rules for legal reasoning
in Islamic jurisprudence
(
fiqh
), as well as quranic exegesis (
tafsir
). And
whatever their polemical positions toward philoso-
phy qua philosophy, Muslim theologians (mutakal-
limun) were well versed in the arts of dialectical
reasoning. No less a theologian than a
bU
h
amid
al
-g
hazali
(1058–1111), author of The Incoherence
of the Philosophers (ca. 1095), ardently defended
the utility of Aristotelian logic for theology. Indeed,
“his arguments against philosophy are themselves
philosophical” (Leaman 2002: 27).
Islamic philosophy proper begins under the
auspices of the a
bbasid
c
aliphate
in the ninth
century. Its origins are principally Greek, although
it was transmitted largely by Christian scholars
translating philosophical and other works into
Arabic (with some of these from Syriac transla-
tions of Greek manuscripts). Of lesser but not
insignificant impact was the rendering of Indian
and Persian literature likewise into Arabic.
Many of the
Ulama
did not welcome works of
Peripatetic (Aristotelian and Pseudo-Aristotelian)
and Neoplatonic provenance into the circle of
Islamic sciences. The theologian Abu Said al-Sirafi
(d. 979), for instance, argued that the convention-
ality of language meant interpretative principles
must be unique to each language, thus Greek logic
may be applied to works in Greek, but it is wholly
inappropriate for the analysis of texts, say, in Ara-
bic. In general, Greek philosophy was perceived
as a challenge if not threat to the integrity of the
traditional Islamic sciences. m
Uhammad
ibn
r
Ushd
(Averroës) (1126–98), a preeminent Islamic phi-
losopher, viewed philosophy and theology (kalam)
as distinct yet compatible and alternative routes to
the same truth(s). Nevertheless, for Ibn Rushd,
philosophy alone leads to certitude owing to its
reliance on the formal logic of Aristotle. Accord-
ing to Ibn Rushd, philosophy does not deny the
assent to quranic truth provided by the rhetorical
and dialectical methods of the Islamic sciences,
for such sciences are well suited to the spiritual
pedagogical needs of the masses. Philosophy, on
the other hand, is not for the common man, but
is rather the prerogative of an elite in possession
of that rare combination of virtue and wisdom
(hikma).
Philosophy flourished in the Islamic world from
the ninth to the 12th centuries. It met with consid-
erable opposition from two formidable figures:
al-Ghazali and t
aqi
al
-d
in
a
hmad
i
bn
t
aymiyya
(1263–1328), the former arguably Islam’s great-
est theologian, the latter a notable Hanbali jurist
and theologian. Their main contention was that
the absolute truth of divine revelation could in no
way depend on the consent of the aql (“reason”) of
the philosophers for its definitive confirmation. In
other words, the revealed will and law of prophetic
tradition is more than mere allegory or metaphor,
and in the end, the demonstrative syllogism of phi-
losophy cannot account for revealed truth. In brief,
al-Ghazali and Ibn Taymiyya proffered arguments
against those philosophers who subscribed to the
view that religion was intended for the salvation of
unsophisticated believers, whose piety could not
compensate for their lack of philosophical acumen.
For their part, most Islamic philosophers, com-
mencing with the Quran, were intensely devoted
to what we now term hermeneutic investigation.
One presumption of such scrutiny being the sacred
veracity of revealed texts.
A distinction is frequently drawn between
falsafa and
hikma (‘wisdom’), and theology and
mysticism (s
UFism
) have often fallen under the
rubric of
hikma, hence the categorical boundar-
ies between philosophy, theology, and mysticism
are blurred when considering a philosopher like
Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi (1154–91) or a Sufi like
m
Uhyi
al
-d
in
i
bn
al
-a
rabi
(1165–1240). In addi-
tion, and in spite of a
bU
a
li
al
-h
Usayn
i
bn
s
ina
’s
(Avicenna) (979–1037) enshrinement of this dis-
tinction as one between al-hikmat al-mashriqiyya
(Oriental philosophy) and Aristotelian thought,
most philosophers conceived of their enterprise
as exemplifying hikma.
Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi (d. after
866), Islam’s earliest philosopher of note, argued
there was no inherent contradiction or even
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