AN APPRAISAL OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF AL FARABI, AL KINDI, ABU ZAKARIYA, IBN RUSHD AND IBN SINA
INTRODUCTION
In every society many people has contributed in one way or the other to civilization, as far as the globe is concerned, every nation, tribe, society had attained a drastic form of civilization. The world today is growing faster in science and technology which is the cornerstone of civilization. In as much as, no nation want to struggle with development, every nation had actively or passively indulge in the propagation, promotion and elevation of civilization, and the Muslim Ummah {societies or nations} are no exception to this tussle.
Islamic or Muslim Philosophy is also another area of focus, at the initial stage of Islam, there was nothing like Islamic philosophy, but as time goes on, the early Islamic elite or scholars, i.e. scholars of the Umayyad dynasty who really started the Islamic philosophy. These scholars came across philosophy as a discipline, during the course of proliferating, disseminating and propelling Islam to other part of the world. These scholars came across philosophy precisely in Greece. At the initial stage of their contact with the Greek philosophy, they became eager, curious, and enthusiastic to know about this foreign knowledge, that was how they began to study deep into the Greek Philosophy, which they don’t just accept unless if compatible with the doctrines and teachings of Islam. They will scrutinize those ideologies and take and accept the favourable ones and repudiate the irrelevant ones. The collective effort of the early Muslim scholars, i.e. their study, scrutinizing and their rational proclivity towards the Greek philosophy, had culminated to the emergence of the discipline known as the “Islamic Philosophy”.
The early Islamic scholars who were mentally outstanding, studied philosophy to the climax, to the extent that even the Greek philosophers would come to consult or seek knowledge from them, even though they were the pioneer founders of philosophy. The rational reason one can think of, which has contributed meaningfully to the profound knowledge of the Muslim philosophers, is that the holy Qur’an a divine revelation from God, already entails virtually all the bases of philosophy, which the Muslims where initially ignorant of. When the Muslim scholars began to study philosophy, they became conversant with the intricacies of philosophy, to the extent that they subvert, submerge, surmount, surpass and suppress the Greek philosophers in philosophy, scientists in science, astronauts in astronomy etc.
The sole area of focus, is to recognize and establish some of those early Muslim philosophers who had contributed meaningfully either individually or collectively to civilization and Islamic philosophy.
WHAT IS CIVILIZATION?
Civilization simply means the improvement, development and advancement in every aspect of human society.
Civilization can also be defined as a state of human society that is very developed and organised.
More so, civilization can also be seen as the comprehensive development of the physical, intellectual, spiritual, psychological and moral potential of man.
Again, civilization is also considered to be a place where there is an organised form of leadership and ways to represent themselves; they have government to lead, writing to record events, art and architecture to show their culture and religion to show what they believe.
Civilization is an advanced state of human society in which a high level of culture, science, industry and government has been reached.
The Oxford dictionary defined civilization as “an organized culture encompassing many communities, often on the scale of a nation or a people; a stage or system of social, political, or technical development”.
While ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY can be defined as “the systematic investigation of problems connected with life, the universe, ethics, societies and so on as conducted in the Muslim {or Islamic} world”.
More so, ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY is a branch of Islamic studies, and is a longstanding attempt to create harmony between philosophy {reason} and the religious teachings of Islam. Islamic philosophy as it implies, refers to philosophical activity within the Islamic social setting. The main sources of classical or early Islamic philosophy are the religion of Islam itself; Greek philosophy which the early Muslims inherited as a result of conquests when Alexandria, Syria and Jundishapur came under Muslim rule; and pre-Islamic Iranian and Indian philosophy.
IBN – RUSHD
BIOGRAPHY
Abu Walid Mohammad Ibn Rushd born in 1128 C.E. in Cordova, Spain, to a family with a long and well-respected tradition of legal and public service. His grandfather the influential Abdul-Walid Muhammad {d. 1126}, was the chief judge of Cordova, under the Almoravid dynasty, establishing himself as a specialist in legal methodology and in the teachings of the various legal schools. Ibn Rushd’s father, Abdul Qasim Ahmad, although not as venerated as his grandfather, held the same position until the Almoravids were ousted by the Almohad dynasty in 1146.
Ibn Rushd’s education followed a traditional path, beginning with studies in hadith, linguistics, jurisprudence and scholastic theology. The earliest biographers and Muslims chroniclers speak little about his education in science and philosophy, where most interest from Western scholarship in him lies, but note his propensity towards the law and his life as a jurist. It is generally believed that Ibn Rushd was influenced by the philosophy of Ibn Bajjah, and perhaps was once tutored by him. His medical education was directed under Abu Jafar Ibn Harun of Trujillo. His aptittude for medicine was noted by his contemporaries and can be seen in his major enduring work kitab al–kulyat fi al–tabb {Generalities}. This book, together with kitab al Taisir fi al-Mudawat wa al-Tadbir {Particilarities} written by Abu Marwan ibn Zuhr, became the main medical textbooks for physicians in the Jewish, Christians and Muslim worlds for centuries to come.
He has been envisaged to be one of the greatest thinkers and scientists of the history. A product of twelfth-century Islamic Spain, he set out to integrate Aristotelian philosophy with Islamic thought. A common theme throughout his writings is that there is no inappropriateness between religion and philosophy when both are properly understood.
His contributions to philosophy took many forms, ranging from his detailed commentaries on Aristotle, his defence of philosophy against the attacks of those who condemned it as different to Islam and his construction of a form of Aristotelianism which cleansed it, as far as was possible at the time, of, Neoplatonic influences.
In philosophy his most important work Tuhafut al-Tuhafut was written in response to Al-Ghazali’s work. Ibn Rushd was criticized by many Muslim scholars for this book, which nevertheless, had a deep influence on European thought, at list until the beginning of modern philosophy and experimental science. His views on fate were that man is neither in full control of his destiny nor is it fully predetermined for him.
Ibn Rushd died in Marakesh in 1198 where he was buried. Three month later, his body was moved to Qurtuba, the tribune of his thought. It leaves no room for any doubt about the important influence that the Muslim philosopher had on the greatest of all Catholic theologians.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF IBN RUSHD TO CIVILIZATION AND ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY
Ibn Rushd’s education followed a traditional path, beginning with studies in Hadith, linguistics, jurisprudence and theology. Throughout his life he wrote extensively on philosophy and religion, attributes of God, origin of the universe, metaphysics and psychology but he excelled in philosophy and jurisprudence and was nicknamed “the jurisprudent philosopher”. The role of the philosopher in the state was a topic of continual interest for ibn Rushd.
His thought is genuinely creative and highly controversial, producing powerful arguments that were to puzzle his philosophical successors in the Jewish and Christian worlds. He seems to argue that there are two forms of truth, a religious form and a philosophical form, and that it does not matter if they point in different directions. He also appears to be doubtful about the possibility of personal immortality or of God’s being able to know that particular events have taken place. There is much in his work also which suggests that religion is inferior to philosophy as a means of attaining knowledge, and that the understanding of religion which ordinary believers can have is very different and impoverished when compared either that available to the philosopher.
In philosophy, his most important work Tuhafut al-tuhafut was written in response to Al-Ghazail’s work ibn Rushd was criticized by many Muslim scholars for this book, which, nevertheless, had a deep influence on European thought, at least until the beginning of modern philosophy and experimental science. His views on fate were that man is neither in full control of his destiny nor is it fully predetermined for him. Al Rushd’s longest commentary was, in fact, an original contribution as it was, in fact, an original contribution as it was largely based on his analysis including interpretation of Quranic concepts. Ibn Rushd’s summary the opinions of previous Islamic jurists on a variety of issues has continued to influence Islamic scholars to the present day, notably faved Ahmad Ghamidi.
At the age of 25, ibn Rushd conducted astronomical observations in Morocco, during which he discovered a star. He was also of the view that the Moon is opaque and obscure, and has some parts which are thicker than others, with the thicker parts receiving more light from the Sun than the thinner parts of the Moon. He also gave one of the first descriptions on sunspots.
Ibn Rushd also made remarkable contributions in medicine in medicine his well-known book Kitab al-kulyat fi al-Tibb was written before 1162 A.D its Latin translation was known as “College”. In it ibn Rushd has thrown light on various aspects of medicine, including the diagnoses, cure and prevention of diseases and several original observations of him.
He wrote at least 67 original works, which included 28 works on philosophy, 20 on medicine, 8 on law, 5 on theology, 4 on grammar, in addition to his commentary on Plato’s The Republic. A careful examination of his works reveals that ibn Rushd was a deeply Islamic man. As an example, we find in his writing, “Anyone who studies anatomy will increase his faith in the omnipotence and oneness of God the Almighty”. He believed that true happiness for man can surely be achieved through mental and psychological health unless they follow ways that lead to happiness in the hereafter, and unless they believe in God and His oneness.
IBN RUSHD DEFENCE OF PHILOSOPHY
Ibn Rushd did not present his philosophy as a system. His philosophical doctrine has to be reconstructed from his numerous works. This doctrine is rich and multifaceted enough to be summarized easily. A survey of two emblematic themes, his causal theory and his thesis of the relation of religion to philosophy, shall provide an idea on his practice of theoretical discourse.
Ibn Rushd developed his causal theory against al-Ghazaliis occasionalist doctrine embodied in the latter’s denial of necessary casual connection in nature. Al-Ghazalii had claimed indeed that the world order has no inherent necessity. And the uniformity of nature is only a habit arbitrarily decreed by God who can disrupt it at will. In contrast to this occationalist account, Ibn Rushd relies on a central metaphysical argument based on his concept of real essence, which intimately relates essence to casual action. Things, he maintains, “have essences and attributes that determine the specific action of each existent and by virtue of which the essences, names and definitions of things are differentiated”. If this were not the case, then all the existence would either become one existent or cease to exist altogether. For, if it is one, the question arises as to whether such an existent has or does not have a specific act, {for example, whether or not fire has the specific act of burning}. If the answer is that it has, then the existence of a specific act proceeding from a specific nature is acknowledged. If the answer is that it does not, then the oneness is removed, the nature of existence is removes and the necessary consequence is nonexistence”. For Al-Ghazalii, it is possible for fire to contact cotton without burning it. Ibn Rushd answers that this can happen only when there is an impediment, but this does not deprive fire of having the property of conflagration “so long as it retains the name and definition of fire”. Fire, to be fire, must have the property of burning something. A denial of this is not only a denial of objective truth, but a violation the normal way we name things and speak about them.
Another important concern of Ibn Rushd was to prove the harmony between philosophy and religion, and hence to build a specific defence of philosophy. Al-Ghazalii not only endeavoured to refute the Islamic philosophers logically, but condemned them as infidels for affirming the word’s eternity, for their denial that God knows terrestrial particulars, and for their denial of bodily resurrection. The charge of infidelity was also a challenge to the deeply religious commitment of ibn Rushd. In several of his writings, he defends the philosophers against the charge of infidelity. He begins by raising a more general question, namely, whether Islamic religious law allows or prohibits the study of philosophy. Basing himself on certain Qur’anic statements, he argues that the study of philosophy is allowed, for philosophy is the proper study of nature that leads the proof of the existence of God.
In Fasl al-maqaal, ibn Rushd formulates a conception of philosophy which was in accordance with the Islamic teachings as it was considered as a rational view of creation which leads to the knowledge of the Creator. Thus formulated, philosophy becomes a valid path for discovery of truth which is also to be comprehension, God speaks to humans through three kinds of discourses: dialectical, rhetorical and demonstrative syllogism.
The distinction between three levels of discourse and of the audiences to which they are addressed is an important device in Ibn Rushd’s contextualize philosophy in the Islamic environment. Hence, the philosophy can be practiced only by the demonstrative class, the members of which possess a specific capacity and training. The two other classes are capable of reasoning only on the dialectical of reasoning or rhetorical levels. The scriptural statements are also divided into three classes: those that must be accepted literally because they have clear and unambiguous intent, those that should not be taken literally, error in their interpretation is permissible; finally, a class of statements that must be interpreted by each class according to its intellectual capacity. Error here again is permissible. It is within the framework of this theory of interpretation that ibn Rushd defends the Islamic philosophers against the charge of infidelity. Their condemned doctrines relate to scriptural statements where error in interpretation is permissible. Furthermore, in practical matters, it is the consensus of the Muslim community that rules on whether or not an act constitutes infidelity. On this basis, Ibn Rushd shows that consensus in matters of theoretical belief is impossible.
INFLUENCE OF IBN RUSHD TO ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY AND CIVILIZATION
Despite his philosophical achievements, Islamic philosophy of the sort Ibn Rushd practiced did not survive after him. Actually, he did not have any significant Muslim disciple. In their Arabic original versions. Fortunately, interest in his thought remained vivace among Jews and Christians, to the languages of whom his works were translated. By this way, his philosophical works as well as his commentaries on Aristotle were read all along the European middle ages and the Renaissance. As a result, a philosophical doctrine, known as the Averroism, emerged among his Latin and Hebrew followers.
