names of philosophers

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Journal of Islamic Philosophy 1 (2005):119127 2005 by the Journal of Islamic Philosophy. All rights reserved. 1536-

4569/2005/001001008

The Introduction of Greek Philosophy

in the Muslim World

Muhammad Hozien

Hellenistic, or Greek philosophy,came to the Muslim world by way ofSyriac. At Haran, in northern Iraq, aphilosophical school kept theHellenistic heritage intact in the

original Greek, or in Syriactranslations. The cAbbssid rule wasa fertile period during which theGreek heritage was translated intoArabic. The caliph (ca. 754833) hada strong interest in the knowledge ofprevious civilizations andcommissioned translations of works

on natural sciences, civil administration, and ethics. This interestcontinued to other branches of knowledge and triggered a

vigorous effort to translate all scientific works that were inGreek and Syriac. This interest turned into a nationalphenomenon (among Muslim intellectuals) in which wherewealthy patrons would vie with each other in fundingtranslations of works of earlier civilizations that came underMuslim control.

1

Some of the early translations were not from goodoriginal copies, but as the demand for philosophical literatureincreased, more and better copies were found. Interestingly,

however, some important works never made it into Arabic, forexample thePoliticsby Aristotle2was never found. To makematters even worse, some of Plotinus Enneads3were translatedunder the title of the Theology of Aristotle, so Muslims had a

1. This effort spread to all branches of learningscience, philosophy, and even

religious works. It was not limited to Hellenistic works, but included Persian and

Hindu worksthough this is beyond the subject of this paper. One work thatsurvives isKalila and Dimna, Selected Fables of Bidpai(Rochester, VT: Inner

Traditions International) 1986. See also: Dimitri Gutas, Greek Thought, ArabicCulture: The Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement in Baghdad and EarlyAbbasid Society (London: Routledge) 1998.

2. See Aristu

3. This is available online, see Enneads

Muhammad Hozien

is Managing Editor

of the Journal of

Islamic Philosophy,

and webmaster of

muslimphilosophy.c

om


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Journal of Islamic Philosophy / 2005

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skewed, if not contradictory view of Aristotle.4Few writers

questioned its attribution to Aristotle and no one researched theissue until Ibn Rushd, who strongly opposed the view that theTheologywas a work of Aristotle. By that time, more than twohundred years had passed since the first work on Greekphilosophy was published5in Arabic translation.

Al-Kind(ca. 800865)

The first Muslim philosopher to write on Greek philosophy inthe Muslim world was al-Kind. He wrote many works on Greekscience and philosophy, and laid the foundation for others to

follow in studying philosophical works. He had a firmconviction that the Greek heritage contained important truthsthat Muslims could not afford to overlook. As a mathematician,he realized the importance of Aristotelian logic, however, al-Kindfound Aristotelian metaphysics contradictory, particularlythe view of the eternity of the world. He believed that Aristotledid not offer valid logical support for that argument.

Al-Kind, in his mathematical philosophy, presented anargument that actual infinity is self-canceling. In his philosophyof nature, he showed matter, motion, and time to be closelyrelated concepts (this is an advanced concept relative to mostphilosophical thought in the Middle Ages). Furthermore, sincematter cannot be eternal, and cannot generate its existence (cf.essence and generation argument) then its motion and time arenot eternal either. Al-Kindwas the first Muslim philosopher tonote clearly that the metaphysics of the Greek philosophers first,contradicts itself, and second, contradicts Islamic belief. He alsogave a preliminary religious basis for studying these fields.

Al-Kindproved to be a difficult Muslim thinker to

study, for a variety of reasons. He was a scientist, a philosopherof science, a rigorous mathematician, and a man of letters with ahigh command of Arabic. One not well versed in all of thesetopics, or without a solid grasp of scientific Arabic terminology,would not be able to fully appreciate Al-Kindor hiscontributions.

4. As early as al-Frband even Ibn Sn.5. Note that publishing then was radically different than academic publishing

nowadays.


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Muhammad Hozien

Al-Frb (870950)

Al-Kindwas followed by al-Frb, who served in theHamdanid court in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. Al-Frbwas able to formulate philosophy in a manner more palatable toMuslim tastes. His efforts were aimed at expounding philosophyin Islamic terms. It is worthwhile to note that during his lifetime,he was not a well-known figure in the field. Actually, Ibn Sn(9801037)

6popularized his writings. Al-Frbthen became

known as the Second Teacher in the Muslim world (Aristotlebeing the first). Al-Frbalso laid important groundwork inother major fields of philosophy, most importantly political

philosophy, and is credited with popularizing neo-Platonism inthe Muslim world.

The concept of prophethoodnamely that Godselected messengers and endowed them with enlightenment andtruth through prophecy, by direct communication from God, orindirectly through angelsis an important aspect of Islamicbelief that had to be explained philosophically. Al-Frbformulated this concept in Greek philosophical terms. Heequated two sources of knowledge, namely revelation andphilosophy as the two roads to enlightenment and truth.

Al-Frbaccomplished a great deal in all major fieldsof philosophy, including metaphysics, logic, music theory,ethics, and politics. Not only did he make a brave attempt toreconcile philosophy with Islamic doctrine, he also attempted toreconcile philosophy with itself, in a work on the philosophy ofPlato and Aristotle (available online cf. al-Frb). He was alsoa renowned musician.

Following al-Frb, a group known as the Ikhwn al-af (Brethren of Purity, ca. 9461055) published a

hodgepodge work titledRasc

il ikhwan al-af(The Epistles ofthe brethren of purity). This work is a mix of Pythagoreanspeculation, theology (including Jewish, Christian, Persian,Hindu, and Islamic elements), mysticism, mathematics, musictheory, and astrology. Philip Hitti, in hisHistory of the Arabssays of the group ...they evidently aimed to overthrow[Abbasid rule] by undermining the popular intellectual system

6. In his autobiography he mentions that he only understood Aristotles

metaphysics after reading al-Frbs commentary on it. See his autobiography,available online in Arabic (www.muslimphilosophy.com/sina/).


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and religious beliefs.7The members of the group kept their

identity secret and a shroud of mystery surrounded them andtheir work. Scholars who wrote on philosophical topics werestigmatized as being either followers of the brethren or ardentreaders of theEpistles.

Ibn Sn(9801037)

The third most important figure among Muslim philosophers isIbn Snor Avicenna, as he is known in the West. Ibn Snalsowrote about all areas of philosophy, and is credited withpopularizing the philosophy of the elite. There are many legends

surrounding his life, and numerous books falsely attributed tohim, according to scholarly accounts. His writings onphilosophy range from short works to encyclopedia-lengthworks, such as the famed al-Shif8(Healing) that runs to fifteenvolumes.

9

Ibn Snalso wrote on a wide variety of sciencesincluding medicine. Outside of philosophy, he is famous for hismedical encyclopedia, al-Qnn fi al-ibb(Canon ofmedicine),10from which the English term canon comes from.This work includes all branches of medicine from pharmacologyto surgery.

Al-Ghazl(10581111)

Al-Ghazl, an important figure in the history of Muslimthought, was a scholar of Islamic jurisprudence, and atheologian by training who delved into philosophy out ofnecessity. He was also a gifted writer with a keen knack forclarifying terse subjects. Al-Ghazlcategorized philosophyin

the Muslim world of his time into three distinct rulingsaccording to Islamic law.

The first category is kufr (heresy); by this al-Ghazlasserts that some of the teachings of philosophy are contrary tothe teachings of Islam to the point that they cannot be rationallyreconciled. The second category is bidcah(unnecessaryinnovation); al-Ghazlstates that these teachings contradict the

7. Phillip Hitti, The History of the Arabs(New York: St. Martin's Press) 1970, p.

373. This group was aligned with the F

imid rule and espoused Ismc

lideological thoughts and ideas.

8. A current edition has been edited in fifteen large volumes.

9. Two volumes are available online, see Avicenna.

10. This work is available online in original Arabic (1593 ed.)


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Muhammad Hozien

teachings of philosophy itself, that they are incoherent at bestand otherwise destructive, and run counter to philosophy and itsstated goals of being coherent, logical, and consistent. The thirdcategory is mub(allowable), meaning that some of theteachings of philosophy are useful to Islam, namely logic, math,astronomy, and physics.

To prove his point, al-Ghazldid two things; first, hewrote a summary of philosophical teachings concentrating onmetaphysics and logic, entitled al-Maqid al-falsifah(Aims ofthe philosophers). This summary proved useful beyond hisdesign and desire,11and earned him the title of the expositor ofAvicennan philosophy in the West. He firmly believed that to

be able to refute philosophy, one must be competent in it. Thus,he became competent in it, much to the dismay of his colleagueswho claimed that he had done what the philosophers could notdo by simplifying their teachings for the layperson.

12Ibn Rushd

vented his intellectual anger on al-Ghazlyears later: Howdare he bring the literature of the elite, [hidden by complexterminology and vague statements] that only the select weremeant to understand only after undergoing thorough and time-consuming training, study and contemplation to the masses?

Second, al-Ghazlwrote a work entitled Tahfut al-falsifah(The Incoherence of philosophers).13The Tahfut wasa refutation of the metaphysics of Aristotle as understood by al-Frb and Ibn Sn, summarized in twenty points. Three ofthese twenty points not only lead to heresy but to outrightapostasy. This work was well accepted by the scholars of histime, who heralded it as a victory for Islamphilosophy wasdefeated on its own battlefield, and no longer held that charm orair of mystery that Ibn Snhad sought so hard to veil it withthroughout his life.

The success of al-Ghazls Tahfut should not beconstrued to denote the end of philosophy in the Muslim world.This was hardly the case, as this book opened the door for manytheologians to study philosophy with relative ease, legitimacy,and a new sense of confidence. Actually, the case can be made

11. The version that reached the west was missing the introduction and the closing

remarks stating his reason for publishing this work; this fact led to an erroneous

image of al-Ghazlin the Latin world.12. This should be seen in light of Ibn Snwho made his students take an oath not

to divulge his teachings to the masses at large.

13. M. Bouyges, Tahafot al-falasifat: Texte arabe etabli et accompagne dun

sommaire latin et dindex par M. Bouyges (Beyrouth) 1927.


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that al-Ghazlpopularized the works of Ibn Snin religiouscircles, and these works continue to be studied today.

Philosophy in the Muslim West

The works of al-Ghazlplayed an interesting role in the historyof Andalusia, in part because of al-Ghazls fame. In addition,certain theological and esoteric, not to mention heretical workswritten by anonymous authors, were attributed to al-Ghazl.Add to this the fact that al-Ghazlopenly changed his mind onspecific issues of legislation and theology, and together thesetwo elements led to a great misunderstanding of al-Ghazl.14

Ibn ufayl (11061185)

A major figure in Andalusia who contributed to themisunderstanding of al-Ghazlwas Ibn ufayl, a personalphysician of the Almohad caliph AbYacqub Ysuf (11631184). Ibn ufayl dabbled in neo-Platonism and followed theesoteric teachings of Ibn Sn15throughout his flourishingmedical career. He was the celebrated author of the fictionalphilosophical tale entitledayy bin Yaqn(Living son ofawake). This philosophical parable is set on an island in theIndian Ocean (perhaps modern day Sri Lanka), and tells thestory of ayy, a child who grows up on the island without anyhuman contact, raised by a gazelle. As ayygrows up, hediscovers natural religion. Later, a shipwrecked sailor teacheshim human language and religion, and much to their surprise,they find many points of agreement.

Ibn ufayl makes the point that religion can be arrivedat naturally without the aid of revelation. Interestingly, this

concept is not foreign to Islam, which sees itself as the natural

14. Numerous aspects of the intellectual, cultural, political, and social makeup of

the Muslim West played a role in how al-Ghazlwas perceived. Many elementssomehow united the opinions of the Muslim West behind a single ideology that is

different from the one al-Ghazlespoused, namely the shcar/ Shficteaching,whereas many of the scholars of the Muslim West were of Salafi / Malaki

persuasion. See al-Taher al-Mamuris al-Ghazlwa

c

ulamal-Maghrib[al-Ghazland the scholars of North Africa], (Tunis: al-Dar al-Tunisia li al-nashr)

1990.

15. Mainly hisAl-falsifah al-mashriqiyyah(Eastern philosophy) which is a mixture

of esoteric sufism and neo-Platonic metaphysical systems.


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religion. Surprisingly, this neo-Platonist became the mentor ofthe most famous Arab Aristotelian, Ibn Rushd.16

Ibn Rushd (11261198)

Ibn Rushd, known as Averroes in the West andsometimes as the Commentator, fared well in the West, betterthan he did among his own people.17Ibn Rushd made a braveattempt to extract Aristotles ideas on politics from PlatosRepublic. He not only commented on all of the existing worksof Aristotle, but also summarized them and wrote grandcommentaries on them. He wrote Tahfut al-falsifah, as a

point-by-point refutation of al-Ghazls criticism of philosophy.The success of his refutation is widely debated, because he onlydefended what he believed were Aristotle's doctrines, sometimeswith little else save pure sophistry.

Ibn Rushd believed that the peak of philosophicalteachings ended with the master, Aristotle. Not surprisingly,later scholars saw this as an attempt to defend Aristotle and notas a functional or useful refutation of al-Ghazls criticism ofphilosophy. The philosophical ideas that al-Ghazl wasattacking were the ideas of Ibn Snand al-Frb, only some ofwhich came from Aristotle; the majority came from Plato andPlotinus.

To his credit, Ibn Rushd had quite an influence on themedieval philosophy of Europe, through the Latin translation ofhis works. He also cast doubt on the authenticity of theattribution of the Theology of Aristotleto Aristotle. The work, asmentioned above, was a compilation of certain chapters fromPlotinusEnneads.

Shortly after this peak of philosophical interest,

Muslim political influence waned in Andalusia. The politicalupheavals thereafter left the historical records in a shambles

16. As a historical note, the claim that Ibn ufayl was the mentor of Ibn Rushd isopen to question, and is, perhaps, the stuff of legend. There is a similar historical

claim that ibn al-cArablearned philosophy from Ibn Rushd; perhaps ibn al-cArablearned (if not disabused) Ibn Rushd of Ibn ufayls philosophical (read sufi)thought.17. The philosophical tradition of Ibn Rushd did not survive well in the Muslim

West and was not popular in the Muslim East. This could be due to many factors;

paramount among them is the political state of Andalusia. Also, we do not havecomplete information about the spread of his thought in the Muslim world. Many

manuscripts need to be studied to piece together what happened to philosophy in

the Muslim world. See the end of the article for more on the challenges of history

of philosophy in Muslim lands.


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and not easily examined. The rest of the Muslim world had itsshare of political intrigue: its intellectual history and the role ofGreek philosophy has yet to be written.

The Continuing Tradition of Philosophyin Muslim Lands

Fakhr al-Dn al-Rz(d. 1210) continued in thefootsteps of al-Ghazlin a program that reformed philosophyand theology. On the eve of the Mongol invasion in 1258, Nas rdn al-Ts(d. 1274) was philosophizing and writing not onlycommentaries on the works of Ibn Sn, but works of his own.

Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328) repudiated both al-Ghazland IbnRushd for their use of philosophynot to mention Ibn Sn.18He wrote a thesis that rejects not only philosophy, butAristotelian logic19itself. The historian Ibn Khaldn (d. 1406)also mentioned philosophy and took issue with Ibn Rushd. Fromall of this, we know that philosophical debates continued longafter Ibn Rushd was gone.

Muslims scholars the length and breadth of Muslimlands excelled and made important contributions in all fields oflearning and sciences. The old adage by Epicurus that onlyGreeks philosophize is clearly invalid. It would also be false toconclude that philosophy abruptly disappeared

20with Ibn

Rushdwhere one conjures up images of Aladdns geniepacking everything into his lamp and leaving the Muslims withnothing but crumbs of rotting manuscripts and no memory ofwhat had taken place.

18. See the recent work of Yahya J. Michot A Mamlk TheologiansCommentary on Avicennas Risla AawiyyaJournal of Islamic Studies 14:2(2003) pp.149203 and Part II in 14:3 (2003) pp.309363.

19. See Wael Hallaq,Ibn Taymiyya against the Greek logicians(Oxford:Clarendon Press) 1993.20. Harry Wolfson, Revised Plan for the Publication of a Corpus

Commentariroum Averrois in Aristotelem Speculum38:1 (January 1963) p. 88.

This was slightly reworded.


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Philosophy in the Muslim East: An Incomplete History

The history of the philosophical debate that al-Ghazland Ibn Rushd began continued at the hands of writers in theMuslim East and Ottoman lands long after the eclipse ofMuslim rule in Andalusia. In fact, the famed sultan Mehmet II(also known asFatihConqueror, 14511481) ordered twoOttoman scholars to compile books to summarize the debatebetween al-Ghazland Ibn Rushd. Both of these works21havebeen published. This part of history remains to be written; anytakers?

21. The two scholars were Allaaldn Alal-Tusi (d. 1472) and Khojazade

Muslihuddin Mustafa (d. 1488). The latter work is available online (cf. IPO.) formore information, consult Ahmd ibn MustafTshkprzade (d. 1561), Shaqaiqal-nucmaniyya fculm al-dawlah al-cuthmniyya (Beirut: Dr al-kitb al-carab)1975 pp.153167 and Ktip elebi (d. 1657),Kashf al-zunun `an asmi al-kutub

wa-al-funn(Bulaq) 1857, vol. 1. p. 519.

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