ignorant person among them will be regarded as knowledgeable, and every deceiver will be seen as prosperous. They will not distinguish between the sincere and the doubtful, nor will they recognize the sheep from the wolves.
Then Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.) said:
عُلَمَاؤُهُمْ شِرَارُ خَلْقِ اللَّهِ عَلَى وَجْهِ الْأَرْضِ لِأَنَّهُمْ يَمِيلُونَ إِلَى الْفَلْسَفَةِ وَ التَّصَوُّفِ وَ ايْمُ اللَّهِ إِنَّهُمْ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْعُدُولِ وَ التَّحَرُّفِ يُبَالِغُونَ فِي حُبِّ مُخَالِفِينَا وَ يُضِلُّونَ شِيعَتَنَا وَ مُوَالِيَنَا إِنْ نَالُوا مَنْصَباً لَمْ يَشْبَعُوا عَنِ الرِّشَاءِ وَ إِنْ خُذِلُوا عَبَدُوا اللَّهَ عَلَى الرِّيَاءِ أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ قُطَّاعُ طَرِيقِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَ الدُّعَاةُ إِلَى نِحْلَةِ الْمُلْحِدِينَ فَمَنْ أَدْرَكَهُمْ فَلْيَحْذَرْهُمْ وَ لْيَصُنْ دِينَهُ وَ إِيمَانَهُ ثُمَّ قَالَ يَا أَبَا هَاشِمٍ هَذَا مَا حَدَّثَنِي أَبِي عَنْ آبَائِهِ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ ع وَ هُوَ مِنْ أَسْرَارِنَا فَاكْتُمْهُ إِلَّا عَنْ أَهْلِه
“Their scholars are the worst of Allah’s creation on the face of the Earth because they incline towards philosophy and Sufism. By Allah, they are from the people of deviation and perversion. They exaggerate their love for our opponents and mislead our Shi’a and followers. If they obtain a position, they are greedy for bribes, and if they are denied it, they worship Allah hypocritically. Indeed, they are the robbers of the path of believers and callers to the creed of the heretics. So, whoever encounters them, let him beware of them and protect his religion and faith.”
Then the Imam said: “O Abu Hashim, this is what my father (peace be upon him) narrated to me from his grandfathers, Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad (peace be upon them). This is one of our secrets, so keep it hidden except from those who are worthy of it.”