ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY BY NASR PART IV/THE PHILOSOPHERS

Continued from PART III

 

COMMENTS ON ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY BY NASR
PART IV

THE PHILOSOPHERS OF ISLAM (1)

 Early Peripatetic/Independent/Ismaili

 

Treading a fine line between theology, kalaam, with its emphasis on protecting the citadel of faith on one side, and seeking the inner meaning of revelation through ma’arifat in Sufism on the other side, Islamic philosophy followed its own path, constantly interacting with these two dominant forces.

Over the centuries we see all the various combinations. Some philosophers were opposed to kalaam and impervious to Sufism. Later, especially in the last seven centuries, there was much of the overlap due to the teachings of Ibn Arabi, who is the most influential intellectual figure in that time.

 

EARLY PERIPATETIC PHILOSOPHERS, MASHSHA’I

Kindi, Farabi and Sina

It is synthesis of Islamic revelation, Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism.

Kindi. Baghdadi. 3rh Hijri. First devout Muslim well versed in Greek philosophy. His main emphasis was on discovery of Truth, wherever one can find it, even from older generations and foreign people. “For him who seeks truth, there is nothing of higher value than truth itself”. He was deeply interested in relationship between faith and reason.

Farabi.4^th Hijri. From Khurasan. A musician, logician, metaphysist and political thinker, he formulated mashshai in the form it was to take in later Islamic history. His music still reverberates in Sufi music in India and Anatolia.

He sought to harmonize the idea of philosopher-king of Plato with the idea of prophet in monotheistic traditions. He is considered the prime authority on practical philosophy and ethics in Islam. From spiritual aspect, his work is the first important synthesis between speculative philosophy and gnosis, Ifran, in Islam.

 

Bu Ali Sina born in late 4^th hijri, in Bukhara. He is the greatest and most influential Islamic philosopher. His book on medicine is the most celebrated single work in the history of medicine. He is basically philosopher of being. Towards the end, he criticized some of his earlier work as common philosophy and put more emphasis on hikmat al mashraqia, Oriental philosophy, for the intellectual elite. It paves the way for the later Ishraqi school, (mentioned later).

 

Sina’s ontology:

To distinguish Pure Being from Existence of the world he introduced the three possibilities, of Necessity, Contingency and Impossibility. (wujub, imkan, imtima) mentioned earlier . This key distinction is one of the most fundamental in the history of philosophy. It influenced deeply later Islamic philosophy, and traveled to West and became one of the key concepts. This distinction is related to the basic concepts of Existence and Quiddity (wujud and mahiyya) mentioned earlier.

Sina’s cosmology:

Humans are in the domain of the Tenth Intellect. The Necessary Being is in the center. Its contemplation of itself generates the First Intellect. This First Intellect is contingent upon the Necessary Being. This realization by the First Intellect generates the Second Intellect, the Soul of First Sphere and the First Sphere. This process continues in this manner until the Tenth Intellect, and the Ninth Sphere and its Soul is generated. This Ninth Sphere is the sphere of Moon in accordance of nine heavens of Ptolemaic astronomy as modified by Muslim astronomers. The sublunar region is also organized in a hierarchal manner consisting of three kingdoms crowned by man, who represents the point of return to the Origin. By means of Knowledge, he can ascend through the levels of cosmic manifestations to gain union with the Active Intellect. Aql al fa’al.

Thus, the universe is generated through contemplation and returns to its origin through knowledge.

World is NOT created in time, as the time is a condition of the world. It is not eternal as eternity is an attribute to God. However, there is basic distinction between world and God.

God is the Necessary Being and is in need of nothing but Itself and all existents are contingent in themselves, gain their existence from the Necessary Being and remain in utter existential poverty in themselves.

Some Independent Philosophers:

Their fate and the fate of their works tell us that anti-prophetic thought could not flourish the climate where prophecy remained a central reality.

 

Al Warq 3^rd hijra lived in Baghdad. Originally a Mu’tazila, later left and was accused of heresy, Manicheanism, dualism and even atheism. Some claimed he harbored Shiite thought. None of his original works, more than eighty, exist anymore. He was accused of rejecting religion based on Oneness of God.

 

Ibn Rawandi. A student of Al Warq who later turned against him, was also initially a Mu’tazila. He became destitute and lived in poverty, and lost faith in God’s justice and religion. He rejected prophecy in his book Kitabe Zumurd.

 

Ibn Zakaria Razi (Latin Razzes). Early 4^th Hijra. One of the greatest names in Medicine, both East and West. Because of his empiric views, he rejected tawil and hermeneutic interpretations. Expanding on these thoughts, he basically changed alchemy to chemistry, a science based on facts and reason and not on prophecy.

He denied the necessity of prophecy and believed God given guidance to everyone. He wrote a work on the ‘tricks’ of the prophets. He considered himself independent thinker. His views were drawn from Greek, Persian and Indian sources.

His five pre-eternal principles are very similar to Nyaya Vaiseska school of Hindu philosophy.  They are God (basically Demiurge), Soul, matter, space and time. This was against both traditional Islamic theology and philosophy.

He believed in atomism but different than atomism of Mu’tazila and Asharite. He believed atoms had dimensions but were physically indivisible, and that God and Soul are not atoms.

His views were closer to certain Epicurean theses in contrast to nearly all other Islamic philosophers.

Much of his philosophical works did not survive.

Al Biruni.

He was an independent philosopher but not independent of prophecy. He is perhaps the greatest Muslim scientist cum scholar. He admired Razi but refuted his anti-prophetic philosophy. He wrote of his work on Sina and had written extensive book on Hinduism.

 

Ismaili Philosophers

Much before Al Kindi the first philosophical tradition is seen in Shiite schools. It dealt with relationship of prophecy and philosophy on different lines than peripatetic philosophy. There was emphasis on the inner truth of religion, haqiqat.

There is a record of conversation between Imam Baqir 2^nd Hijri and his three disciples. There is esoteric science of letters. Ilm al jafr, which expounds a cosmology based on number 5, reminiscent of Manichaean cosmology

Later Ismaili philosophers in the 4^th hijri onwards developed their own works and philosophical traditions in Fatimid time. Later it continued to flourish in Persia and Yemen. Hasan al Sabbah declared Grand Resurrection in the mountain fortress of Alamut in 6^th Hijri. Later Ismailism and Sufism came together. Two big names in Persian masnavi, Sanai and Fariduddin Attar (Conference of Birds) are claimed by Ismailis as their own.

In Yemen the tradition continued and in 9^th Hijri culminated in the works of Idris Imamuddin. This tradition finally found its home in Indian Agha Khan tradition.

 

Hermetic Influence. Many Ismailis and other Shiite, and some non-Shiite philosophers were inspired by Hermetic influence. (As mentioned earlier, many identified Hermes with prophet Idrees). They include Jabir Bin Hayyan, the father of Islamic Alchemy. Hermetic themes are seen in works of Ibn Arabi also.

Neo-Pytharogan influence. The concern with symbolism of numbers is seen in early Shiite and Sufi circles. The metaphysics is a bit different than that of Sina. It is not based on Being, but on the Supreme Originator Al mubdi.  Being is the first act of al Mubdi, kun fa ya koon.  The first Being is the word of God. Kalaam Allah.

The cosmology is a bit different from Sina. Humans are in the Tenth Intellect, but were originally in the Third Intellect. So, they were thrown down seven (an important number in Ismaili tradition) levels and now the man has to ascent these Seven levels to reach its destiny.

Ismailis also have a cyclic view of history dominated by number 7. There are esoteric hermeneutics Taweel of everything. There is an external and internal (Zahiri, batini) aspect of everything. In the domain of religion, the external is the Prophet and internal is the Imam. The journey is from external to internal. In this aspect philosophy becomes synonymous with truth, haqiqat.

NEXT: ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY IN MAGHREB