The Study of Islamic Philosophy [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

If, however, we should go so far as to label the use
and join the chorus sung by the likes of Renan who claims that Islamic
philosophy is nothing other than a replica of Aristotelian philosophy, or
of some others who say that it is an exact copy of NeoPlatonic
philosophy, we would be completely mistaken.[15] The truth of the matter
is that Islamic philosophy has been influenced by a number of factors, the
result of which was birth of new ideas and views. Just as it has been
influenced by Greek thought, it has also been influenced by the Indian and
Persian cultural traditions.

The exchange and adoption of ideas do not always imply
blind obedience. Several individuals may examine a particular topic and
the result of their investigations may appear in a number of forms. A
philosopher may utilize some of the ideas of another philosopher but this
does not prevent him from giving birth to new ideas or to wholly new
philosophical systems. Spinoza, for example, even though clearly followed
Descartes, was the originator of an independent philosophical system of
his own, and Ibn Sina, even though a loyal disciple of Aristotle, put
forth views never professed by his master.

Each of the Islamic philosophers lived in a particular
environment distinct from the environment of the other, and it would be a
mistake if we ignore the influence that these particular circumstances
have had on their philosophical ideas and views. Thus the Muslim world
could have a philosophy appropriate to its social conditions and religious
principles. As to what the nature of this philosophy is, only an extensive
discussion and analysis of its main ideas and principles could provide us
with the answer.

(d) Islamic Philosophy and Modern
Philosophy:

It is not possible for us to adequately discuss the
relationship of Islamic philosophy with modern philosophy in this article
and speak of the chain of ideas that relate these two together. This is
specially true since repeated attempts have been made during the middle of
the present century to discover the principles of modern philosophy and
their roots in Christian Scholasticism.

Today, when we are aware, of the relationship between
modern and medieval philosophy, on the one hand, and the influence of
Islamic philosophy on European medieval thought on the other, how is it
possible to ignore the influence that Islamic thought has had on modern
philosophy? In this study we shall discuss some examples of this influence
and relation. As we shall prove, the similarity between Islamic philosophy
and modern philosophy is so strong that one may speak of the existence of
a kind of kinship between them.

Without going into details we can say that the history
of modern philosophy originates with the consideration of two important
issues: firstly, the significance of the experimental aspect, which deals
with matters related to external reality; secondly speculation, which is
concerned with the rational sciences. In other words, the experience of
Bacon on the one hand and the doubt of Descartes on the other, have been
the subjects of discussion and controversy in the modern age.

Moreover, it has been pointed out before that Christian
Scholastic thinkers and the Renaissance philosophers engaged in
experimentation and paid attention to the world of nature a long time
before Bacon. Roger Bacon, whom Renan calls "the real prince of thought
during the middle ages" did not limit himself to carrying out chemical
experiments but widened the scope of his experiments to include the world
of nature.

Now if it can be shown that he had contact with the
works of Islamic scientists, we can conclude that his experimental
approach, or rather the origin of experimentation during the Renaissance,
were both products of Islamic thought and Muslim thinkers, because they
were the ones who used observatories and laboratories in order to discover
scientific truths.

As for the Cartesian doubt, there is evidence that it
had some precedence during the Christian Middle Ages and we believe that
any study of the origin of Cartesian doubt will remain defective without
any attempt to discover it in Islamic philosophy. Who can say that the
doubt of Descartes is not wholly or partially influenced by the doubt of
Al-Ghazzali? Even if we set aside the question of influence, the two
philosophers are still found to think in parallel and similar terms.
Elsewhere in our discussions we have shown that Descartes' "cogito" is not
entirely inspired by St. Augestine and that there is much similarity
between it and Ibn Sina's idea of "man suspended in spaced."[16]

In short, since Christian and Jewish
Scholasticism-which is closely related to the Islamic world-is the link
connecting Islamic philosophy to modern philosophical speculation, the
probability of transfer and exchange of ideas cannot be denied.

Indeed it would amount to hasty generalization if,
without having first properly investigated and studied the issue, we were
to say that there have been no connections between the East and the West
in regard to the world of thought and philosophic and rational
speculation. It has been proven today that an exchange dating back to the
ancient times did exist and it was renewed during the middle ages. What is
there then to stop such a connection from existing today? Ideas and
opinions cannot be imprisoned in limited geographical boundaries, their
movement cannot be restricted. What was once referred to as the secret of
the atom, is common scientific knowledge today in all parts of the world.

Viewpoints of Islamic Philosophy

We cannot find any example of a full and complete study
of Islamic philosophy either in the East or in the West before the middle
of the nineteenth century. This is so because whenever the Western scholar
turned his attention to the study of matters relating to the East, it was
mostly with the economic or political aspects that he was concerned, not
with the cultural aspect. If we encounter any instances of such cultural
studies in the eighteenth century or the early part of the nineteenth
century, it is mostly based on Latin sources. As for the Easterners, they
were so lost in economic and political difficulties during this period
that they had no interest in keepimg alive their ancient culture or
revitalizing their Islamic heritage.

(a) The Movement of Orientalism:

In the second half of the nineteenth century the
European Orientalists became interested m Islamic subjects and became
vanguards of a movement that rapidly developed and reached its zenith
during the first quarter of the twentieth century. Some of these European
scholars even travailed to the East and studied in its schools in order to
better understand the spiritual and intellectual life of the Orient.
Europe and America competed with each other in the publication of Islamic
culture. Schools where Oriental languages were taught, and colleges where
Islamic subjects were studied were established in Paris, Rome, London, and
Berlin. Scholarly and historical societies were formed for the sole
purpose of investigating and examining the various aspects of Islamic
civilization.

Periodically, seminars were held by Orientalists, where
valuable presentations and discussions occured. At the same time, learned
and scholarly journals and publications were devoted to the study of
Oriental subjects. These debates, discussions and exchanges of views,
caused the cloud of ignorance and confusion to be scattered and the facts
of the matter to be more cleady perceived.

This Orientalist movement had welcome results. Texts
unknown up to the time were discovered. Precious manuscripts of texts were
published. The new techniques of publication of books accompanied with
notes and indices came into widespread usage, and a number of the most
important works in the libraries of the Muslim world were translated into
living European languages such as Italian, French, English and Gemman. The
publishing of such translated works in turn stimulated interest and
discussion in various aspects of Islamic civilization such as politics,
economics, history, literature, Quranic interpretation and exegesis,
science and philosophy all of which received brief treatment in articles
published in scholarly journals and were dealt with extensively in books.

Research and study increased in proportion to the level
of knowledge and information that became available. Scholars and
investigators fell into the habit of spending years in scholarly research
in order to clarify hidden or poorly understood points. Such intensive
researches led various groups of scholars to specialize in different
aspects of the Islamic civilization. Some became experts in the Arabic
language and Islamic literature while others became specialists in Islamic
theology and jurisprudence.

Still a third group concentrated on Muslim mysticism,
while a fourth group delved deep into the field of Islamic science and
philosophy. The fruit of this expansion and specialization in the field of
Islamic studies was the Encyclopedia of Islam which was published in
French, German and English languages. This book is itself the clear proof
of the extensive knowledge of Islam gathered by the Orientalists and their
intense interest in Islamic culture and civilization. The Encyclopedia of
Islam is indeed a rich and important source of information indispensable
for every researcher of Islamic subjects.

The East was also influenced by the work of the Western
Orientalists. The scholars of the East adopted many of their views,
translated many of their texts, and following the path paved by them,
became their partners in reviving the glory and brilliance of Eastern
culture They also finished what had been left incomplete by the Western
Orientalists or filled in gaps left in their treatment of various
subjects. These contributions, although small in each instance, were
spread over a wide range, so that none of the aspects of Islamic culture
were ignored. Still what has been done is only the beginning of an effort
that must grow and expand.

(b) The Orientalists And
Philosophy:

Philosophy was not left out of the general trend
described above. Texts written by Muslim philosophers, which had remained
in their original manuscript form, were published and the original Arabic
versions were compared with the Hebrew and Latin translations of them
which were extant. The study of their notes and commentaries helped a
great deal in solving any problems which may have existed in regard to
their meaning. Without the efforts of the Orientalists, these books would
have remained in some corner of a library, unread, gathering dust. And if
it were not for the fact that they understood a number of ancient and
modern languages and possessed a correct methodology, the works published
by them would not have been characterized by such care and authenticity.

The work of the European Orientalists was not limited
to the printing and publication of books; they tried to discover and
explore the whole horizon of intellectual life in Islam and to write about
it. For instance, they wrote about the history of Islamic philosophy and
philosophers, theology and the theologians, Sufism and the Sufies and
described the various sects and schools of thought found in Islam.
Sometimes they investigated the life, opinions and views of one
individual. At other times they wrote books about scientific terms and
definitions, so that their names were inseparably linked with the subject
of their specialization. Who, for example, on hearing the name of
Nicholson is not reminded of tasawwuf?

It would be outside of the scope of this work to
mention all the Orientalists alongside the subjects of their
specialization which made them famous. It would suffice to say that
Orientalism possessed a unique vigour and vitality during the first
quarter of the present century which also included the study and
investigation of speculative subjects. In spite of all this, the history
of Islamic philosophy and the views of its most eminent thinkers are as
yet insufficiently understood and it is the missing link in the chain of
human intellectual history. We still do not know exactly how this
philosophy came into existence, what was the manner of its development,
what factors caused its flourishing and flowering, and what were the
causes of its decay.

Nor has the work of the Islamic philosophers ever been
scrutinized one by one so as to show how much each one of them borrowed or
inherited from his predecessors and how much of his philosophy was the
result of his own original thought. The sad truth of the matter is that
the shining stars of Islamic philosophy are strangers in their own lands
and to their own people. What better proof of this than the fact that many
of us Easterners know more about Rousseau and Spencer than about AlKindi
and AlFarabi? And if God had not so decreed that a group of Orientalists
should make a study of them, today we would have known nothing useful
about these great figures.

The work of the Orientalists, however, is too limited
in scope to adequately deal with a subject such as Islamic philosophy.
Moreover, in some cases they contain either literal or technical errors,
or are deficient in some other manner. Sometimes these studies are so
brief that it is not possible to fathom the intent of their writers.
Perhaps the cause of all these difficulties is that some of the scholars
who have investigated Islamic philosophy do not understand the Arabic
language sufficiently and have not mastered the history of Islamic
culture.

Others, not lacking in any of the aforementioned
aspects are completely ignorant of the history of Islamic philosophy.
There are, of course, brilliant exceptions to this general weakness. Two
examples of such beautiful and informative works are Van den Bergh's
translation of the Metaphysics of Ibn Rushd, and De Boer's History of
Islamic Philosophy. One cannot reall Van den Bergh's book and not feel
that he is reading a philosopher commenting on philosophy.[16] And one
cannot reall De Boer's book without wishing that he had made it a much
larger work.[17]

Of course, much time has passed since the publication
of the books mentioned above and the other works by the Orientalists. They
are thus in need of revision, and the conclusions reached in them must be
reexamined in the light of the far greater knowledge of Islamic thought
now available. This is especially true since the more access we have
attained to the original manuscripts, the greater was the rapidity by
which our problems have been solved and our mistakes corrected.

Although the history of the efforts to gather the
inheritance of Islamic tradition and attempts to revitalize the Islamic
civilization date back only to the beginning of the twentieth century, a
great deal of progress has been made and much material has been made
available to the researcher. Nevertheless, the need for new analysis and
discussion based on the study of these newly available facts and source
material is absolutely undeniable.

(c) The Road Ahead:

We must continue on the path that we have been
following until now and fully discover this hidden link in the chain of
human intellectual history, and put it in its proper place. Up to now, the
Orientalists have made important contributions and have made great efforts
to accomplish this task. It is our duty to try to overtake them; and if we
are unable to do this, at least we should keep pace with them. It is not
enough for us to make a thinker or an inventor famous by mentioning his
ideas or his inventions, we must make an effort to revive his works. All
the nations of the world are in a race with one another in trying to
publish the works of their scientists and thinkers.

The field of our study is vast and there are
innumerable opportunities for research. Our first duty is to gather and
publish the writings of the philosophers of Islam; works which have
remained as manuscripts until this day, or have been published in an
unsatisfactory form. I say this because as long as we have not studied the
works of our philosophers and scientists in the language in which they
were originally written, we cannot understand the essence and the core of
their teachings.

When we found out that treatises written by AlKindi
are to be found in the libraries of the city of Istanbul, or that
manuscripts of the works of AlFarabi are scattered among libraries of
London, Paris, and Escorial,[18] or that from the famous work of Ibn Sina,
Shifa', the publisher has printed only the first volume, Logic,[19] then
we realized the importance and necessity of gathering the texts of our
philosophers and publishing them. It is unnecessary to mention the fact
that Ibn Rushd is better known in the Latin world than he is in the Muslim
world, and that some American Orientalists have been publishing his
writings for some time now.