Islamic World in Writings of Ibn Rushd - Essay Example

Title: Your name: Institution name: Content Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………..pg.3 Works…………………………………………………………………………………………pg.4 Religion……………………………………………………………………………………….pg.6 Fiqh/Jurisprudence…………………………………………………………………………….pg.7 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….pg9 References…………………………………………………………………………………….pg.10 Introduction ʾAbū l-Walīd Muḥammad bin ʾAḥmad bin Rušd better known as Ibn Rushd, and in other literature as Averroes. Ibn Rushd was an Andalusian Muslim polumath; a master of Islamic philosphhy, Aristotelian philosophy, Islamic theology, Maliki law and Jurisprudence, psychology, logic, politics, Arabic music theory, astronomy, geography, physics, mathematics and celestial mechanics. lbn Rushd was bone in Cordoba, Al Andalus, modern-day Spain, and died in Marrakech, modern-day Morocco. Ibn Rushd School of philosophy is known as Averroism. In his times Ibn Rushd was a defender against claims from Islamic theologians who feared the teaching of Ibn Rushd will influence the teachings of Islam as a religion (Gaudiosi 1988). fig1: Ibd Rushd Ibn Rushd was educated in a traditional way, he began his studies in linguistics, hadith, scholastic theology and jurisprudence. Throughout his life, Ibn Rushd wrote many books on attributes of God, Philosophy and Religion, Metaphysics, origin of the universe and Psychology. It is believed he was once a student of Avempace (Ibn Bajjah). He received his medical education from Abu Jafar ibn Harun of Trujillo in Seville (Gaudiosi 1988). Ibd Rushd started his career with the help of Aben Tofail (Ibn Tufal) who was the author of Hayy ibn Yaqdhan and philosophic vizier of Jafar ibn Harun of Trujillo in Seville. Still it was Ibn Tufail who introduced Ibn Rushd to the court, while Ibn Zuhr introduced him to medicine. Later in his years Ibn Rushd said his writings were inspired and influenced by Ibn Tufail. In 1160, Ibn Rushd was made a judge (Qadi) of Seville, and he served in many courts in as a judge in Seville, Morocco and Cordoba during his career (Gaudiosi 1988). Fig 2: Ibd Rushd the thnker Works Ibd Rushd various works were spread over 20,000 pages which covers many different subjects, and this included logic in Islamic philosophy, early Islamic philosophy, Arabic medicine, Arabic astronomy, Arabic mathematics, Arabic grammar, Sharia law (Islamic law and Figh (Islamic jurisprudence). But his most important works dealt with Fiqh, Islamic philosophy and medicine. Ibn Rushd wrote at least 67 original books, which included 20 works on medicine, 28 works on philosophy, 5 on theology, 8 on law and r on grammar. And this was in addition to his commentaries on most of Plato’s The Republic and his commentary on Aristotle’s works. Fig 3: Picture of Athens (thinker) According to many history books, Ibd Rushd commented on many works of Aristotle. These comments were not based on primary sources but rather on Arabic translations. His comments were made up of three levels namely: the Talkhis, the Jami and the Tafsir. Ibd Rushd is well known for interpreting Aristotelian thoughts in a Muslim context. Ibd Rushd did not have any access to Aristotle’s works, but as a substitute for this he was able to comment on Plato’s The Republic works, arguing that the ideal state that was being described in Plato’s works was the same as the original constitution o the Caliphates who ruled most of Arabs world, as well as the Almohad state if Ibn Tumart. Ibd Rushd most original philosophical work was Tahafut al-tahafut (the incoherence of the Incoherence), in this work he wrote defending Aristotelian philosophy works which was being criticized by Al-Ghazali’s. According to Al-Ghazali’s he argued that Aristotelianism works, especially that of Avicenna, was an affront to the teachings of Islamic doctrine and was self-contradictory (Potz 2011). Ibd Rushd’s refutation was two-pronged: he argued that al-Ghazali’s was aiming at the wrong target since the system of Avicenna was a distortions of genuine Aristotelianism and that, Al-Ghazali’s argument were therefore mistaken. Other works which were written Kitab al-Kashf which argued against the proofs of Islam as a religion advanced by the Ash’arite school and discussed what proofs, on the popular levels, should be used instead. And Fasl al-Maqal, it argued for the legality of philosophical investigation under Islamic law (Potz 2011). Religion Fig 4: Religious Leader For Ibd Rushd, he said there is no conflict between philosophy and religion. He argued that rather the two disciplines were just two different ways of reaching the same truth (Potz 2011). According to his argument, there were two kinds of knowledge about the truth: knowledge of truth from philosophy- he said this was the real truth but was reserved for few people who had the intellectual capacity to understand the study of philosophy. And truth from religion- this truth was based on faith and untestable. Ibd Rushd was seen as bold enough to claim the superiority of philosophy and reason over knowledge founded on faith and faith itself, and that which is emphasized on the independent use of reasoning, and the idea that the religious and philosophical worlds or identities were two separate entities. Ibd Rushd believed in an eternal universe, and that the soul of a human being was divided into two parts: a divine part which is shared by all and is eternal and individual part (Potz 2011). Fiqh/Jurisprudence Fig 4: Judge For many years, Ibn Rushd has been widely known scholar for his writings on jurisprudence or figh. There are four ‘schools’ of systems of legal thought, in Islamic world (Levy 1957). The western part of Muslim was dominated by the Maliki madhhab. Ibn Rushd was ranked among the most important Maliki scholars. Ibd Rushd devoted himself to broad subjects in intellectual: the movement of the stars, the workings of the human body, the relationship of reason to religion, and the logic of the law (Levy 1957). Ibd Rushd came from a family which was devoted on the law. He also devoted himself to the law. Because his grandfather was a major figure in Maliki thought; it has been known that many of careless readers about Ibd Rushd have confused the two names (Rushd name and that of his grandfather) since both served as judge or qadi in Cordoba, both had the same names, and Ibd Rushd was born the year his grandfather died. In addition, Ibd Rushd’s father was also a judge, since Ibd Rushd heard cases in Cordoba and Seville being ruled by his own father, jurisprudence or qadi was not just an academic matter but a family profession or métier. Ibd Rushd primary work in law or figh was his production of Bidayat al-Mujtahid wa Nihayat al-Muqtasid, this work was out of his own account and took him 20 years to produce the book (Levy 1957). The book was specifically intended to be used by the learned peers and not the layman. In this book, Ibd Rushd went beyond quoting the Maliki positions on various legal questions. In each legal area, the book tackled the areas that agreed among the madhhabs, then the book discussed areas that were in agreement, then the book finally discussed the reasons why these differences were brought about (Levy 1957). What emerged in al-Mujtahid wa Nihayat al-Muqtasid was a detailed exposition of the principles that are found in Islamic law, and how they can be used in each school of figh or jurisprudence, and the applications of these principles in the daily lives of a Muslim faithful (Levy 1957). According to Ibn Rushd demonstration of the difference that is found in each school’s of law was a distinctive intellectual one. Although these schools differ in other aspects of the law, the Hanbali madhhabs and Shafi’i were found to base on their judiciary rulings on the hadith, even if this means relying on uncorroborated (isolated) report of the Prophet’s behavior. In such cases the Hanafis preferred whatever solution is judged most appropriate to the situations, in other words they uphold istihsan. According to Ibd Rushd, he found that Malikis based their judgements on the early Muslim community in Madinah. The Malikis argued that those Muslims who observed first-hand the deeds and teaching of Prophet Muhammad would not deviate from the prophet examples (Doi and Clarke 2008). Ibd Rushd also found that Bidayat al-Mujtahid made frequent references Dhahir school, they only accepted the most literal interpretation of the hadith and Quran. This madhhab had a strong presence in al-Andalus, but the school's rigidity ultimately led to its extinction (Doi and Clarke 2008). “Ibd Rush ultimate purpose in the law was involving the interpretation of the source materials, inference of rules from them, or giving a legal verdict or decision on any issue on which there is no specific guidance in the Qur'an and the sunnah, the example-of the Prophet (Doi and Clarke 2008). Conclusion From this paper we found that Averroes (Ibn Rushd) was an Islamic man. Many examples can be found from his different writings. For example, Ibn Rushd said anyone who studies anatomy or law will increase his faith in the oneness and omnipotence of God. In his other works we see depth of his knowledge and faith of the Prophetic traditions and the Quran, which he often quotes to support his argument in different matters. The events surrounding Ibn Rush towards the end of his life signaled a broader cultural shift in the Islamic world. Many works of Ibd Rushd found new intellectual vigor and existence in the work of Jewish and Christian philosophers. While, a group of philosophers in many part of the world came to associate with the philosophy that was presented by Ibn Rushd, particularly some elements that are associated with religion. However, among the Jewish thinkers, Ibn Rushd had a more positive impact, His thoughts on the relationship between religion and philosophy, particularly revelations inspired them. References Doi, Abd ar-Rahman I., and Clarke, Abdassamad (2008). Shari'ah: Islamic Law. Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd. Gaudiosi (April 1988). "The Influence of the Islamic Law of Waqf on the Development of the Trust in England_ The Case of Merton College". University of Pennsylvania Law Review (The University of Pennsylvania Law Review) 136 (4): 1231–1261. Levy, Reuben (1957). The Social Structure of Islam. UK: Cambridge University Press. Makdisi, John A. (June 1999). "The Islamic Origins of the Common Law". North Carolina Law Review 77 (5): 1635–1739. Potz, Richard: Islamic Law and the Transfer of European Law, European History Online, Mainz: Institute of European History, 2011, retrieved: November 28, 2011. Read More