Islamic Philosophy A–Z Peter S. Groff Islamic Philosophy A–Z comprises over a hundred concise entries, alphabetically ordered and cross-referenced for easy access.All the essential aspects of Islamic philosophy are covered here: key figures, schools, concepts, topics and issues. Articles on the Peripatetics, Isma‘ilis, Illuminationists, Sufis, kalam theologians and later modern thinkers are supplemented by entries on classical Greek influences as well as Jewish philosophers who lived and worked in the Islamic world.Topical entries cover various issues and key positions in all the major areas of philosophy, making clear why the central problems of Islamic philosophy have been, and remain, matters of rational disputation. This book will prove an indispensable resource to anyone who wishes to gain a better understanding of this fascinating intellectual tradition. Peter S. Groff is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bucknell University, Pennsylvania. Co v er design: River Design, Edinburgh Edinburgh University Press 22 George Squar e , Edinburgh EH8 9LF www.eup.ed.ac.uk ISBN 978 0 7486 2089 0 Peter S. Groff barcode Edinburgh Peter S. Groff PHILOSOPHY A–Z SERIES GENERAL EDITOR: OLIVER LEAMAN These thorough, authoritative yet concise alphabetical guides introduce the central concepts of the various branches of philosophy. Written by established philosophers, they cover both traditional and contemporary terminology. Features • Dedicated coverage of particular topics within philosophy • Coverage of key terms and major figures • Cross-references to related terms. Islamic Philosophy A–Z Islamic Philosophy A–Z ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY A–Z Volumes available in the Philosophy A–Z Series Christian Philosophy A–Z, Daniel J. Hill and Randal D. Rauser Epistemology A–Z, Martijn Blaauw and Duncan Pritchard Ethics A–Z, Jonathan A. Jacobs Indian Philosophy A–Z, Christopher Bartley Jewish Philosophy A–Z, Aaron W. Hughes Philosophy of Language A–Z, Alessandra Tanesini Philosophy of Mind A–Z, Marina Rakova Philosophy of Religion A–Z, Patrick Quinn Philosophy of Science A–Z, Stathis Psillos Forthcoming volumes Aesthetics A–Z, Fran Guter Chinese Philosophy A–Z, Bo Mou Political Philosophy A–Z, Jon Pike Islamic Philosophy A–Z Peter S. Groff with Oliver Leaman Edinburgh University Press © Peter S. Groff, 2007 Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22 George Square, Edinburgh Typeset in 10.5/13 Sabon by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Manchester, and printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wilts A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7486 2216 0 (hardback) ISBN 978 0 7486 2089 0 (paperback) The right of Peter S. Groff to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Contents Series Editor’s Preface vii Introduction ix Using This Book xiii Acknowledgements xvii Islamic Philosophy A–Z 1 Bibliography 217 For my Mother and Father Series Editor’s Preface Islamic philosophy is like all philosophy when tied in with a religion in having indistinct parameters and requiring an understanding of the religion as well as of philosophy. Peter Groff explains a good deal about Islam in his book, and in particular the range of theoretical issues that arose in the reli- gion. Many of these are more theological than philosophical, or so one might think, but really the distinction is rather arti- ficial in Islamic philosophy. So many of the theological debates had and indeed continue to have profound philo- sophical significance. Over time philosophy was often under attack in much of the Islamic world and went to ground, as it were, in the guise of theology, and it is important for those coming to the subject for the first time to bear in mind the strong links that exist between Islamic philosophy and Islam itself. This book is designed to be appropriate for those coming for the first time both to the religion and to the philosophy, and the entries are linked to other entries and to further reading to help those readers broaden their understanding of what they find here. The Arabic terms are carefully explained and it is important to know the context in which Islamic philosophy flourished. But it would be a mistake to represent Islamic philosophy as exotic. Readers familiar with philosophy in general will recognize many of the issues debated here, and readers familiar with Islam will also see how that religion quite naturally can be taken to raise and then deal with philosophical issues. Readers familiar with neither will be interested to discover what an intriguing form of theoretical thought is represented by Islamic philosophy. Oliver Leaman viii SERIES EDITOR’S PREFACE Introduction This book offers a series of inroads into the rich tradition of Islamic philosophy. Those familiar with this tradition have long recognized its profound influence on medieval Christian and Jewish thought, as well as the pivotal role that Islamic philosophers played in preserving and transmitting the legacy of classical Greek thought to Europe. True as this picture is, it is incomplete, because it overlooks the intrinsic value of Islamic philosophy. This is a vital, flourishing tradition in its own right, one that needs to be approached not just from the perspective of its European beneficiaries, but on its own terms as well. The tradition of Islamic philosophy is remarkably diverse. Far from being monolithic or homogeneous, it comprises a wide range of positions and approaches, and brings with it a lively history of disputation. In this book, we have tried to do justice to the many different ways in which philosophy has expressed itself within the Islamic context. The reader will find entries on Greek-influenced Peripatetic thinkers and their major ideas, various schools of theology, Isma‘ilis, Sufis, Illuminationists, and later synthetic developments such as the School of Isfahan, as well as some modern thinkers. We have also included a handful of Jewish and Christian philosophers whose work was profoundly influenced by, and in some cases contributed significantly to, the Islamic intellectual tradition. Finally, we have tried to convey some sense of the traditional- ists’ critique of philosophy, which can be quite sophisticated [...]... mistake to see Islamic philosophy as identical with, or somehow reducible to, Islam as a religion Islamic philosophy has no uniquely Islamic essence It might simply be described as philosophy that emerges within a context predominantly informed by the religious, social, political and cultural dimensions of Islam As such, its presuppositions and conclusions may or may not be Muslim Even when philosophy. .. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed E Craig (Routledge, 1998), which includes numerous entries on the Islamic philosophical tradition by major scholars in the field Finally, two good book-length historical overviews can be found in H Corbin’s History of Islamic Philosophy (Kegan Paul International, 2001) and M Fakhry’s A History of Islamic Philosophy (Columbia University Press, 1970/2004) O Leaman’s... 1970/2004) O Leaman’s An Introduction to Classical Islamic Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 2001) offers a somewhat more selective account, but is a fine entry into key debates in the tradition We have included transliterated Arabic terms for many of the key concepts, in order to give the reader some sense of the actual technical vocabulary of Islamic philosophy We have also included Arabic (and in... Aristotle (Aristutalis, Aristu) (384–322 bce): In the Islamic tradition, Greek philosophy is virtually synonymous with the name of Aristotle, who was traditionally known as both ‘the Philosopher’ and ‘the First Teacher’ Indeed, one of the most influential schools of Islamic philosophy in the classical period was the mashsha’un – the ‘Walkers’ ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY A–Z 15 or Peripatetics – among whose ranks... Aristotle’s influence within the Islamic tradition had already begun to wane, due to the Ash‘arite theologians’ assault on 16 ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY A–Z Greek-influenced philosophy and the emergence of Illuminationism, a school of philosophy that rejected key aspects of Aristotelian logic and metaphysics In many ways, Christian Latins profited more from Ibn Rushd’s scholarship than subsequent Islamic philosophers did:... and powerful, and which is essential to a proper understanding of the relative place of philosophy within the larger intellectual life of Islam It is important to recognize the permeability of philosophy and religion within the Islamic tradition, a fact that may at first be perplexing to the contemporary student of philosophy As moderns, we often assume that these two approaches to the good and the true... language, law, logic, modern Islamic philosophy, mysticism, Nasr (Seyyed Hossein), political philosophy, prophecy, science and Sufism The entry on Islamism is a collaborative effort I am responsible for all other entries, and of course, any errors or lacunae that might be found there I’d like to express my appreciation to a few other folks, too: my colleagues in the Bucknell Philosophy department, as well... alSuhrawardi and Mulla Sadra) wrote works in Persian as well, most expressed their definitive statements in Arabic, which had long been considered the scholarly lingua franca of the Islamic world Not so with Baba Afdal, whose clear, straightforward and elegant Persian prose made a synthesis of Neoplatonic-Aristotelian and Sufi ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY A–Z 9 ideas intelligible to a wider audience, many of whom... Ibn Sina; interpretation; psychology Further reading: al-Ghazali 1997/2000; Ibn Rushd 2007; Leaman 2006a; McAuliffe 2001–6 ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY A–Z 13 al-‘Amiri, Abu al-Hasan Muhammad ibn Yusuf (d 381/992): Like his intellectual forebear al-Kindi, al-‘Amiri sought above all to show the harmonizability of Islam and philosophy, while granting primacy to the former Although his best–known work, Exposition... immediately useful will be the comprehensive two-volume Biographical Encyclopaedia of Islamic Philosophy, recently compiled by O Leaman (Thoemmes Continuum, 2006) After that, I would recommend Brill’s new edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam, ed P J Bearman et al (Brill, 1960–2005), which also contains many articles on Islamic philosophy and theology, all of the highest quality The first edition (1913–38, . Cross-references to related terms. Islamic Philosophy A–Z Islamic Philosophy A–Z ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY A–Z Volumes available in the Philosophy A–Z Series Christian Philosophy A–Z, Daniel J. Hill and. Philosophy A–Z Peter S. Groff with Oliver Leaman Edinburgh University Press © Peter S. Groff, 2007 Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22 George Square, Edinburgh Typeset in 10.5/13 Sabon by Servis Filmsetting. of Islamic Philosophy (Kegan Paul International, 2001) and M. Fakhry’s A History of Islamic Philosophy (Columbia University Press, 1970/2004). O. Leaman’s An Introduction to Classical Islamic Philosophy