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Faith and Reason in Islam: Averroes' Exposition of Religious Arguments
The first translation available in English of a key work by the twelfth-century Muslim philosopher Averroes, which reveals his controversial views about reason, religion, and humankind's relationship with God. Suitable both for scholars and interested readers, this unique text proves that today's disputes between religion, reason, and science are far from a new phenomenon.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 25, 2001
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574 people want to read
About the author
ibn Rushd
198Ìýbooks257ÌýfollowersArabic version: ابن رشد
Commentaries of well known Arab philosopher, jurist, and physician ´¡±¹±ð°ù°ù´Çë²õ or ´¡±¹±ð°ù°ù³ó´Çë²õ, also ibn Rushd, of Spain on Aristotle exerted a strong influence on medieval Christian theology.
Abu'l-Walid Ibn Rushd, better as Averroes, stands as a towering figure in the history of Islamic as that of west European thought. In the Islamic world, he played a decisive role in the defense of Greeks against the onslaughts of the Ash'arite (Mutakallimun), led by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, and in the rehabilitation.
A common theme throughout his writings properly understood religion with no incompatibility. His contributions took many forms, ranging from his detailed, his defense against the attacks of those who condemned it as contrary to Islam and his construction of a form, cleansed as far as possible at the time of Neoplatonism.
After centuries of nearly total oblivion in west Europe, world recognition as early as the 13th century contributed to the rediscovery of the master. That instrumental discovery launched Scholasticism in Latin and the Renaissance of the 15th-century Europe in due course. Since the publication of [title:Averroes et l'averroisme] of Ernest Renan in 1852, notwithstanding very little attention to work of Averroes in English, French showed greater interest.
See more .
Commentaries of well known Arab philosopher, jurist, and physician ´¡±¹±ð°ù°ù´Çë²õ or ´¡±¹±ð°ù°ù³ó´Çë²õ, also ibn Rushd, of Spain on Aristotle exerted a strong influence on medieval Christian theology.
Abu'l-Walid Ibn Rushd, better as Averroes, stands as a towering figure in the history of Islamic as that of west European thought. In the Islamic world, he played a decisive role in the defense of Greeks against the onslaughts of the Ash'arite (Mutakallimun), led by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, and in the rehabilitation.
A common theme throughout his writings properly understood religion with no incompatibility. His contributions took many forms, ranging from his detailed, his defense against the attacks of those who condemned it as contrary to Islam and his construction of a form, cleansed as far as possible at the time of Neoplatonism.
After centuries of nearly total oblivion in west Europe, world recognition as early as the 13th century contributed to the rediscovery of the master. That instrumental discovery launched Scholasticism in Latin and the Renaissance of the 15th-century Europe in due course. Since the publication of [title:Averroes et l'averroisme] of Ernest Renan in 1852, notwithstanding very little attention to work of Averroes in English, French showed greater interest.
See more .
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 7, 2012
In Faith and Reason in Islam, Averroes answers the question to what extent the Koran should be understood literally and, conversely, to what extent it should be "interpreted". That question is important to him because too elaborate interpretations of Scripture destroy the faith of those he calls "the common people," i.e. the people who do not understand all the fine points of a given interpretation.
Averroes prefers to "err" on the safe side of a literal interpretation of Scripture. He argues that Scripture (the Koran) was meant first and foremost for the common people. The Koran knows what it does when it talks to them in simple and concrete terms. And since the Koran does not set out to mislead people, even the "learned" (as opposed to the "common people") can attain wisdom by studying its literal meaning rather than getting lost in their vain speculations.
The first four chapters of the book are long-winded refutations of what Averroes considers to be attacks on the authority of Scripture. He pegs his arguments on his main point that there are common people, on the one hand, and then there are learned people. The Koran is meant primarily for the common people and the learned people should learn from the literal meaning of Scripture rather than thumb their noses at it.
Not only does Averroes side with the common people. His approach also leaves the door open to progress: the common people may become more sophisticated over time. Averroes states that possibility more or less explicitly. For example, he quotes Mohammed: "Had Moses lived in my time, he could not but follow me." (p. 103) There we have a reference to dispensations in embryonic form.
It is only in the fifth chapter that we see why Averroes has earned the reputation of being one of the most brilliant thinkers in Islam. Once he has anchored his entire argument on the literal meaning of the Koran and has explained why he does so, Averroes does something remarkable. In the fifth chapter he puts forward his view on five different problems, which are the creation of the worlds; commissioning messengers; divine decree and predestination; divine justice and injustice; and, resurrection and its modes.
The remarkable thing is this: Averroes has already concluded that the literal meaning of the Koran shows that spiritual phenomena reflect (or are reflected in) concrete phenomena. Hence, our comparison of God's creative activity to a man's activity is more than just figurative speech: it has probative value. That is a game-changer. With the help of his unshakeable faith in (his reading of) the Koran, Averroes counters the argument that God had preordained every single act and happenstance in our lives. Namely, if God had done that, then comparing God's creative activity to man's activity would reduce God into a robot (p. 114). For example, if a chair-maker acts just like a robot, what would be the result of comparing God to a chair-maker if we are to prove God's existence from intelligent design?
Put in another way, God's omnipotence and foreknowledge do not destroy man's free will. God's creation consists in creating stuff and the natural laws that govern that stuff.
It is exactly because of that intimate link between creation and Creator that it is also unnecessary for God to use miracles to prove that the prophets were sent by God. The fact that proves that Mohammed, in particular, was sent by God is simple: Mohammed, an illiterate Bedouin, could produce something as sublime as the Koran (p. 102). That "miracle" in turn proves that the Koran is God's word, which in turn proves that the God is the Creator and that the creation points to God, just as the Koran says.
Once those basic truths have been established, the question of literal meaning versus interpretation becomes secondary. As Averroes concludes in his discussion on resurrection: "...the obligation incumbent on each person is to take the position to which his speculation leads him to..." (p. 126)
We see that Averroes' view of the common people and the learned class is not elitist but, on the contrary, remarkably tolerant: each group of people, and even each person, is to follow the speculation that leads him or her to God. Instead of getting caught in their interpretations, the learned should understand that great latitude when God speaks to people.
Averroes prefers to "err" on the safe side of a literal interpretation of Scripture. He argues that Scripture (the Koran) was meant first and foremost for the common people. The Koran knows what it does when it talks to them in simple and concrete terms. And since the Koran does not set out to mislead people, even the "learned" (as opposed to the "common people") can attain wisdom by studying its literal meaning rather than getting lost in their vain speculations.
The first four chapters of the book are long-winded refutations of what Averroes considers to be attacks on the authority of Scripture. He pegs his arguments on his main point that there are common people, on the one hand, and then there are learned people. The Koran is meant primarily for the common people and the learned people should learn from the literal meaning of Scripture rather than thumb their noses at it.
Not only does Averroes side with the common people. His approach also leaves the door open to progress: the common people may become more sophisticated over time. Averroes states that possibility more or less explicitly. For example, he quotes Mohammed: "Had Moses lived in my time, he could not but follow me." (p. 103) There we have a reference to dispensations in embryonic form.
It is only in the fifth chapter that we see why Averroes has earned the reputation of being one of the most brilliant thinkers in Islam. Once he has anchored his entire argument on the literal meaning of the Koran and has explained why he does so, Averroes does something remarkable. In the fifth chapter he puts forward his view on five different problems, which are the creation of the worlds; commissioning messengers; divine decree and predestination; divine justice and injustice; and, resurrection and its modes.
The remarkable thing is this: Averroes has already concluded that the literal meaning of the Koran shows that spiritual phenomena reflect (or are reflected in) concrete phenomena. Hence, our comparison of God's creative activity to a man's activity is more than just figurative speech: it has probative value. That is a game-changer. With the help of his unshakeable faith in (his reading of) the Koran, Averroes counters the argument that God had preordained every single act and happenstance in our lives. Namely, if God had done that, then comparing God's creative activity to man's activity would reduce God into a robot (p. 114). For example, if a chair-maker acts just like a robot, what would be the result of comparing God to a chair-maker if we are to prove God's existence from intelligent design?
Put in another way, God's omnipotence and foreknowledge do not destroy man's free will. God's creation consists in creating stuff and the natural laws that govern that stuff.
It is exactly because of that intimate link between creation and Creator that it is also unnecessary for God to use miracles to prove that the prophets were sent by God. The fact that proves that Mohammed, in particular, was sent by God is simple: Mohammed, an illiterate Bedouin, could produce something as sublime as the Koran (p. 102). That "miracle" in turn proves that the Koran is God's word, which in turn proves that the God is the Creator and that the creation points to God, just as the Koran says.
Once those basic truths have been established, the question of literal meaning versus interpretation becomes secondary. As Averroes concludes in his discussion on resurrection: "...the obligation incumbent on each person is to take the position to which his speculation leads him to..." (p. 126)
We see that Averroes' view of the common people and the learned class is not elitist but, on the contrary, remarkably tolerant: each group of people, and even each person, is to follow the speculation that leads him or her to God. Instead of getting caught in their interpretations, the learned should understand that great latitude when God speaks to people.
August 17, 2014
Fascinating but frustrating.
June 9, 2012
Amazing book, Ibn Rushd(Averroes) was an amazing scholar and philosopher. This book was one of the best books on theology and reason I have ever read.
March 9, 2019
Very hard read.
June 26, 2024
Fascinating yet probably the most confusing read
November 19, 2016
I sure wish i if had a chance to read the original Arabic version. A must read for Muslims who want to understand their own religion or people seeking the truth about Islam
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