 |
Vol. 3, No. 20 (Summer 1997) | |||
 |
 |
|||
|
Copyright Al Jadid Magazine P.O. Box 24DD2, Los Angeles, CA 90024-0208, Tel: (310) 470-6984, Fax (310) 470-6985 E-Mail aljadid@jovanet.com |
||||
|
About Al Jadid
PAST ISSUES
|
Ibn Rushd, Philosopher and Theologian By Yousif Fajr Raslan A descendant of a family of intellect, Ibn Rushd (Abu Al-Waleed Mohammed Ibn Ahmed Ibn Rushd, 1126-1198) was Qurtuba's Supreme Judge's grandson who turned his city into a center of knowledge and thought for Andalusia and for entire Europe. Besides other fields, he excelled in philosophy and jurisprudence and was nicknamed "the jurisprudent philosopher." Yet, he was far from welcomed by the strict religious scholars of his time, who accused him of infidelity, and by the close-minded Europeans who were suspicious of his philosophy as a whole. It is no secret that Arab philosophers have always suffered from the fear of intellectual and religious oppression imposed by "government scholars." Rarely did any philosopher, welcomed by an apparently enlightened ruler, escape the intrigues of court scholars. They were constantly charged with infidelity, and sentenced to death, prison or exile. Ibn Sina [Avicenna (980-1037)], who was wanted by the authoroties of Sultan Mohammed Al-Ghaznawi, and Mohammed Abdo, who was sentenced to house arrest and dies of chronic depression in 1905 are only two examples. To circumvent the court's equating philosophy with infidelity, Arab philosophers created the term "scholastic theology" to describe a broad sector of Islamic philosophy. Ibn Rushd's battle was with the teachings of Al-Ghazali (1059-1111) whose ideas had been dominating the thinking of strict religious scholars for half a century. He refuted Al-Ghazali's two books "Confutation of Philosophers" and "The Populace's Absinence From Scholastic Philosophy" in a book titled "Confutation of the Confutation." Set back by the blind resistance of the Caliph's scholars, Ibn Rushd turned to Greek philosophy where he found his ideal in Aristotle. Ibn Rushd was the most well versed of Arab philosophers in Aristotelian philosophy after Al-Farabi [(870-950)]. He adopted Aristotle's "reasoning by analogy" and found it suitable for rational deduction, inference, prosecution and judgement, not only in issues of life but also in religious affairs including the realization of God. He applied rational reasoning to theology, an approach that further stirred his colleagues against him and against philosophy as a whole, not to mention their particular hatred of Greek philosophers. Yet, Ibn Rushd never ceased to consider Aristotle "the best representative of philosophy and the most complete of human minds, to the extent of calling him >the divine philosopher'" (Adel Ala'wa, Philosohpical Intuition, Damascus University Press). Ibn Rushd presented two arguments against strict believers in doctrinal reasoning. The first argument targeted the notion that rational reasoning is a heresy because it did not exist in the early days of Islam. His argument was that doctrinal reasoning, as well, did not exist then and was only introduced later. Yet it is not considered a heresy. The second argument was based on the Qur'an itself. Should a scholar deduce the inevitability of doctrinal reasoning from God's words "... therefore take heed you who have eyes" (59:[end of] 2) [trans. Arberry], then he/she must deduce the inevitability of rational reasoning. Ibn Rushd explains that it is the scholar's rational faculties that constitute his/her means of doctrinal reasoning. Therefore, the mind is the ultimate tool of knowledge, prepared as it is by God to deduce his presence and to reason in earthly matters as well. This divine qualification renders the human mind continuous in space and time, and open across all nations to a common knowledge. "Therefore," he said, "we must make use of what those who preceded us had said, whether they share our religious beliefs or not," clearly referring to the Greek philosophers. Presenting the logical proof (the mind is a divine aquisition perfectly qualified for theological inquiry) and the factual proof (scholars of Islam have always looked into the identity of God rationally), Ibn Rushd concludes: "Who forbids the study of ancient books is only deflecting people from the true path to God, called for by Islamic law. This (deflection) is utmost ignorance and remoteness from God." He understood the Qur'anic phrase cited above as a divine order to use rationality to pursue knowledge of all kinds. Any suppression of the mind, therefore, would be a clear violation of this order. An advocate of intellectual liberty and openness toward other nations' cultures, Ibn Rushd posed a threat to the rigid minds of Caliph Al-Mansour's scholars. The Caliph, who had been close to the philosopher and had welcomed him in his court in Qurtuba as a distinguished scholar, quickly came under pressure from the hard-liners in his court who coerced him with their influence on the public. Soon, Al-Mansour yielded and Ibn Rushd was tried and sentenced to exile in the Jewish village of Alishana. The Caliph then ordered the burning of Inb Rushd's and other philosophers' books except for mathematics, medicine and engineering. Clearly acting without conviction, the Caliph issued an amnesty soon after he returned to Marakesh. Ibn Rushd, on the other hand, stayed away from all provocations until he died in Marakesh in 1198 where he was buried. Three months later, his body was moved to Qurtuba, the tribune of his thought. Edited and translated, from the Arabic, by Manal A. Swairjo This article appeared in Vol. 3, No. 20 (Summer 1997). Copyright (c) 1997 by Al Jadid |
|||
|
How to Subscribe E-Mail to the Editors aljadid@jovanet.com
How to Advertise in the Electronic and Print Edition |
||||
