History of Islamic Philosophy [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Preface to the First Edition

The interest of Western scholars in the
development of Islamic philosophical thought has been comparatively small. There
appear to be two reasons for this neglect: the nature of the subject matter and
the character of Western scholarship itself. The main body of Islamic thought,
in so far as it has any relevance outside the scope of Islam, belongs to a
remote past. In fact, as this book will show, Islamic philosophy is and
continues to be, even in the twentieth century, fundamentally medieval in spirit
and outlook. Consequently, from the
time of Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon until now, interest in this thought has
been cultivated in the West only in so far as it could be shown to have a direct
or indirect bearing on the development of European philosophy or Christian
theology. More recently, attempts have been made by Western scholars to break
away from this pattern and to approach Islamic philosophy as an intellectual
concern in its own right, but the fruits of these efforts remain meager compared
to the work of scholars in such cognate fields as the political, economic, and
social development of the Muslim peoples.

Second, we note the radically modern direction
that philosophy has taken in the West, from the seventeenth century on. Fresh
attempts are continually being made to formulate a coherent world view for
modern man, in which the role of ancient (Greek) and medieval (both Arabic and
Latin) thought is progressively ignored or minimized. In this way Islamic
philosophy suffers the same fate as European medieval philosophy. Furthermore,
the role that Arabic philosophy played in preserving and transmitting Greek
thought between A.D. 800 and 1200 has become much less significant for Western
scholarship since the recovery of the original Greek
texts.

It can hardly be denied that the system of ideas
by which the Muslim peoples have interpreted and continue to interpret the world
is relevant to the student of culture. Nor is the more abstract, formulation of
this system, in theology or metaphysics, devoid of, intrinsic value. For it
should be recalled that Greek philosophy, in which modern Western thought has
its origins, has played a crucial role in the formulation of Islamic philosophy,
whereas it has made almost no impact on other cultures, such as the Indian or
Chinese. This consideration alone should be sufficient to reveal the close
affinities between Islamic and Western thought.

The first important modern study in the general
field of Arabic philosophy is Amable Jourdain's Recherches critiques sur l'ge et l'origine
des traductions d'Aristote et sur Ies documents grecs ou arabes employs par Ies
docteurs scholastiques, which appeared in 1819. This book helped to
underscore the influence of Arabic philosophy on Western, particularly Latin,
scholastic thought. It was followed in 1852 by Ernest Rnan's classic study, Averros et I'averrosme, which has
since been reprinted several times. In 1859 appeared Solomon Munk's Mlanges de philosophie juive et arabe,
a general survey of Jewish-Arabic philosophy which is still of definite value.
Early in the twentieth century appeared T. J. de Boer's Geschichte der Philosophie in Islam
(1901), which was translated into English in 1903 and continues to be the best
comprehensive account of Islamic philosophy in German and English. A more
popular but still useful survey, Arabic
Thought and Its Place in History by de Lacy O'Leary, appeared in 1922. The
many surveys by Carra de Vaux, G. Quadri, and L. Gauthier are listed in the
Bibliography.

We must mention, however, three historical
narratives which appeared in very recent years. M. Cruz Hernandez, Filosofia hispano-musulmana (1957),
though primarily concerned with Spanish-Muslim philosophy, contains extensive
and valuable accounts of the major "Eastern" philosophers and schools. W.
Montgomery Watt's Islamic Philosophy and
Theology (1962), which is part of a series entitled "Islamic Surveys," is
weighted in favor of theology and therefore does not add much to our knowledge
of Islamic philosophy. Henry Corbin's Histoire de la philosophie islamique
(1964), though very valuable, does not recognize the organic character of
Islamic thought and tends to overemphasize the Shi'ite and particularly Isma'ili
element in the history of this thought. M. M. Sharif's History of Muslim Philosophy is a
symposium by a score of writers and lacks for this reason the unity of
conception and plan that should characterize a genuine historical survey.

In the field of Greco-Arab scholarship, Islamic
philosophy owes much to the studies of Richard Walzer, now available in the
one-volume Greek into Arabic (1962),
and to the critical editions of texts prepared by M. Bouyges, S.J. (d. 1951) and
Abdu'l-Rahman Badawi. Bouyges made available to scholars, in the Bibliotheca Arabica Scholasticorum, a
series of fundamental works in unsurpassed critical editions. A. R. Badawi has
edited, over a period of two decades, a vast amount of philosophical texts which
have considerably widened the scope of Arabic philosophical studies. As for the
Ishraqi tradition, Henry Corbin is a pioneer whose studies will probably acquire
greater signif1cance as the post-Averroist and Shiite element in Muslim
philosophy is more fully appreciated. Finally, the studies of L. Gardet, Mlle.
A. M. Goichon, L. Gauthier, I. Madkour, S. van den Bergh, G. C. Anawati, S.
Pines, M. Alonso. and L. Massignon are among the most important contemporary
contributions to the study of Muslim thought; these books are listed in the
Bibliography.

An argument against the attempt to write a general
history of Islamic philosophy might be based on the fact that a great deal of
the material involved must await critical editions and analysis before an
attempt can be made to assess it. I believe that this objection is valid in
principle. However, a fair amount of material is now available, either in good
editions or manuscripts, and the collation of the two should make interpretation
relatively accurate. More over, the writing of a general history that would give
scholars a comprehensive view of the whole field is a prerequisite of progress
in that field, since it is not possible otherwise to determine the areas in
which further research must be pursued or the gaps which must be
filled.

We might finally note that the writing of a
history of philosophy, as distinct from a philosophical chronicle, must involve
a considerable element of interpretation and evaluation, in addition to the bare
narrative of events, the listing of authors, or the exposition of concepts;
without such interpretation the dynamic movement of the mind, in its endeavor to
comprehend the world in a coherent manner, can scarcely be understood. In taking
this approach a writer might find it valuable to reexamine areas which others
have studied before him. In this hazardous undertaking I have naturally tried to
learn as much as possible from other scholars. However, in the exposition of
philosophical concepts or problems I have relied primarily on the writings of
the philosophers themselves. Sometimes the interpretation of philosophical or
theological doctrines has compelled me to turn to the studies of contemporary
authorities. I did not feel, however, once those doctrines had been sufficiently
clarified, that it was necessary to multiply these authorities endlessly. The
purpose of the Bibliography at the end of the book is to acquaint the interested
reader with the work of other scholars in the field and to indicate the extent
of the material used in the writing of this book.

I wish to acknowledge my debt to the many persons
and institutions that have made the publication of this work possible. In
particular, I thank the librarians at Istanbul, Oxford, the Escorial, Paris,
London, the Vatican, and the Library of Congress who have generously given their
assistance. To the Research Committee and the Arabic Studies Program of the
American University of Beirut I am particularly indebted for financing the
research and travel that I did in connection with writing large parts of this
book. To the Publications Committee of this University I am indebted for a
generous subsidy to meet the editorial costs of preparing the manuscript for
press. I also wish to thank the former Dean of the School Arts and Sciences of
the American University of Beirut, Professor Farid S. Hanania, for his
encouragement in the early stages of writing the book, and Professors Arthur
Sewell and David Curnow for their help in editing the manuscript, at least up to
Chapter Seven. And to the many unnamed scholars and colleagues, from whose
advice and criticism I have profited more than I can say, I extend a warm
expression of thanks. Finally to Georgetown University I am grateful for
assistance in the final preparation of the manuscript and the opportunity, while
engaged in teaching, to complete the last chapters of this book, and to the
staff of Columbia University Press for their courtesy and efficiency in
producing this volume.

Majid Fakhry

Preface to the Second Edition

The present edition of this History of Islamic Philosophy, which was
first published in 1970, embodies a number of changes which I hope will make
this book even more useful to the reader than the first one. A number of
corrections have been made throughout the book, the final chapter expanded
somewhat and the bibliography updated and rearranged.

An author has a moral obligation to acknowledge
his debt both to those who praise and those who criticize his work, in so far as
he can learn from both. I was particularly gratified, when this book first
appeared, by the warm reception it met in certain academic quarters and the
favorable reviews it was given by a number of distinguished scholars, some of
whom I knew personally and some I did not. On the other hand, I was not unduly
disturbed at the far fewer criticisms or denigrations.

Perhaps it is necessary to state in conclusion
that, while I am fully aware of the shortcomings of the present book, I
continue, after more than ten years of study and reflection, and despite certain
criticisms, to stick to the overall thematic and historiographical schema
originally adopted in writing it.

Majid Fakhry

NOTE ON
TRANSLATION OF ARABIC PASSAGES. Unless otherwise indicated, the translation of
Arabic excerpts is the work of the author. The system of transliteration of
Arabic terms and proper names adopted in this book is, with slight
modifications, that of the Encyclopaedia of Islam.

Introduction

Islamic philosophy is the product of a complex
intellectual process in which Syrians, Arabs, Persians, Turks, Berbers, and
others took an active part. The Arab element is so preponderant, however, that
it might be conveniently termed Arabic philosophy. The medium in which writers,
hailing from such distant countries as Khurasan and Andalusia, chose to express
their thoughts from the eighth to the seventeenth centuries was Arabic. The
racial element that provided the cohesive force in this cosmopolitan endeavor
and determined its form and direction, at least in the early stages, was Arabic;
without the Arabs' enlightened interest in ancient learning, hardly any
intellectual progress could have been made or maintained. Moreover, it was the
Arabs who, while they assimilated the customs, manners, and learning of their
subject peoples, contributed the one universal element in the whole complex of
Muslim culture, i.e., the Islamic religion.

As we proceed we shall note the role of each
racial group in the development of Islamic philosophy. We observe here that the
intellectual history of the Arabs, to whom the development of philosophy and
science in the Near East owed so much, virtually begins with the rise of Islam.
The chief cultural monuments of the Arabs, before the rise of Islam, were poetry
and literary traditions that were transmitted orally and embody a record of the
social, political, religious, and moral aspects of Arab life. However, this
record was primitive, regional, and fragmentary. Islam not only provided the
Arabs with a coherent and bold world-view, which sought to transcend the narrow
confines of their tribal existence, but thrust them almost forcibly upon the
cultural stage of the ancient world and set before them its dazzling scientific
and cultural treasures.

The pivot round which the whole of Muslim life
turns is, of course, the Qur'an. Revealed to Muhammad by God between 610 and 632
from an eternal codex (the Preserved Tablet), according to Muslim doctrine, the
Qur'an embodies the full range of principles and precepts by which the believer
should order his life. The Qur'an is supplemented, however, by a mass of
utterances attributed to Muhammad and constituting, together with circumstantial
reports of the actions and decisions of the Prophet, the general body of
Muhammadan Traditions, properly designated in Muslim usage as the Prophetic
"Way" (al-Sunnah).

Overwhelmed by the awesome sacredness of the
divine Word (kalam) and the Prophetic Way, the first generation of Muslim
scholars dedicated themselves wholly to the fixing of the sacred canon,
commenting upon it and drawing the legal or moral corollaries implicit in it.
Thus arose the sciences of reading (ilm
al-qira'at), exegesis (tafsir),
and jurisprudence (fiqh), the only
basic sciences the nascent community needed in order to assimilate or live by
the divinely revealed ordinances of the Qur'an. From these sciences, however,
there soon stemmed the whole body of subsidiary disciplines, collectively
referred to as the linguistic or traditional sciences, as distinct from the
rational or philosophical sciences.[1] Grammar, rhetoric, and the allied studies were
developed during the first two centuries of the Muslim era, chiefly as a means