The importance of Avicenna or Ibn Sīnā in Islam today?

HamletOrHecuba

Ive been planning to start reading Islamic philosophy from the middle ages and I was wondering how important are thinks such as Avicenna or Ibn Sīnā in the Islamic world today- are they as important as St Thomas Aquinas is to Roman Catholics or St Gregory Palamas is to the Eastern Orthodox?

hivizman

HamletOrHecuba wrote: »

Ive been planning to start reading Islamic philosophy from the middle ages and I was wondering how important are thinks such as Avicenna or Ibn Sīnā in the Islamic world today- are they as important as St Thomas Aquinas is to Roman Catholics or St Gregory Palamas is to the Eastern Orthodox?

Thanks for a very interesting question. This is just a short response because I don't currently have access to my "Library of Islam" to check things out in more detail.

Ibn Sina (Latinised as "Avicenna") had a crucial role in the intellectual history of Islam, but he is probably remembered more as a major contributor to the historical development of medicine than as a philosopher. The main reason for this, I think, is that Ibn Sina was attacked by Al-Ghazali, who rejected what he characterised as Hellenistic or Neoplatonist philosophies in The Incoherence of the Philosophers. Although subsequent Muslim philosophers such as Ibn Rushd (Averroes) challenged Al-Ghazali, it was the latter's views that prevailed, and philosophy tended to be less well thought of than science or jurisprudence within Islamic thought.

This can be seen in modern "Salafi" thinking, where the most referred to classical scholar is probably Ibn Taymiyyah, who saw himself much more as a jurist than as a philosopher.

When I get home in a few days, I'll see if I can find anything to add to this.

HamletOrHecuba

hivizman wrote: »

Although subsequent Muslim philosophers such as Ibn Rushd (Averroes) challenged Al-Ghazali, it was the latter's views that prevailed, and philosophy tended to be less well thought of than science or jurisprudence within Islamic thought.

I have been told (by non-Muslims) that Imam Khomeini was a great Plato scholar, so is this attitude that you talk of towards philosophy stronger among the Sunni than among the Shia? How strongly does it vary from country to country?

hivizman

Sorry not to reply sooner - I've been away for the past few days.

There are some similarities between Plato's notion of "philosopher-kings" or "guardians" as proposed in The Republic, the idea that the ideal society is one ruled by the wisest, who alone, in Plato's view, had access to the underlying "forms" or "ideals" that underly all particular representations, and Khomeini's advocacy of the Shi'ite idea of "Guardianship of the Jurists" (Vilayat-e Faqih), and Khomeini is reported to have been influenced by his reading of Plato in developing the Vilayat idea by arguing for the need for Islamic scholars to have paramount control over government, given that there was now no Imam to act as supreme ruler.

In fact, Ibn Sina's philosophy had more lasting influence in Persia, where the 12th century (CE) philosopher Suhrawardi developed the ideas of the "Illuminationist" (Ishraqi) school - this built on but diverged from Ibn Sina's philosophical position. Illuminationism had a major influence on Shia philosophers, particularly the 17th century (CE) Persian philosopher Mulla Sadra, who developed a form of existentialism. Majid Fakhry, in Islamic Philosophy: A Beginner's Guide (OneWorld: 2009, p. 174) describes this line of thought as: "The only brand of Islamic philosophy to have survived up to the present time. . . . t is still taught and studied in religious institutions in Iran and elsewhere."

Although this is, I am sure, a sweeping generalisation, my sense is that many Sunni scholars are nervous about philosophy because of the perceived danger that it will lead to mysticism, whereas Shia scholars are more open to mysticism and hence more likely to accommodate philosophy.

HamletOrHecuba

hivizman wrote: »

Although this is, I am sure, a sweeping generalisation, my sense is that many Sunni scholars are nervous about philosophy because of the perceived danger that it will lead to mysticism, whereas Shia scholars are more open to mysticism and hence more likely to accommodate philosophy.

Is not Sufism primarily at least a Sunni phenomena though, would Sufi's be considered heretics now by the majority of the Sunni population and not just by the Wahabis?

hivizman

HamletOrHecuba wrote: »

Is not Sufism primarily at least a Sunni phenomena though, would Sufi's be considered heretics now by the majority of the Sunni population and not just by the Wahabis?

Yes, but I think that this is largely because the substantial majority of Muslims have been Sunni.

Some commentators trace the Islamic mystical tradition back to Muhammad himself, with the Isra and Mi'raj (or Night Journey and Ascension, considered to have taken place in the month of Rajab - we are currently in the middle of this month) regarded as the prototype that provided a model for some subsequent Sufis' mystical experiences and disciplines.

Sufism itself is very broad, and even more traditionalist Muslims could not find fault with practices such as ascetism and dhikr (remembrance of Allah) that were often associated with Sufism, so long as these were always done for the sake of Allah rather than as ends in themselves and so long as they were not presented as forms of worship that went beyond those established by Muhammad (as evidenced by authentic hadiths describing the practice of Muhammad and his Companions).

One of the most famous modern Muslim writers in the field of philosophy is Seyyed Hossein Nasr, who comes from a Shia background. He has written widely on Sufism, see in particular his book The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam's Mystical Tradition (HarperOne: 2007).

Although there is a strong degree of suspicion of Sufism on the part of Salafis, Wahhabis and Deobandis, many Muslims are more tolerant, and certainly the fact that someone in Islam's history was a Sufi does not thereby establish that person as having taken himself or herself outside Islam - a good example would be the poet Rumi, whose followers established the Mevleli order, the famous "whirling dervishes".

Jaafa

HamletOrHecuba wrote: »

I have been there briefly for one week so I cant claim much experience of the country on the ground.

However reading people like Suhrawardi, Rumi and Ibn Sīnā has opened up a whole new world to me. Seyyed Hossein Nasr the contemporary Iranian philosopher is well worth checking out. They seem to have a width and depth of intellectual vision in their best that few can match.

Where might someone find their works? I'd imagine it's not something found in the local bookshop.

HamletOrHecuba

Jaafa wrote: »

Where might someone find their works? I'd imagine it's not something found in the local bookshop.

http://www.amiscorbin.com/textes/anglais/Hist_Iran_Phil_Corbin_part_I.pdf

Though its supposed to be a general introduction to Islamic philosophy this book deals mostly with Persians/Iranians. Its a very good and sympathetic introduction.

Jaafa

HamletOrHecuba wrote: »

http://www.amiscorbin.com/textes/anglais/Hist_Iran_Phil_Corbin_part_I.pdf

Though its supposed to be a general introduction to Islamic philosophy this book deals mostly with Persians/Iranians. Its a very good and sympathetic introduction.

Thank you, I'll have a look.

HamletOrHecuba

http://www.amazon.com/Mystical-Visionary-Treatises-Shihabuddin-Suhrawardi/dp/0900860928

This is worth checking out too.

Rumi you should be able to get a good large bookshop.

HamletOrHecuba

http://www.scribd.com/doc/61042778/58008039-Henry-Corbin-Spiritual-Body-and-Celestial-Earth

This is very good. Im reading it at the moment.