CIVILIZATION STUDIES PROGRAM AUB CVSP 202 Mediaeval Islamic

CIVILIZATION STUDIES PROGRAM (AUB) CVSP 202: Mediaeval, Islamic and Renaissance Civilizations CLASSICAL ISLAMIC THOUGHT: IKHWAN AL-SAFA', AL-GHAZALI MARIO KOZAH CENTER FOR ARAB AND MIDDLE EASTERN STDS. October 8, 2019

th (13 c. ) Book of Chants Escorial Monastery Madrid

Namāra Inscription 328 AD Arabic

Namāra Inscription Old Arabic in Nabataean Script

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“The House of Wisdom” 9 th – 10 th c. Baghdad 11

The House of Wisdom • • • Yahya ibn al-Batriq (early 9 th cent. ) Hunayn Ibn Ishaq (809 -873) Al-Kindi (801 -873) Ishaq ibn Hunayn (830 -910) Thabit ibn Qurra (836 -901)

The Baghdad School of Aristotelian Philosophy • Abu Bishr Matta Ibn Yunus (870 -940) • Al-Farabi (872 -951) • Yahya ibn Adi (893 -974)

Ibn Sina/Avicenna (980 -1037) • The Book of Healing ( )ﺍﻟﺸﻔﺎﺀ • The Canon of Medicine ( )ﺍﻟﻘﺎﻧﻮﻥ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻄﺐ

Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazālī (1058 -1111) • Incoherence of the Philosophers ( ﺗﻬﺎﻓﺖ )ﺍﻟﻔﻼﺳﻔﺔ • Deliverance from Error ( )ﺍﻟﻤﻨﻘﺬ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻀﻼﻝ • Revivication of the Religious Sciences (( ﺍﺣﻴﺎﺀ ﻋﻠﻮﻡ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ

al-Ghazālī (1058 -1111)

al-Ghazālī (1058 -1111) • Rationalists = human reason (incoherent) • Theologians = dialectical reasoning (speculative/defensive) • Traditionalists = transmitted knowledge (open to error) • Legalists = legal interpretation of scripture (interpretative) • Mystics = spiritual experience in religion (certainty)

The Harūniyya, (Seljuk-Ilkhanid mausoleum in Tus, near Mashhad, Iran) where al-Ghazālī is said to be buried. (http: //archnet. org/sites/3885/media_contents/62839)

Decadence and Decline “We next observed the laxity of men's belief in the principle of prophecy and in its actuality and in conduct according to the norms elucidated by prophecy; we ascertained that this was widespread among the people. When I considered the reasons for people's laxity and weakness of faith, I found there were four: (a) a reason connected with those who engage in Philosophy; (b) a reason connected with those who engage in the mystic way; (c) a reason connected with those who profess the doctrine of ta'līm; (d) a reason based on the practice of those who are popularly described as having knowledge. ” (al-Ghazali, al-munqidh - trans. by W. M. Watt)

Crisis “For nearly six months beginning with Rajab 488 A. H. (=July 1095 A. D. ), I was continuously tossed about between the attractions of worldly desires and the impulses towards eternal life. In that month the matter ceased to be one of choice and became one of compulsion. God caused my tongue to dry up so that I was prevented from lecturing. One particular day I would make all effort to lecture in order to gratify the hearts of lily following, but my tongue would not utter a single word nor could I accomplish anything at all. ” (al-Ghazali, al-munqidh - trans. by W. M. Watt)

The Balance “For those who profess perplexity as a result of what they have heard from the party of ta'līm, the treatment is that prescribed in our book, The Just Balance. (al-Qisṭās al-mustaqīm), and we shall not lengthen this essay by repeating it. ” (al-Ghazali, al-munqidh trans. by W. M. Watt)

Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ wa Khullān al-Wafāʾ wa Ahl al. Hamd Loyal Friends, People of Praise, and Sons of Glory)

Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ, Epistle 22: The Case of the Animals Versus Man before the King of the Jinn

“These cattle, beasts of prey and wild creatures – all animals in fact – are our slaves. We are their masters. Some have rebelled and escaped. Others obey grudgingly and scorn our service” The King replied, “What proof or evidence have you to back up your claims? ” “Your Majesty, ” said the human, “we have both traditional religious arguments and rational proofs of our position. ” “Very well, ” said the King, “lets us hear them. ” (Ikhwān, Epistle 22: The Case of the Animals vs. Man before the King of the Jinn, p. 103)

“Finally arose a learned, accomplished, worthy, keen, pious, and insightful man. He was Persian by breeding, Arabian by faith, a ḥanīf by confession, Iraqi in culture, Hebrew in lore, Christian in manner, Damascene in devotion, Greek in science, Indian in discernment, Sufi in intimation, regal in character, masterful in thought, and divine in awareness. ” (Ikhwān, Epistle 22: The Case of the Animals vs. Man before the King of the Jinn, p. 313)

“‘Yes, just Majesty and assembled hosts’, he began. ‘These saints of God are the flower of creation, the best, the purest, persons of fair and praiseworthy parts, pious deeds, myriad sciences, godly awareness, regal character, just and holy lives, and awesome ways. Fluent tongues weary to name their qualities, and no one has adequately described their inmost core. Many have cited their virtues, and preachers in public assemblies have devoted their lives down through the ages to sermons dilating on their merits and their godly ways, without ever reaching the pith of the matter. ” (Ikhwān, Epistle 22: The Case of the Animals vs. Man before the King of the Jinn, p. 314)