RECONCILING ISLAM AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE VIRTUOUS CITY: REREADING AL-FARABI’S AL-MADINAH AL-FADILAH WITHIN 10TH-CENTURY ISLAMIC THOUGHT A Thesis Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS by Justin M. Nigro May 2017 Examining Committee Members: Dr. Khalid Y. Blankinship, Advisory Chair, Department of Religion Dr. Vasiliki M. Limberis, Advisory Committee, Department of Religion © Copyright 2017 by Justin M. Nigro All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT In his tenth-century work, al-Madīnah al-Fāḍilah, the Muslim philosopher Abū Naṣr al- Fārābī posits a solution to the internecine hostilities between Muslim intellectual communities which occurred as a result of conflicting positions on the relationship between revelation and reason, religion and philosophy. In this work al-Fārābī demonstrates that both religion and philosophy are derived from, and dependent upon, divine revelation from Allah to the Prophet. Modern scholars of al-Fārābī interpret his work differently, reading him as an enemy of religion who subordinates Islam to philosophy. In this thesis, after establishing al-Fārābī within the historical and ideological context of tenth-century Islamic thought I analyze al-Madīnah al- Fāḍilah in light of a commentary on the text by Richard Walzer, who is among those scholars who read al-Fārābī as an enemy of Islam who merely reproduces Greek philosophy in Arabic. Contrasting the original Arabic text with Walzer’s English translation and commentary I apply readings of several of al-Fārābī’s other works as an interpretive lens, through which the correct reading of al-Madīnah al-Fāḍilah is made clear. I further analyze the text in light of Islamic Scripture, by which I demonstrate that the foundation on which al-Fārābī’s cosmology is founded has precedence within the Qur’ān. Working in the tenth century al-Fārābī sought to reconcile the conflicting views of his fellow Muslims, in order to bring peace to the community, the Muslim Ummah. Al-Madīnah al-Fāḍilah should be regarded as his crowning achievement in these efforts. iii This thesis is dedicated to the memory of Dominic E. Nigro May 13, 1988 – January 15, 2017 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................ iv LIST OF RELEVANT DATES .................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER PART I: ISLAMIC THOUGHT PRIOR TO AL-FĀRĀBĪ ............................................................. 1 1. PREFACE... ................................................................................................................................. 2 2. AL-QUR’ĀN: THE ROOTS OF ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY ...................................................... 6 3. TRANSMISSION OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY TO THE ARABIC-SPEAKING WORLD ............................................................................................... 13 4. THE EARLY MU`TAZILAH: SEEDS OF KALĀM .................................................................. 17 5. TRANSLATION OF GREEK TEXTS INTO ARABIC: EARLY `ABBĀSID CALIPHATE .......................................................................................... 22 6. DEVELOPMENTS IN KALĀM ................................................................................................ 28 Al-Ash`arī ......................................................................................................................... 30 Al-Ṭaḥāwī ......................................................................................................................... 32 Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī ................................................................................................... 34 Shi`ism and Shī`ah Kalām ................................................................................................ 35 Final Words on Kalām ...................................................................................................... 37 Other Thinkers: Early Sufism (al-Taṣawwuf) ................................................................... 39 7. FALSAFAH AND THE FIRST OF THE FALĀSIFAH: 9TH CENTURY .................................. 43 8. AL-KINDĪ (801-873) ................................................................................................................. 45 PART II: AL-FĀRĀBĪ .................................................................................................................. 49 9. AL-FĀRĀBĪ: GENERAL OVERVIEW ................................................................................... 50 10. AL-MADĪNAH AL-FĀḌILAH: INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 53 v 11. THE FIRST CAUSE (AND OTHER EXISTENTS) ............................................................... 61 The First is First ................................................................................................................ 61 Qur’anic Parallels ................................................................................................ 61 The First is the Most ......................................................................................................... 62 Qur’anic Parallels ................................................................................................ 63 The First is Unique ........................................................................................................... 64 Qur’anic Parallels ................................................................................................ 65 Aspects of the First ........................................................................................................... 67 Qur’anic Parallels ................................................................................................ 67 The First is Light ............................................................................................................... 69 Qur’anic Parallels ................................................................................................ 70 The First is the Origin of All Existence ............................................................................ 71 Qur’anic Parallels ................................................................................................ 73 Other Existents: The Worlds Above and Below the Moon .............................................. 77 Qur’anic Parallels ................................................................................................ 80 Walzer’s Reading of the First and Other Existents ........................................................... 84 Al-Fārābī’s Position, Revisited: Correct Reading ............................................................ 87 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 91 12. REVELATION, PROPHET, AND PROPHECY .................................................................... 93 Ru’yah: Prophetic Vison ................................................................................................... 94 Waḥy: Divine Revelation from Allah to the Prophet (al-Nabiyy) .................................... 95 Walzer’s Misreading ......................................................................................................... 96 Walzer’s Mistranslations ................................................................................................ 100 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 102 13. RELIGION vs. PHILOSOPHY: REVELATION AND REASON ....................................... 104 vi The Sovereign: Titles and Functions .............................................................................. 104 Titles, Conclusively ........................................................................................................ 107 The Object of Philosophy ............................................................................................... 108 Relationship Between Religion and Philosophy ............................................................. 109 Conclusion: Religion is Necessary ................................................................................. 112 14. PHILOSOPHY AS REVELATION IN ANCIENT GREECE .............................................. 115 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 118 15. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................... 121 The Ignorant Cities ......................................................................................................... 121 Qur’anic Parallels .............................................................................................. 122 The Excellent City: The Culmination of al-Fārābī’s Position ........................................ 123 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 124 Bibliography… ............................................................................................................................ 130 vii 1 LIST OF RELEVANT DATES