Islamic Philosophy

Islamic Philosophy

Islamic philosophy (Ð"‡Ð"ÐŽÐ"ÑœÐ"ÐŽÐ""Ð"ÑœÐ"‰ Ð"‡Ð"ÐŽÐ"...Ð""Ð"ÐŽÐ"‡Ð"ЈÐ"­Ð"‰) is a part of the Islamic studies, and is a longstanding attempt to create harmony between faith, reason or philosophy, and the religious teachings of Islam. A Muslim engaged in this field is called a Muslim philosopher.

Definition

The attempt to fuse religion and philosophy is difficult because there are no clear preconditions. On the other hand, classical religious believers have a set of religious principles that they hold to be fact. Indeed, due to these divergent goals and views, some hold[citation needed] that one cannot simultaneously be a philosopher and a true adherent of Islam, which is believed to be a revealed religion by its adherents. In this view, all attempts at synthesis ultimately fail.

However, others believe that a synthesis between Islam and philosophy is possible. One way to find a synthesis is to use philosophical arguments to prove that one's preset religious principles are true. This is a common technique found in the writings of many religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but this is not generally accepted as true philosophy by philosophers. Another way to find a synthesis is to abstain from holding as true any religious principles of one's faith at all, unless one independently comes to those conclusions from a philosophical analysis. However, this is not generally accepted as being faithful to one's religion by adherents of that religion. A third, rarer and more difficult path is to apply analytical philosophy to one's own religion. In this case a religious person would also be a philosopher, by asking questions such as:

What is the nature of God? How do we know that God exists?

What is the nature of revelation? How do we know that God reveals his will to mankind?

What is the nature of divinely guided Messengers vis Ð" vis philosophers?

What is the nature of Imamat or vicegerency of humans on earth?

Which of our religious traditions must be interpreted literally?

Which of our religious traditions must be interpreted allegorically?

What must one actually believe to be considered a true adherent of our religion?

How can one reconcile the findings of philosophy with religion?

How can one reconcile the findings of science with religion?

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Introduction

Islamic philosophy may be defined in a number of different ways, but the perspective taken here is that it represents the style of philosophy produced within the framework of Islamic culture. This description does not suggest that it is necessarily concerned with religious issues, nor even that it is exclusively produced by Muslims.[Oliver Leamman, Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy]

Formative influences

Islamic philosophy as the name implies refers to philsophical activity within the Islamic milieu. The main sources of classical or early Islamic philosophy are the religion of Islam itself - especially ideas derived and interpreted from Quran - and the Greek philosophical heritage which the early Muslims inherited as a result of conquests when Alexandria, Syria and Jundishapur came under Muslim rule. Many of the early philosophical debates centered around reconciling religion and reason, the latter exemplified by Greek Philosophy.

Also pre-Islamic Iranian and Indian influences are worth mentioning.

Early Islamic philosophy

The Classical Period

In the early Islamic thought two main currents may be distinguished. The first is Kalam, that mainly dealt with theological questions and the other is Falsafa, that was founded on the reception of Greek thought.

Kalam

Independent minds exploiting the methods of ijtihad sought to investigate the doctrines of the Qur'an, which until then had been accepted in faith on the authority of divine revelation. One of first debates was that between partisan of the Qadar (Arabic: qadara, to have power), who affirmed free will, and the Jabarites (jabar, force, constraint), who maintained the belief in fatalism.

At the second century of the Hegira, a new movement arose in the theological school of Basra, Iraq. A pupil, Wasil ibn Ata, who was expelled from the school because his answers were contrary to then orthodox Islamic tradition and became leader of a new school, and systematized the radical opinions of preceding sects, particularly those of the Qadarites. This new school was called Mutazilite (from i'tazala, to separate oneself, to dissent). Its principal dogmas were three:

God is an absolute unity, and no attribute can be ascribed to Him.

Man is a free agent. It is on account of these two principles that the Mu'tazilites designate themselves the "Partisans of Justice and Unity".

All knowledge necessary for the salvation of man emanates from his reason; humans could acquire knowledge before, as well as after, Revelation, by the sole light of reason. This fact makes knowledge obligatory upon all men, at all times, and in all places.

The Mutazilites, compelled to defend their principles against the orthodox Islam of their day, looked for support in philosophy, and are one of the first to pursue a rational theology called Ilm-al-Kalam (Scholastic theology); those professing it were called Mutakallamin. This appellation became the common name for all seeking philosophical demonstration in confirmation of religious principles. The first Mutakallamin had to debate both the orthodox and the non-Muslims, and they may be described as occupying the middle ground between those two parties. But subsequent generations were to large extent critical towards the Mutazilite school, especially after formation of th Asharite concepts.

Falasafa

Ibn Rushd a.k.a. Averroes (1126-1198), is one of the most celebrated Muslim philosophers and commentator of Aristotle and a prolific writer.From the ninth century onward, owing to Caliph al-Ma'mun and