Encyclopedia of Islam

philosophy

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antagonism between the philosophical heritage 

of the Greeks and God’s revelations. Al-Kindi’s 

conclusion, however, found few adherents, as 

kalam and falsafa developed relatively indepen-

dent of each other, marked by periods of fertile 

conflict and constructive engagement. Intrigu-

ingly, a philosophical disposition is at the core 

of Mutazili theology, as the m

Utazili

  s

chool

represents a species of theological rationalism in 

which reason (aql) is accorded pride of place in 

the determination of God’s will as revealed in the 

prophetic traditions, the Quran, and hadith. a

bU

n

asr

 

al

-F

arabi

 (ca. 870–950) is the tradition’s 

first truly systematic philosopher and logician, 

having penned a distinguished work of Islamic 

political philosophy inspired by several Platonic 

dialogues. Disagreeing with al-Sirafi, al-Farabi 

stressed the fundamental differences between 

the logic of philosophy and the rules of gram-

mar, with grammar unable to provide the logical 

constraints for reasoning in language, nor was it 

sufficient for explaining the kinds of reasoning 

employed in the Islamic sciences. 

Ibn Sina was a first-rate logician and the tradi-

tion’s greatest Neoplatonic philosopher. His impact 

on medieval Christian theology and philosophy 

was profound, as was his influence on European 

science and literature. Indeed, he is responsible for 

articulating the metaphysical vocabulary appropri-

ated by St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274). Like Ibn Sina 

before him, Ibn Rushd was a polymath, yet unlike 

his predecessor, he was deeply involved in public 

life, first as a judge of Seville and later as chief 

judge of Cordoba, while also serving as the sultan’s 

physician. For Ibn Rushd, philosophy and religion 

converge on the same truths, revelations speaking 

through narrative, allegory, symbol, analogy, and 

metaphor, while philosophy communicates with 

the logical consistency, coherence, and concep-

tual clarity evidenced in the certitude attained by 

syllogistic demonstration, a method befitting the 

exalted reasoning of the philosophers.

There appears to be consensus among many 

contemporary Muslim intellectuals that Islamic 

philosophy reached its quintessential expres-

sion in the work of Muhammad ibn Ibrahim 

al-Qawami al-Shirazi, better known as m

Ullah

s

adra

  (ca. 1572–1640). This is in consonance 

with the historical observation that since the 12th 

century, the cultivation of Islamic philosophy has 

taken place largely on Shii soil, especially its Per-

sian precincts. In the modern period, something 

of Islamic philosophy persists in the writings of 

J

amal

 

al

-d

in

 

al

-a

Fghani

 (1838–97) and m

Uham

-

mad

  a

bdUh

 (1849–1905), although their output, 

together with that of m

Uhammad

  r

ashid

  r

ida

(1865–1935) and s

ayyid

 q

Utb

 (1906–66), is more 

aptly seen as the product of Muslim intellectuals 

rather than the musings of philosophers. Still, 

our time knows something of Islamic philosophy 

in the precious few works of the Indo-Pakistan 

poet-philosopher m

Uhammad

 i

qbal

 (1877–1938), 

while s

eyyed

 h

ossein

 n

asr

 (b. 1933) remains the 

best-known and most prolific contemporary Mus-

lim philosopher.

See also 

aFterliFe

; a

llah

; 

creation

; 

Fate

; 

rev

-

elation

; 

soUl

 

and

 

spirit

.

Patrick S. O’Donnell