Inspired Knowledge in Islamic Thought

Inspired Knowledge in Islamic Thought PDF Author: Alexander Treiger
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136655611
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Get Book Here

Book Description
It has been customary to see the Muslim theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111) as a vehement critic of philosophy, who rejected it in favour of Islamic mysticism (Sufism), a view which has come under increased scrutiny in recent years. This book argues that al-Ghazali was, instead, one of the greatest popularisers of philosophy in medieval Islam. The author supplies new evidence showing that al-Ghazali was indebted to philosophy in his theory of mystical cognition and his eschatology, and that, moreover, in these two areas he accepted even those philosophical teachings which he ostensibly criticized. Through careful translation into English and detailed discussion of more than 80 key passages (with many more surveyed throughout the book), the author shows how al-Ghazali’s understanding of "mystical cognition" is patterned after the philosophyof Avicenna (d. 1037). Arguing that despite overt criticism, al-Ghazali never rejected Avicennian philosophy and that his mysticism itself is grounded in Avicenna’s teachings, the book offers a clear and systematic presentation of al-Ghazali’s "philosophical mysticism." Challenging popular assumptions about one of the greatest Muslim theologians of all time, this is an important reference for scholars and laymen interested in Islamic theology and in the relations between philosophy and mysticism.

Inspired Knowledge in Islamic Thought

Inspired Knowledge in Islamic Thought PDF Author: Alexander Treiger
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136655611
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Get Book Here

Book Description
It has been customary to see the Muslim theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111) as a vehement critic of philosophy, who rejected it in favour of Islamic mysticism (Sufism), a view which has come under increased scrutiny in recent years. This book argues that al-Ghazali was, instead, one of the greatest popularisers of philosophy in medieval Islam. The author supplies new evidence showing that al-Ghazali was indebted to philosophy in his theory of mystical cognition and his eschatology, and that, moreover, in these two areas he accepted even those philosophical teachings which he ostensibly criticized. Through careful translation into English and detailed discussion of more than 80 key passages (with many more surveyed throughout the book), the author shows how al-Ghazali’s understanding of "mystical cognition" is patterned after the philosophyof Avicenna (d. 1037). Arguing that despite overt criticism, al-Ghazali never rejected Avicennian philosophy and that his mysticism itself is grounded in Avicenna’s teachings, the book offers a clear and systematic presentation of al-Ghazali’s "philosophical mysticism." Challenging popular assumptions about one of the greatest Muslim theologians of all time, this is an important reference for scholars and laymen interested in Islamic theology and in the relations between philosophy and mysticism.

Inspired Knowledge in Islamic Thought

Inspired Knowledge in Islamic Thought PDF Author: Alexander Treiger
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113665562X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 196

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book argues that the Muslim theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazali was a popularizer of philosophy more than its critic and that his theory of mystical cognition is based on the theory of prophecy of the philosopher Avicenna.

Light upon Light: Essays in Islamic Thought and History in Honor of Gerhard Bowering

Light upon Light: Essays in Islamic Thought and History in Honor of Gerhard Bowering PDF Author: Jamal J. Elias
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004410120
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 487

Get Book Here

Book Description
Light upon Light: Essays in Islamic Thought and History in Honor of Gerhard Bowering brings together studies that explore the richness of Islamic intellectual life in the pre-modern period. Leading scholars around the world present nineteen studies that explore diverse areas of Islamic Studies, in honor of a renowned scholar and teacher: Professor Dr. Gerhard Bowering (Yale University). The volume includes contributions in four main areas: (1) Quran and Early Islam; (2) Sufism, Shiʿism, and Esotericism; (3) Philosophy; (4) Literature and Culture. These areas reflect the enormous breadth of Professor Bowering’s contributions to the field over a lifetime of scholarship, teaching, and mentoring. Contributors: Hussein Ali Abdulsater, Mushegh Asatryan, Shahzad Bashir, Jonathan Brockopp, Yousef Casewit, Jamal Elias, Janis Esots, Li Guo, Matthew Ingalls, Tariq Jaffer, Mareike Koertner, Joseph Lumbard, Matthew Melvin-Koushki, Mahan Mirza, Bilal Orfali, Gabriel Reynolds, Nada Saab, Amina Steinfels & Alexander Treiger.

Islamic Thought

Islamic Thought PDF Author: Abdullah Saeed
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134225644
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 222

Get Book Here

Book Description
Islamic Thought is a fresh and contemporary introduction to the philosophies and doctrines of Islam. Abdullah Saeed, a distinguished Muslim scholar, traces the development of religious knowledge in Islam, from the pre-modern to the modern period. The book focuses on Muslim thought, as well as the development, production and transmission of religious knowledge, and the trends, schools and movements that have contributed to the production of this knowledge. Key topics in Islamic culture are explored, including the development of the Islamic intellectual tradition, the two foundation texts, the Qur’an and Hadith, legal thought, theological thought, mystical thought, Islamic Art, philosophical thought, political thought, and renewal, reform and rethinking today. Through this rich and varied discussion, Saeed presents a fascinating depiction of how Islam was lived in the past and how its adherents practise it in the present. Islamic Thought is essential reading for students beginning the study of Islam but will also interest anyone seeking to learn more about one of the world’s great religions.

Islamic Thought Through Protestant Eyes

Islamic Thought Through Protestant Eyes PDF Author: Mehmet Karabela
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000369811
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 387

Get Book Here

Book Description
Early modern Protestant scholars closely engaged with Islamic thought in more ways than is usually recognized. Among Protestants, Lutheran scholars distinguished themselves as the most invested in the study of Islam and Muslim culture. Mehmet Karabela brings the neglected voices of post-Reformation theologians, primarily German Lutherans, into focus and reveals their rigorous engagement with Islamic thought. Inspired by a global history approach to religious thought, Islamic Thought Through Protestant Eyes offers new sources to broaden the conventional interpretation of the Reformation beyond a solely European Christian phenomenon. Based on previously unstudied dissertations, disputations, and academic works written in Latin in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Karabela analyzes three themes: Islam as theology and religion; Islamic philosophy and liberal arts; and Muslim sects (Sunni and Shi‘a). This book provides analyses and translations of the Latin texts as well as brief biographies of the authors. These texts offer insight into the Protestant perception of Islamic thought for scholars of religious studies and Islamic studies as well as for general readers. Examining the influence of Islamic thought on the construction of the Protestant identity after the Reformation helps us to understand the role of Islam in the evolution of Christianity.

The Burhān

The Burhān PDF Author: Mohammed Hijab
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 80

Get Book Here

Book Description
In The Burhān Mohammad Hijab analyses Ibn Sīnā's argument for the existence of God. Regards as being most invulnerable to any type of counterattack, Ibn Sīnā's Burhān argument postulates that a world with only contingent existences is inconceivable, as a contingent existence cannot cause itself. Ibn Sīnā argues that the only way to explain the existence of anything is to postulate the existence of a uncaused necessary being, or a wājib al-wujūd ('necessary existence'). However, despite its impact, the Burhān has not been packaged for apologetic use for a modern audience. Hijab's novel contribution to the discourse surrounding God's existence is found in his re-articulation of this argument for theists attempting to make the case for religion to atheist audiences. Using the Burhān as his guide, Hijab provides his own proofs for the necessary existence of God and answers some of the most prominent objections. Hijab applies the arguments for a necessary being by referring to potential pastoral and apologetic settings using two fictitious characters, Richard and Betty.

The Story of Reason in Islam

The Story of Reason in Islam PDF Author: Sari Nusseibeh
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 1503600580
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 285

Get Book Here

Book Description
In The Story of Reason in Islam, leading public intellectual and political activist Sari Nusseibeh narrates a sweeping intellectual history—a quest for knowledge inspired by the Qu'ran and its language, a quest that employed Reason in the service of Faith. Eschewing the conventional separation of Faith and Reason, he takes a fresh look at why and how Islamic reasoning evolved over time. He surveys the different Islamic schools of thought and how they dealt with major philosophical issues, showing that Reason pervaded all disciplines, from philosophy and science to language, poetry, and law. Along the way, the best known Muslim philosophers are introduced in a new light. Countering received chronologies, in this story Reason reaches its zenith in the early seventeenth century; it then trails off, its demise as sudden as its appearance. Thereafter, Reason loses out to passive belief, lifeless logic, and a self-contained legalism—in other words, to a less flexible Islam. Nusseibeh's speculations as to why this occurred focus on the fortunes and misfortunes of classical Arabic in the Islamic world. Change, he suggests, may only come from the revivification of language itself.

Islamic Thought

Islamic Thought PDF Author: Taha Jabir Al-Alwani
Publisher: International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT)
ISBN: 1565644271
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 193

Get Book Here

Book Description
For the first time, Muslims are faced with a worldwide positivism which is working to use knowledge, the sciences and their discoveries and achievements in a manner which severs the relationship between the Creator, the created universe and man, thereby disregarding the world of the unseen and driving a wedge between science and values. Lacking even the most modest store of vital Islamic doctrine on the intellectual level, university students and researchers in the Islamic world are confronted with doctrines and philosophies which are presented to them together with a flimsy, miserable defense of Islam. There is not a single academic institution in the Islamic world in which Islamic thought is taught and in which the Islamic vision is given a deep-rooted foundation with the same force and persuasiveness with which Western ideas and the Western vision are taught to students in the West, in a coherent, comprehensive manner accompanied by seriousness and commitment on the part of all. The books argues that this approach is diametrically opposed to the Islamic perspective and that we must disengage human scientific achievement from positivistic philosophical premises and reemploy these sciences within a systematic epistemological framework based on divine revelation, conferring honor upon all forms of knowledge, as having been bestowed upon man by their Creator.

The Mystics of al-Andalus

The Mystics of al-Andalus PDF Author: Yousef Casewit
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107184673
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 373

Get Book Here

Book Description
A study of the writings of Ibn Barrajān, an influential pioneer of intellectual mysticism in the Muslim West.

Esoteric Traditions in Islamic Thought

Esoteric Traditions in Islamic Thought PDF Author: Leonard Lewisohn
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861548655
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 508

Get Book Here

Book Description
The notion of esoteric knowledge is one of the pillars of Islamic intellectual tradition. Though most visible in Sufism, it also dominated the first three and a half centuries of Shi‘ite thought. In this rich anthology, Leonard Lewisohn explores Islamic esotericism through the works of eleven authors who flourished in Persia, Central Asia and Asia Minor from the eleventh to the nineteenth centuries. He presents excerpts from each text in translation, accompanying these with introductions to the author’s life, works and thought. In the course of his erudite and enlightening commentary, he explores the common ground of esoteric thought and terminology, revealing a unity of perspective among Muslim thinkers.