Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Yasin Safadi, Islamic Calligraphy (Boul-

der, Colo.: Shambhala Publications, 1978); Yasser Tab-

baa,  The Transformation of Islamic Art during the Sunni 

Revival (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001).

Ibn Rushd, Muhammad

 

(also known 

in the West by his Latinized name, 

Averroës)

 

(1126–1198)  a leading philosopher in 

the Middle Ages famed for his learned commentaries 

on Aristotle and his refutation of Muslim theological 

teachings

Ibn Rushd was born in c

ordoba

, one of the 

major centers of Islamicate culture and learning 

in  a

ndalUsia

. At that time, it was ruled by the 

a

lmohad

 

dynasty

 of North Africa, known for its 

puritanical adherence to Islamic law and interest 

in 

philosophy

. Both his grandfather and father had 

been leading judges of the m

aliki

 l

egal

 s

chool

,

and as a youth he also studied Maliki law, 

theol

-

ogy

, medicine, 

mathematics

, and astronomy. It is 

not known exactly when he took up the study 

of philosophy, but it may have been through his 

teacher of medicine and mathematics, Abu Jaafar 

ibn Harun. (In medieval Islam, medicine, math-

ematics, and philosophy were seen as related areas 

of learning.)

At the age of 27, Ibn Rushd was retained by 

the Almohad court in Marrakesh, the Almohad 

capital in what is now Morocco, as an astrono-

mer. Around 1169, the prominent court physician 

and philosopher Ibn Tufayl (d. 1185) introduced 

him to the caliph Abu Yaaqub Yusuf (r. 1163–84), 

who engaged him in a discussion about whether 

heaven was created or eternal, a controversial 

question because it pitted conventional Muslim 

theological doctrine about God’s unique eternity 

against the philosophical view that the world 

was eternal. Ibn Rushd, reportedly a modest and 

discreet man, made a favorable impression on 

the caliph with his answers, and this helped him 

obtain coveted appointments as a judge in Seville 

and Cordoba and as successor to Ibn Tufayl as 

court physician in 1182. He began to write the 

philosophical works and commentaries during 

this time, prompted, perhaps, by the caliph’s com-

plaint that the works of Aristotle (384–322 

b

.

c

.

e

.), 

the ancient Greek philosopher, were difficult to 

understand. Ibn Rushd enjoyed the favor of Abu 

Yaaqub Yusuf’s successor, Yaaqub al-Mansur (r. 

1184–99), until 1195, when he was banished to 

Lucena, a small town south of Cordoba. This may 

have been for political reasons, but it led to an 

order by Cordoba’s city council to have his philo-

sophical works burned because they were thought 

to undermine the faith. He was restored to favor a 

few years later but died shortly thereafter in 1198. 

Ibn Rushd was buried in Marrakesh, but his body 

K  336