This page intentionally left blank AN INTRODUCTION TO CLASSICAL ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY Islamic philosophy is a unique and fascinating form of thought, and particular interest lies in its classical (Greek-influenced) period, when many of the ideas of Greek philosophy were used to explore the issues and theoretical problems which arise in trying to understand the Qur’¯an and Islamic practice In this revised and expanded edition of his classic introductory work, Oliver Leaman examines the distinctive features of classical Islamic philosophy and offers detailed accounts of major individual thinkers In contrast to many previous studies that have treated this subject as only of historical interest, he offers analysis of the key arguments within Islamic philosophy so that the reader can engage with them and assess their strengths and weaknesses His book will interest a wide range of readers in philosophy, religious studies and Islamic studies O L I V E R L E A M A N is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kentucky He has written extensively on Islamic philosophy and is the author of A brief introduction to Islamic philosophy () He is the editor of Friendship east and west: philosophical perspectives () and The future of philosophy () and co-editor of the History of Islamic philosophy () and the History of Jewish philosophy () AN INTRODUCTION TO CLASSICAL ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY OLIVER LEAMAN The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org © Oliver Leaman 1985, 2004 First published in printed format 2001 ISBN 0-511-03202-1 eBook (Adobe Reader) ISBN 0-521-79343-2 hardback ISBN 0-521-79757-8 paperback First published as An Introduction to Medieval Islamic Philosophy 1985 Second edition 2002, Reprinted 2002 In fond memory of my father and mother Ibn ‘Abb¯as (may God be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of God (peace and blessings of God be on him) said: A single scholar of religion is more powerful against the Devil than a thousand devout individuals Contents Preface to the first edition Preface to the second edition List of texts and abbreviations page ix xi xiv Introduction PART I ¯ L¯ı ’S ATTACK ON PHILOSOPHY AL-GHAZA How did God create the world? Averroes v Al-Ghaza¯ l¯ı on the creation of the world Maimonides and the problem of creation Creation and the controversy over the nature of causality Immortality and the active intellect Can God know particulars? PART II REASON V REVELATION IN PRACTICAL REASONING Are the ethics of religion objective or subjective? Happiness, philosophy and society How to read Islamic philosophy Mysticism Illuminationism Issues of interpretation Averroes and Aristotle Further reading Glossar y Index of passages General index vii Further reading For interesting background information which puts ibn Rushd’s Aristotelianism into its historical context see: Urvoy, D., Averroes: les ambitions d’un intellectual musulman (Paris, Flammarion, ) GENERAL INTRODUCTIONS TO ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY IN THE CLASSICAL PERIOD Corbin, H., History of Islamic philosophy, trans L Sherrard (London, Kegan Paul International, ) Fakhry, M., A history of Islamic philosophy (New York, Columbia University Press, ) An introduction to Islamic philosophy, theology and mysticism (Oxford, OneWorld, ) Leaman, O., A companion to the philosophers, ed R Arrington (Oxford, Blackwell, ), ‘Alfarabi’, pp –, ‘Avicenna’, pp –, ‘Averroes’, pp –, ‘Ghazali’, pp – and ‘Maimonides’, pp – Eastern philosophy: key readings (London, Routledge, ) ‘A guide to bibliographical resources’ and ‘General introductions to Islamic philosophy’, in S Nasr and O Leaman (eds.), History of Islamic philosophy (London, Routledge, ), pp – and – ‘Islamic philosophy’, in E Craig (ed.), Encyclopedia of philosophy (London, Routledge, ) Key concepts in Eastern philosophy (London, Routledge, ) Leaman, O (ed.), Encyclopedia of Asian philosophy (London, Routledge, ) USEFUL ARTICLES AND TRANSLATIONS Lerner, R and Mahdi, M (eds.), Medieval political philosophy: a sourcebook (Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press, ) Morewedge, P (ed.), Islamic philosophical theology (Albany, State University of New York Press, ) (ed.), Islamic philosophy and mysticism (New York, Caravan Books, ) CRITICAL SURVEYS Butterworth, C., ‘The study of Arabic philosophy today’, Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, (), pp –; – REFERENCES HIP History of Islamic Philosophy, ed S Nasr and O Leaman (London, Routledge, ) Abrahamov, B., Islamic theology: traditionalism and rationalism (Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, ) Further reading Abed, S., Aristotelian logic and the Arabic language in Alfarabi (Albany, State University of New York Press, ) Abdel Haleem, M., HIP: ‘Early kal¯am’, pp – Abu-Rabi‘, I., HIP: ‘The Arab world’, pp – Ahmed, A., Discovering Islam: making sense of Muslim history and society (London, Routledge, ) Akhtar, S., HIP : ‘The possibility of a philosophy of Islam’, pp – Al-Ash‘ari, The theology of al-Ash‘ar¯ı: the Arabic texts of al-Ash‘ar¯ı’s Kit¯ab al-Luma‘, ed R McCarthy (Beirut, Imprimerie Catholique, ) Al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı, Al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı’s commentary and short treatise on Aristotle’s De Interpretatione, trans and intro F Zimmermann (London, British Academy, ) Al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı on the perfect state, trans R Walzer (Oxford, Clarendon Press, ) Al-Ghaz¯al¯ı, The faith and practice of al-Ghaz¯al¯ı, trans W Watt (London, Allen and Unwin, ) Freedom and fulfillment: an annotated translation of al-Munqidh al-Dal¯al and other relevant works of al-Ghaz¯al¯ı, trans R McCarthy (Boston, Twayne, ) Ghazali on prayer, trans and intro K Nakamura (Tokyo, Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo, ) The incoherence of the philosophers, trans and intro M Marmura (Provo, UT, Brigham Young University Press, ) The ninety-nine beautiful names of God, trans D Burrell and N Daher (Cambridge, Islamic Texts Society, ) The remembrance of death and the afterlife, trans and intro T Winter (Cambridge, Islamic Texts Society, ) Al-Kindi, Al-Kind¯ı’s metaphysics: a translation of the Treatise on First Philosophy, trans A Ivry (Albany, State University of New York Press, ) Al-Tusi, Contemplation and action: the spiritual autobiography of a Muslim scholar, ed and trans S Badakhchani (London, I B Tauris, ) Alon, I., ‘F¯ar¯ab¯ı’s funny flora; al-naw¯abit a “opposition”’, Arabica, (), pp – Aminrazavi, M., HIP : ‘Persia’, pp – Suhraward¯ı and the school of illumination (Richmond, Curzon, ) Arberry, A., The Koran interpreted (Oxford and London, Oxford University Press, ) Aslan, A., Religious pluralism in Christian and Islamic philosophy: the thought of John Hick and Seyyed Hossein Nasr (Richmond, Curzon, ) Bakar, O., HIP: ‘Science’, pp – Bello, I., The medieval Islamic controversy between philosophy and orthodoxy: Ijm¯a‘ and Ta’w¯ıl in the conflict between al-Ghaz¯al¯ı and ibn Rushd (Leiden, Brill, ) Benmakhlouf, A., Averroes (Paris, Les Belles Lettres, ) Black, D HIP : ‘Al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı’, pp – Logic and Aristotle’s rhetoric and poetics in medieval Arabic philosophy (Leiden, Brill, ) Campanini, M., HIP: ‘Al-Ghazzali’, pp – Further reading Chittick, W., HIP: ‘Ibn ‘Arab¯ı’, pp –; ‘The school of ibn ‘Arab¯ı’, pp – Imaginal worlds: Ibn al-‘Arabi and the problem of religious diversity (Albany, State University of New York Press, ) The self-disclosure of God: principles of ibn al-‘Arabi’s Cosmology (Albany, State University of New York Press, ) Corbin, H., History of Islamic philosophy, trans L Sherrard (London, Kegan Paul International, ) Dabashi, H., HIP : ‘Khw¯ajah Nas.¯ır al-T¯ us¯ı: the philosopher/vizier and the intellectual climate of his times’, pp –; ‘M¯ır D¯am¯ad and the founding of the “School of Is fah¯an”’, pp – Daiber, H., HIP : ‘Political philosophy’, pp – Davidson, H., Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes on intellect: their cosmologies, theories of active intellect and theories of the human intellect (Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press, ) Fakhry, M., A history of Islamic philosophy (New York, Columbia University Press, ) K al-h ur¯uf, ed M Mahdi (Beirut, ) Islamic occasionalism and its critique by Averroes and Aquinas (London, Allen and Unwin, ) Frank, D and Leaman, O (eds.), History of Jewish philosophy (London, Routledge, ) Frank, R., Al-Ghaz¯al¯ı and the Ash‘arite school (Durham, Duke University Press, ) Goodman, L., Avicenna (London, Routledge, ) HIP : ‘Ibn Masarrah’, pp –; ‘Ibn B¯ajjah’, pp –; ‘Ibn Tufayl’, pp – HIP : ‘Muhammad ibn Zakariyy¯a’ al-R¯az¯ı’, pp – Gutas, D., Avicenna and the Aristotelian tradition: introduction to reading Avicenna’s philosophical works (Leiden, Brill, ) Hallaq, W., Ibn Taymiyya against the Greek Logicians (Oxford, Clarendon Press, ) Hayoun, M.-R and de Libera, A., Averro`es et laverroăsme (Paris, PUF, ) Ibn Bajja, Ras¯a’il ibn B¯ajja al-il¯ahiyya [ Ibn B¯ajja’s metaphysical essays], ed M Fakhry (Beirut, Dar al-Jil, ) Ibn Rushd, Averroes’ commentary on Plato’s ‘Republic’, ed., intro and trans E Rosenthal (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, ) Averroes on the harmony of religion and philosophy [ Fas l al-maq¯al], trans G Hourani (London, Luzac, ) Averroes’ Tah¯afut al-Tah¯afut [The incoherence of the incoherence], (London, Luzac, ) Le livre du discours d´ecisif, trans M Geoffroy, intro A de Libera (Paris, Flammarion, ) L’Incoerenza dell’Incoerenza dei Filosofi, trans M Campanini (Turin, Unione Tipografico-Editrice, ) Further reading Ibn S¯ın¯a, The life of ibn Sina: a critical edition and annotated translation, ed and trans W Gohlman (Albany, State University of New York Press, ) Ibn Tufayl, Hayy ibn Yaqz¯an, a philosophical tale, trans L Goodman (Los Angeles, Gee Tee Bee, ) Inati, S., HIP: ‘Ibn S¯ın¯a’, pp –; ‘Logic’, pp – Jayyusi, S (ed.), The legacy of Muslim Spain (Leiden, Brill, ) Kemal, R and Kemal, S., HIP : ‘Shah Wal¯ıull¯ah’, pp – Kılı¸c, M., HIP : ‘Mysticism’, pp – Klein-Franke, F., HIP : ‘Al-Kindi’, pp – Lameer, J., Al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı and Aristotelian syllogistics: Greek theory and Islamic practice (Leiden, Brill, ) Leaman, O., ‘Averroes’, in Klassiker der Religionsphilosophile: von Platon bis Kierkegaard, ed F Niewohner (Munich, C H Beck, ), pp – ‘Averroes and the West’, in Averroes and the Enlightenment, ed M Wahba and M Abousenna (Amherst, Prometheus, ), pp – ‘Averroes’ Commentary on Plato’s Republic and the missing Politics’, in D Agius and I Netton (eds.), Across the Mediterranean frontiers: trade, politics and religion, – (Turnhout, Brepols, ), pp – ‘Averroes, le Kit¯ab al-nafs et la r´evolution de la philosophie occidentale’, in Le choc Averro`es (Paris, Maison des Cultures du Monde, ), pp – Companion encyclopedia of Asian philosophy, ed B Carr and I Mahalingam (London, Routledge, ), ‘Logic and language in Islamic philosophy’, pp – and ‘Islamic philosophy since Avicenna’, pp – ‘Continuity in Islamic political philosophy: the role of myth’, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies . (), pp – The future of philosophy: towards the st century, ed O Leaman (London, Routledge, ), ‘The future of philosophy’, pp –, ‘Philosophy of religion’, pp – ‘Ghazali and Averroes on meaning’, Al-Masaq, (), pp – HIP: ‘Introduction’, pp –; ‘Islamic humanism in the fourth/tenth century’, pp –; ‘Introduction to the Jewish philosophical tradition in the Islamic cultural world’, pp –; ‘Jewish Averroism’, pp –; ‘Orientalism and Islamic philosophy’, pp – ‘Is Averroes an Averroist?’, in Averroismus im Mittelalter und in der Renaissance, ed F Niewăohner and L Sturlese (Zurich, Spur Verlag, ), pp – ‘Islam’, in Philosophy of education: an encyclopedia, ed J Chambliss (New York, Garland, ), pp – Moses Maimonides, nd edn (Richmond, Curzon, ; st edn London, Routledge, ) ‘The philosophical tradition’, in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Middle East and North Africa, ed T Mostyn (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, ), pp – ‘Philosophy vs mysticism: an Islamic controversy’, in Philosophy, religion and the spiritual life, ed M McGhee (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, ), pp – Further reading Lewis, B., Cultures in conflict: Christians, Muslims and Jews in the Age of Discovery (Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press, ) Lory, P., HIP : ‘Henry Corbin: his work and influence’, pp – Marenbon, J., HIP : ‘Medieval Christian and Jewish Europe’, pp – Morewedge, P., Essays in Islamic philosophy, theology and mysticism (Oneonta, NY, Philosophy Department, State University of New York, ) Neoplatonism and Islamic thought (Albany, State University of New York Press, ) Muhajirani, A., HIP : ‘Twelve-Imam Shi‘ite theological and philosophical thought’, pp – Nanji, A., HIP : ‘Ism¯a‘¯ıl¯ı philosophy’, pp – Nas.¯ır Khusraw, Knowledge and liberation: a treatise on philosophical theology, ed and trans F Hunzai (London, I B Tauris, ) Nasr, S., HIP: ‘Introduction’, pp –; ‘The meaning and concept of philosophy in Islam’, pp –; ‘The Qur’¯an and Hadith as source and inspiration of Islamic philosophy’, pp –; ‘Ibn S¯ın¯a’s “Oriental philosophy”’, pp –; ‘Introduction to the mystical tradition’, pp –; ‘Mull¯a Sadr¯ a: his teachings’, pp – The Islamic intellectual tradition in Persia, ed M Amin Razavi (Richmond, Curzon, ) Sufi essays (London, Allen and Unwin, ) Netton, I., Al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı and his school (London, Routledge, ) Allah transcendent: studies in the structure and semiotics of Islamic philosophy, Theology and Cosmology (London, Routledge, ) HIP : ‘The Brethren of Purity (Ikhw¯an al-Saf¯ a)’, pp – Muslim neoplatonists: an introduction to the thought of the Brethren of Purity (London, Allen and Unwin, ) Nomanul Haq, S., HIP: ‘The Indian and Persian background’, pp – Nursi, S., The Flashes collection, trans S Vahide (Istanbul, Sozler Nesriyat, ) Nuseibeh, S., HIP : ‘Epistemology’, pp – Pavlin, J., HIP: ‘Sunn¯ı kal¯am and theological controversies’, pp – Peters, F., HIP : ‘The Greek and Syriac background’, pp – Reinhart, K., Before revelation: the boundaries of Muslim moral thought (Albany, State University of New York Press, ) ¯ Rowson, E., HIP : ‘Al-‘Amir¯ ı’, pp – ¯ ı’s Kit¯ab al-Amad ‘al¯a A Muslim philosopher on the soul and its fate: al-‘Amir¯ L-Abad (Chicago, Kazi, ) Shayegan, Y., HIP: ‘The transmission of Greek philosophy to the Islamic world’, pp – Taftazani and Leaman, O., HIP: ‘Ibn Sab‘¯ın’, pp – HIP : ‘Ibn Rushd’, pp – Wolfson, H., The philosophy of the Kalam (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, ) Ziai, H., HIP: ‘Shih¯ab al-D¯ın Suhraward¯ı: founder of the Illuminationist School’, pp –; ‘The illuminationist tradition’, pp –; ‘Mull¯a Sadr¯ a: his life and works’, pp – Further reading These books and articles were very useful for both the first and second editions of this book: Berman, L., ‘Maimonides, the disciple of Alfarabi’, Israel Oriental Studies, (), pp – ‘The political interpretation of the maxim: the purpose of philosophy is the imitation of God’, Studia Islamica, ( ), pp – Hourani, G., ‘Ghazali on the ethics of action’, Journal of the American Oriental Society, (), pp – Mahdi, M., The attainment of happiness (New York, Free Press, ) Marmura, M., ‘Al-Ghazali’s attitude to the sciences and logic’, in G Hourani (ed.), Essays in Islamic Philosophy and Science (Albany, State University of New York Press, ), pp – ‘Al-Ghazali on ethical premisses’, Philosophical Forum, n.s (), pp – ‘Ghazali and demonstrative science’, Journal of the History of Philosophy, (), pp – ‘Leaman’s introduction to medieval Islamic philosophy: a review article’, Muslim World, (), pp – ‘Some aspects of Avicenna’s theory of God’s knowledge of particulars’, Journal of the American Oriental Society, (), pp – Rahman, F., Prophecy in Islam (London, George Allen & Unwin, ) Glossary ‘adl, justice ‘aql, reason b¯at.in, inner (meaning), esoteric, hidden failas¯uf, fal¯asifa, falsafa, philosopher, philosophers, philosophy fiqh, jurisprudence fur¯u’, branches (of law) had¯ ıth, Tradition(s) haj, pilgrimage hakham, wise man hasan, good h asid, righteous huk.k im, statues (ritual) ishraq, illumination ittih a¯ d, union ittis.a¯ l, contact jih¯ad, holy war kal¯am, theology khal¯ıfa, deputies khaliq, creator mawj¯ud¯at, existing beings mishpatim, statutes (with obvious reasons) mit.a¯ l¯at, similitudes mutakallim¯un, theologians mutawah h id, solitary, isolated (philosopher) n¯am¯us, law naql, tradition qab¯ı.h, evil q¯ad ¯ı, judge qiy¯as, analogy ra’y, opinion shar’, religious law shar¯ı‘a, prophetic law of Islam s¯u’, evil takhl¯ıq, producing taqd¯ır, determining taq¯ıya, dissimulation tas.aww¯uf, mysticism ta’w¯ıl, figurative meaning ‘ulam¯a’, religious scholars us¯ ul, roots, principles (of law) wah y, inspiration, revelation w¯ajib, obligatory wuj¯ud, existence z a¯ hir, exoteric, clear (meaning) z ulm, harm Index of passages LIX, LXVIII,– LXXIV,– XC,– Qur’¯an L, II, II,– II, III, III, III, IV, V, VI, VI, VI, VIII, VIII, XIII,– IX, IX, X, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XVII, XVI, XVI,– XVII,– XX, XXI, XXVI, XXXIII, XXVIII, XXXIV, XXXV, XXIX, XL, XLI,– XLV, XLVI, LVII, – I,I Averroes/al-Ghaz¯al¯ı Incoherence of the philosophers, incorporated in the Incoherence of the Incoherence by Averroes TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT– TT TT TT TT– TT– TT TT TT TT– TT TT TT– TT TT TT TT TT TT TT TT– TT TT , – Index of passages TT TT TT– TT TT TT TT TT– TT TT TT– TT TT– T T T T T T T T TT T T T T T T– T T , , Averroes, Fas.l al-maq¯al (Decisive treatise) FM – FM FM FM – FM – FM FM FM , , GP II, GP II, GP II, GP II, GP II, GP II, GP II, GP II, GP II, GP II, GP II, GP II, GP II, GP II, GP III, GP III, GP III, GP III, GP III, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Aristotle, Metaphysics (Met.) A ff B ff B – B B , Aristotle, De interpretatione (De int.) A – B – De caelo Commentary on Plato’s Republic (Comm Pl Rep.) I,XVII,– I,XIX, I,XVIII, I,XI,– I,I,– II,IV,– II,VI,– III,XXI, III,XXI, B – Categories (Cat.) b – Physics (Phys.) A – A – B Maimonides, Guide of the Perplexed GP Introduction GP I, GP I, GP I, GP I, GP II, Introduction GP II, , De anima (De an.) B B – C A – A – B Index of passages De anima (De an.) (cont.) A – A A FF A – A – Eudemian Ethics , , EEA EEB De memoria (De mem.) I, B–A De generatione animalium B Timaeus (Tim.) Nicomachean Ethics NEB NEA – NE A – NEA – NEB NEA NEA FF NEB FF NEB –NEA NEA NEA NEB – NEB Plato Statesman – Republic (Rep.) C A B B–A CDE B Phaedrus E General index Due to their ubiquity in the text, some terms are not indexed and these include falsafa, fal¯asifa, God, Islam, Qur’¯an, philosophy ‘Abb¯asids, and the empire, – active or agent intellect/intelligence, and Aristotle, –, – as cherub, and emanation, and al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı, and ibn S¯ın¯a, – and immortality, – and Maimonides, political role in al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı, – and prophecy, ‘adl ( justice), , ; see also ethics, objectivity of, Plato afterlife, , ; see also immortality, Myth of Er agency, God’s, – Alexander of Aphrodisias, , , on active and acquired intellect, , , , , on knowledge, on material intellect, , , , ‘Al¯ı, – allegory, of Cave, , –; see also Myth of Er analogy, see qiyas angels, , apparent (meaning), see z.a¯ hir ‘aql (reason) and al-Ghaz¯al¯ı, – Aquinas, Aristotle on causality, –, and the celestial spheres, , – on change and matter, –, , , , compared with ibn Rushd, – on the creation of the world, , , , , , on definition, –, as first master, , , happiness, –, , and irony, and knowledge, , , , –, – on language, – on the life of contemplation, – on philosophical style, –, , , on the principle of plenitude, –, , and political wisdom, – on the soul and active intellect, , –, –, –, – and theology, on time, , , , unmoved mover, , see also ibn Rushd, on the intellect; Maimonides; material intellect al-Ash‘ar¯ı and Ash‘arites basis of opposition to Mu‘tazila, – on causality, –, on creation, , , – defence of the use of reason, , – on ethical propositions, , , and al-Ghaz¯al¯ı, , , , Averroes, see ibn Rushd Avicenna, see ibn S¯ın¯a b¯a.tin (inner meaning), , Butterworth, C., – causality, –; see also creation of the world cities, four kinds of, contact (ittis.a¯ l), consensus (ijm¯a‘ ), creation ex nihilo, –, –, , , , in ibn S¯ın¯a, and Maimonides, – General index creation (cont.) in the Qur’¯an, –, and Shi‘ism, of the world, – see also al-Ghaz¯al¯ı, ibn Rushd death and sleep, , definition appropriate to particular audiences, – and causal connection, contrasted with dialectic, , , , – criticized by illuminationism, – demonstration (burh¯an), , incapable of resolving theoretical issues according to Maimonides, , – dhawq (taste), dialectic ( jadal) contrasted with demonstration, , , – al-Ghaz¯al¯ı and ibn Rushd critical of, and the Islamic sciences, in Maimonides, useful for particular audiences, – eastern philosophy, emanation and active intellect, and al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı, –, , and ibn S¯ın¯a, , , –, , , , , and Maimonides, , in Plotinus, rejected by al-Ghaz¯al¯ı, , , , , esoteric interpretation, – eternity, –; see also time ethics, objectivity of, –, – eudaimonia (wellbeing), existence as predicate of essence in al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı, as predicate of essence in ibn S¯ın¯a, see also creation al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı on acquired intellect, on active intellect, –, , and the Alexandrian tradition of philosophy, on being, –, – biography, on the creation of the world, , definition of metaphysics, on eastern origins of Greek philosophy, – on emanation, –, , existence and essence, four human perfections, – on God’s knowledge of particulars, – on happiness, , , and human intelligence, – imagination, –, immortality, , – influence on Maimonides, logic as underpinning language, philosopher in the imperfect state, on philosophical and religious language, , –, –, , – on Plato’s style, –, , –, – as political thinker, –, –, – on prophecy, –, , on time and eternity of the world, – see also Strauss Galen, , al-Ghaz¯al¯ı argument from particularity, – attack on ibn S¯ın¯a, – attack on theology, –, on being, biography, – on causality, – as closet failas¯uf, , on creation ex nihilo, , , , –, – critical of fal¯asifa for lying, – defends the use of reason, , – on eternity and time, – on ethical voluntarism, – four uses of reason, – on God making a difference, – God’s knowledge of particulars, , , –, on immortality, , , , –, on infinite number of souls, , on possibility, –, , – proof from particularity, and Sufism, , , , Giles of Rome, Greek culture, –, – logic, glorification of, –; see also Aristotle, demonstration, dialectic as unconnected with religion, –, h.ad¯ıth (Tradition), , , , happiness, , – hidden syllogistic power, hijra, Hintikka, J., ; see also principle of plenitude Hourani, G., , , –, , – General index ibn al-‘Arab¯ı, –, , ibn B¯ajja, –, , , ibn H anbal, ibn Khald¯un, Ibn Miskawayh, , ibn Rushd and afterlife, –, – and Aristotle as exemplar, on being, biography, on causality, –, as commentator, –, , – on the creation of the world, , , – on different audiences, –, – on God’s knowledge of particulars, , and happiness, – on human knowledge, , , – on immortality, –, – on the intellect, – on miracles, opposition to mysticism, on philosophy and religion, , , on Plato and happiness, , – on Plato and style, –, – on possibility, , –, – on prophecy, on religion and philosophy, , , , on the source of the shar¯ı ‘a, – on time, –, – and two truths, , , , – see also Butterworth ibn Sab‘¯ın, Ibn S¯ın¯a on the active intellect and the soul, –, , , , , – on the afterlife, – on being, , , – biography, on causality, – on creation, , –, criticized by Averroes and al-Ghaz¯al¯ı, , , and eastern philosophy, , on ethical propositions, and God as necessary cause, , on God’s knowledge of particulars, – on God’s knowledge of the soul, on human knowledge, and ibn Rushd, – on imagination, , immortality, on matter, on necessity and possibility, –, , , on prophecy, , –, , ibn Taym¯ıyya, , ibn Tufayl, ijm¯a‘, see consensus illuminationism, – ‘ilm al-h.ud¯ur¯ı (knowledge by presence), ‘ilm al-‘irf¯an (science of mystical knowledge), ‘ilm al-tas.aww¯uf (science of mysticism), imagination and the active intellect, –, as angel, and change, and al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı, , , – and ibn S¯ın¯a, –, , – and the imaginal realm, – immortality, and material intellect, , , – and prophecy, – Incoherence of the Philosophers, , First Discussion, First Proof, – First Discussion, Second Proof, – First Discussion, Third Proof, – First Discussion, Fourth Proof, – infinity of souls, –, inner (meaning), see b¯ati.n, esotericism intellect/intelligence four kinds of in al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı, – and ibn Rushd, – and Maimonides, and prophecy, ishr¯aq (illumination) and ibn S¯ın¯a, ; see illuminationism justice, see ethics, objectivity of al-Juwayn¯ı, kal¯am and Greek philosophy, –; see also dialectic, theology and theologians khal¯ıfa, , al-Kirm¯an¯ı, Ham¯ıd al-D¯ın, – knowledge, see also ‘ilm and causality, divine, , , –, –, –, human, , , as intuition, , kufr (unbelief), language and ethics, , , law, Islamic, see shar¯ı‘a, , vs logic debate, – of the Qur’¯an, General index language (cont.) and ritual, as subordinate to logic, law, civil (nomos/namus), Lerner, R., lies, in political life, –, light, , , , , , and active intellect, – logic, , defended by al-Ghaz¯al¯ı, –, – and ibn S¯ın¯a, as instrument of language, Maimonides biography, and the celestial spheres, on creation of the world, –, , –, and al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı, – and happiness, on human knowledge, – on miracles, on philosophical style, –, – proof from particularity, – on prophecy, –, –, –, see also Strauss al-Ma’m¯un, and the bayt al-h.ikma, and the Mu‘tazila, mashsha’¯ı see Peripatetic material intellect in ibn Rushd, , –, ; see also imagination Matt¯a, Ab¯u Bishr, debate with al-S¯ır¯af¯ı, –, matter, –, , –, , , , , , , , , miracles, , , –, , and prophecy in Maimonides, , – Moses, , , –, , , Muh.ammad descendants and successors, – life, – his sayings (hadith), Mull¯a S.adr¯a, , mutakallim¯un, see theology and theologians mutawah.h.id (solitary), Mu‘tazilites basic position, – on ethics, –, , , , , , mysticism, –, and Neoplatonism ; see Sufism Myth of Er, ¯ af¯ı, , and al-Sir¯ Neoplatonism, , , , , , , occasionalism, particulars, divine knowledge of, – perfection, logic as route to, Peripatetic philosophy, , , , , Plato allegories, on creation of the world, – criticized by ibn Rushd, and al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı, on happiness, , –, on justice, – philosophical style, – and the sun, suspicion of writing, ; see also mutawah.h.id philosophy in the imperfect state, – Platonism, – Plotinus, , , proofs of God’s existence, prophecy, , –, , , and active intellect, and imagination, , , – pseudos, qiyas (analogy), ‘rationalists’, – ra’y (opinion), al-R¯az¯ı, al-Sh¯afi‘¯ı, , al-Shahrast¯an¯ı, shar¯ı‘a, , , , , , , , , , , , , Shi‘ism growth of, – shirk (idolatry), – S¯ır¯af¯ı, Ab¯u Sa‘¯ıd al-, , debate with Matt¯a, –, Socrates, death of, soul and the afterlife in ibn S¯ın¯a, –; see also active intellect Strauss, L., , , – Sufi, Sufism, , and al-Ghaz¯al¯ı, , ; see also mysticism al-Suhraward¯ı, , – on being, – Sunnism, and interpretation, schools of law, General index taq¯ıya (dissimulation), , , tas.aww¯uf, see Sufism ta’w¯ıl (interpretation), Themistius, , theology and theologians, , , , and anthropomorphism, on God’s attributes, – as kal¯am, , , , , , , , –, see also dialectic time, , and Aristotle, as independent or relative, –; see also creation of the world Tradition, see h.ad¯ıth ‘traditionalists’, – translation, , , , ‘ulam¯a ’ (religious scholars), , , union (ittih.a¯ d), Van Den Bergh, S., wah.dat al-wuj¯ud (unity of being), , wah.y (inspiration), – w¯ajib al-wuj¯ud (necessity of being), weeds (naw¯abit), wine, grounds of Islamic disapproval, Wolfson, H., wuj¯ud (being), – z ahir, , , z ak¯ at (charity), ... philosophy () and co-editor of the History of Islamic philosophy () and the History of Jewish philosophy () AN INTRODUCTION TO CLASSICAL ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY OLIVER LEAMAN ... intentionally left blank AN INTRODUCTION TO CLASSICAL ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY Islamic philosophy is a unique and fascinating form of thought, and particular interest lies in its classical (Greek-influenced)... when many of the ideas of Greek philosophy were used to explore the issues and theoretical problems which arise in trying to understand the Qur’ an and Islamic practice In this revised and expanded