ﺑﺎﺯﻧﺸﺮ ﻣﻘﺎﻻﺕ ﻭ ﮐﺘﺐ | Alefbalib.Com Islamicphilosophy,Theology Andmysticism

ﮐﺘﺎﺑﺨﺎﻧﻪ ﻣﺠﺎﺯﯼ ﺍﻟﻔﺒﺎ | ﺑﺎﺯﻧﺸﺮ ﻣﻘﺎﻻﺕ ﻭ ﮐﺘﺐ | Alefbalib.com IslamicPhilosophy,Theology andMysticism A SHORT INTRODUCTION ﮐﺘﺎﺑﺨﺎﻧﻪ ﻣﺠﺎﺯﯼ ﺍﻟﻔﺒﺎ | ﺑﺎﺯﻧﺸﺮ ﻣﻘﺎﻻﺕ ﻭ ﮐﺘﺐ | Alefbalib.com OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES Buddhism: A Short Introduction, Klaus K. Klostermaiser, ISBN 1–85168–186–8 Buddhism: A Short History, Edward Conze, ISBN 1–86168–211–X Hinduism: A Short History, Klaus K. Klostermaier, ISBN 1–85168–213–9 Hinduism: A Short Introduction, Klaus K. 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Washington St. 4th Floor, Boston MA 02114 USA © Majid Fakhry 1997 Reissued 2000 All rights reserved Copyright under Berne Convention A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library ISBN 1-85168-252-X Cover design by Design Deluxe Printed and bound in England by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc NL08 ﮐﺘﺎﺑﺨﺎﻧﻪ ﻣﺠﺎﺯﯼ ﺍﻟﻔﺒﺎ | ﺑﺎﺯﻧﺸﺮ ﻣﻘﺎﻻﺕ ﻭ ﮐﺘﺐ | Alefbalib.com CONTENTS Preface ix Introduction 1 1 THE TRANSMISSION OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE 6 The Greek and Syriac Legacies 6 The Persian and Indian Legacies 9 2 EARLY RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL CONFLICTS 11 The Political Scene in the Seventh Century 11 The Rise of Systematic Theology (Kalam) 13 The Five Fundamental Principles of the Mu‘tazilah 15 3 THE DAWN OF SYSTEMATIC PHILOSOPHY AND FREE THOUGHT 21 IN THE NINTH CENTURY Al-Kindi 21 Abu Bakr al-Razi29 The Progress of Free Thought 34 4 NEOPLATONISM AND NEOPYTHAGOREANISM IN THE TENTH 38 AND ELEVENTH CENTURIES Al-Farabi 38 Ibn Sina 47 The Brethren of Purity 54 ﮐﺘﺎﺑﺨﺎﻧﻪ ﻣﺠﺎﺯﯼ ﺍﻟﻔﺒﺎ | ﺑﺎﺯﻧﺸﺮ ﻣﻘﺎﻻﺕ ﻭ ﮐﺘﺐ | Alefbalib.com vi X Islamic Philosophy A SHORT INTRODUCTION The Diffusion of Philosophical Culture in the Tenth 60 Century 5 INTERACTIONS OF PHILOSOPHY AND DOGMA 63 The Eclipse of Theological Rationalism 63 The Islamic Assault on Neoplatonism 68 6 PHILOSOPHY AND MYSTICISM 73 Ascetic Beginnings 73 Pantheistic or Unitary Mysticism 75 Interactions of Mysticism and Neoplatonism 77 7 THE RESURGENCE OF PERIPATETIC PHILOSOPHY IN 85 AL-ANDALUS The Beginnings of Philosophical Speculation in 85 al-Andalus Ibn Bajjah 87 Ibn Tufayl 90 Ibn Rushd 93 8 THE PROGRESS OF ANTI-RATIONALISM AND THE ONSET OF 101 DECLINE Ibn Hazm and Ibn Taymiyah 101 Fakhr al-Din al-Razi and his Successors 104 Ibn Khaldun of Tunis and his New Philosophy of History 107 9 ILLUMINATIONISM (ISHRAQ) AND THE RECONCILIATION OF 113 NEOPLATONISM AND SUFISM Al-Suhrawardi 113 Al-Shirazi (Mulla Sadra) and his Successors 116 10 MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY TRENDS 123 Islamic Thought in India–Pakistan and South-East Asia 123 The Continuity of the Ishraqi Tradition in Persia 127 Modernism and Fundamentalism in the Muslim World 129 Today ﮐﺘﺎﺑﺨﺎﻧﻪ ﻣﺠﺎﺯﯼ ﺍﻟﻔﺒﺎ | ﺑﺎﺯﻧﺸﺮ ﻣﻘﺎﻻﺕ ﻭ ﮐﺘﺐ | Alefbalib.com CONTENTS X vii Conclusion 139 Appendix One The Chief Philosophical Translations 143 Appendix Two Leading Mu‘tazilite Scholars 146 Select Bibliography 148 Index 154 ﮐﺘﺎﺑﺨﺎﻧﻪ ﻣﺠﺎﺯﯼ ﺍﻟﻔﺒﺎ | ﺑﺎﺯﻧﺸﺮ ﻣﻘﺎﻻﺕ ﻭ ﮐﺘﺐ | Alefbalib.com ﮐﺘﺎﺑﺨﺎﻧﻪ ﻣﺠﺎﺯﯼ ﺍﻟﻔﺒﺎ | ﺑﺎﺯﻧﺸﺮ ﻣﻘﺎﻻﺕ ﻭ ﮐﺘﺐ | Alefbalib.com PREFACE he purpose of the present volume is to introduce the reader to philos- Tophy, theology and mysticism as they developed and interacted in the Islamic context. This development over a period of almost eleven centuries may be said to have reached its zenith in the tenth and eleventh centuries, which also witnessed the most violent confrontations. However, in a serious narrative or analysis it is necessary to trace this development and interaction from beginning to end, rather than stop, as some historians of Islamic philosophy and theology have done, at the fourteenth or fifteenth century. Throughout the discussion, I have tried to exhibit the relation of philosophy, by which theologians and mystics were influenced or against which they reacted, to its Greek and Hellenistic origins, as well as its eventual transmission across the Pyrenees to Western Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. That, I believe, is essential for demon- strating its continuity, its affiliation to the great intellectual movements in world history and its significance as an ingredient in world culture. The reader who wishes for a more detailed discussion of the basic concepts and movements referred to in this book should consult my History of Islamic Philosophy, second edition, 1983 and my Philosophy, ﮐﺘﺎﺑﺨﺎﻧﻪ ﻣﺠﺎﺯﯼ ﺍﻟﻔﺒﺎ | ﺑﺎﺯﻧﺸﺮ ﻣﻘﺎﻻﺕ ﻭ ﮐﺘﺐ | Alefbalib.com x X Islamic Philosophy A SHORT INTRODUCTION Dogma and the Impact of Greek Thought in Islam, 1994. I have attempted in the present volume to highlight the major philosophical, theological and mystical concepts and the problems with their interrela- tions in a succinct but adequate way, without bothering the reader with lengthy analyses and references. The Select Bibliography at the end of the book will give the reader a fair idea of the vast literature on the subject in Arabic and Western languages. Finally, in transliterating Arabic proper names or technical terms, I have, with minor variations, followed the system of the Encyclopaedia of Islam. The translations of Qur’anic passages and other Arabic sources in this book are all mine, with very few exceptions. Majid Fakhry Washington DC ﮐﺘﺎﺑﺨﺎﻧﻪ ﻣﺠﺎﺯﯼ ﺍﻟﻔﺒﺎ | ﺑﺎﺯﻧﺸﺮ ﻣﻘﺎﻻﺕ ﻭ ﮐﺘﺐ | Alefbalib.com INTRODUCTION he history of philosophy, which saw the light on the shores of the TEastern Mediterranean in the sixth century BCE, was marked from the start by the urge to ask the most searching questions about nature, human beings and God. That is how philosophy spawned in time the major sciences of physics, ethics, mathematics and metaphysics, which continue to be the building-blocks of world culture. From Western Asia Minor, philosophy crossed the Aegean Sea into mainland Greece and, for a thousand years, Athens became its home. When Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE, philosophy began its eastward migration, which was virtually completed in 529 CE. In that year, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian ordered the School of Athens to be closed owing to its pagan sympathies which, as defender of the Orthodox faith, Justinian regarded as a threat to Christianity. Seven of its most illustrious teachers, led by Damascius (d. 553) and Simplicius (d. 533), made their way across the borders into Persia, where they were well received by Chosroes I (Anushirwan), a great admirer of Greek philosophy and science. Around the year 555 he founded the School of Jundishapur, an important centre of Hellenic studies and medical research. ﮐﺘﺎﺑﺨﺎﻧﻪ ﻣﺠﺎﺯﯼ ﺍﻟﻔﺒﺎ | ﺑﺎﺯﻧﺸﺮ ﻣﻘﺎﻻﺕ ﻭ ﮐﺘﺐ | Alefbalib.com 2 X Islamic Philosophy A SHORT INTRODUCTION It was at Alexandria, however, rather than Jundishapur, that Greek philosophy was to undergo its most radical transformation. From a purely indigenous product of the Greek genius, it now became thor- oughly cosmopolitan, with profound religious and mystical leanings almost unknown to the classical Greeks. Thus, the names we associate with Alexandrian or Hellenistic philosophy are those of Plotinus (d. 270), Porphyry of Tyre (d. 303) and Jamblichus (d. 330), who formu- lated a new brand of philosophy, designated as Neoplatonism, in which all the major currents of classical Greek philosophy, Platonism, Aristotelianism, Pythagoreanism and Stoicism were brought together in an imposing synthesis. When Egypt was conquered by the Arabs in 641, Alexandria was still flourishing as a centre of Greek philosophy, medicine and science, as well as a Hellenized form of Christian theology which had a decisive impact on Muslim philosophy and theology, as will appear in due course. As an instance of this historic development, we note that the cultural scene began to shift eastwards, first to Damascus in the Umayyad period (661– 750) and subsequently to Baghdad, during the ‘Abbasid period (750– 1258). As the first scene of Muslim–Christian encounter, Damascus witnessed during the seventh and eighth centuries the stirrings of a new spirit of enquiry, born of political strife as well as theological controversy.

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