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Contribution of Muslims
in the field of Science and Technology Part - 3
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Ibn
Rushd: (Averroes) - (1126—1198) - Great Philosopher
Tuesday December 07, 2010 07:15:53 PM,
Hamza Sheth
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Abu al-Walid Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn
Rushd, better known in the Latin West as Averroes or Ibn Roschd,
lived during a unique period in Western intellectual history, in
which interest in philosophy and theology was waning in the Muslim
world and just beginning to flourish in Latin Christendom. Just
fifteen years before his birth, the great critic of Islamic
philosophy, al-Ghazzali (1058-1111), had died after striking a
blow against Muslim Neoplatonic philosophy, particularly against
the work of the philosopher Ibn Sina (Avicenna).
From such bleak circumstances emerged the Spanish-Muslim
philosophers, of which the jurist and physician Ibn Rushd came to
be regarded as the final and most influential Muslim philosopher,
especially to those who inherited the tradition of Muslim
philosophy in the West.
His influential commentaries and unique interpretations on
Aristotle revived Western scholarly interest in ancient Greek
philosophy, whose works for the most part had been neglected since
the sixth century. He critically examined the alleged tension
between philosophy and religion in the Decisive Treatise, and he
challenged the anti-philosophical sentiments within the Sunni
tradition sparked by al-Ghazzali. This critique ignited a similar
re-examination within the Christian tradition, influencing a line
of scholars who would come to be identified as the “Averroists.”
Ibn Rushd contended that the claim of many Muslim theologians that
philosophers were outside the fold of Islam had no base in
scripture. His novel exegesis of seminal Quranic verses made the
case for three valid “paths” of arriving at religious truths, and
that philosophy was one if not the best of them, therefore its
study should not be prohibited.
He also challenged Asharite, Mutazilite, Sufi, and “literalist”
conceptions of God’s attributes and actions, noting the
philosophical issues that arise out of their notions of
occasionalism, divine speech, and explanations of the origin of
the world. Ibn Rushd strived to demonstrate that without engaging
religion critically and philosophically, deeper meanings of the
tradition can be lost, ultimately leading to deviant and incorrect
understandings of the divine.
Hamza Sheth is a
co-researcher at post graduation level. Department of
Pharmacology, Luqman college of Pharmacy, Gulbarga. Karnataka
state.
He blogs at
http://hamzarx.blogspot.com
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