Sample

INTRODUCTION

As the wheel of mankind‘s history has turned, Islamic philosophy has proved both itself and its capacity to react positively to other cultures. Amongst the works of the Muslim philosophers may be found not only Islamic dogmas such as those of the Mutazilites and the Asharites, but also influence of other philosophies, particularly that of the Greeks, as with Alfarabi and Averroes. Thus, Arabic Islamic civilisation throughout the Middle Ages was built not only upon religion but also upon science, knowledge and the human intellect. That Islamic philosophy existed is indisputable but some historians and researchers have disagreed about its proper name. Should it be called Arabic philosophy or Islamic philosophy? The term Arabic philosophy is not strictly correct, since some of the philosophers of whom we are speaking were non-Arabs, but most Islamic philosophers, whatever their racial origin, wrote in Arabic. So which term is right? I believe both are. Algazel, for instance, was a Muslim Persian. His philosophical and religious works were, however, written entirely in Arabic. This language thus suffused both his mind and his culture, so we may properly call him Arabic. This point is supported by the words of the Prophet Mohammed, who said, “Arabic is not by father or mother, but by language.‘. Algazel was a Persian, and his own people had thus the right to include him among their philosophers; he was also, however, a Muslim, and therefore the whole nation of Islam had equally the right to include him amongst its philosophers. Since Islam is not particular to one people, belonging rather to all the world‘s people, I am inclined to prefer the term Islamic philosophy.

View Synopsis View Reviews View Information Purchase Options