Islamic Philosophy from Its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the ...

112 Part 3: Islamic Philosophy in History
the author of the major work Jåmi‘ al-÷ikmatayn (The Sum of Two
Wisdoms), wrote all of his major works in Persian. Ibn S¥nå, however,
was the pioneer in the use of Persian as a philosophical language,
having written Dånish-nåma-yi ‘alå˘¥ (The Book of Science
Dedicated to ‘Alå˘ al-Dawlah), the first work of Peripatetic philosophy
in Persian.
The Ra„å˘il (Treatises) of the Ikhwån al-|afå˘ (Brethren of Purity)
is a collection of fifty-one treatises closely associated with Ismå‘¥l¥ circles.
These treatises, which appeared in the fourth/tenth century in Basra,
have a strong Neopythagorean color. They were widely read by later
philosophers and even theologians such as al-Ghazzål¥, who wrote
against the Peripatetics and also Ismå‘¥lism. Ismå‘¥l¥ philosophy survived
the fall of the Få†imids and continued into the seventh/thirteenth
century when centers of Ismå‘¥l¥ power in Persia were destroyed
by the Mongols. Even then, the tradition continued in Yemen and
India and even in Persia itself, but much remains to be done before the
history of this important school becomes known in its fullness.
INDEPENDENT PHILOSOPHERS DURING THE EARLY CENTURIES
Although Islamic philosophy is predominantly associated with schools
that transcend the individual, the early centuries did produce a few
independent philosophers who wielded some influence. The first
among them is Muhammad ibn Zakariyyå˘ al-Råz¥ (d. around 320/
932), known in Latin as Rhazes, the greatest Muslim physician after
Ibn S¥nå, who was also a philosopher known especially for his denial
of the necessity of prophecy. He was strongly attacked by the Ismå‘¥l¥s
for this view, as well as for positing “five eternal principles” consisting
of the Demiurge, the Universal Soul, materia prima, Space, and
Time. But Råz¥ remains an important philosopher worthy of further
study. 6 Another independent philosopher and one of Islam’s greatest
scientists, Ab¨ Ray±ån al-B¥r¨n¥ (d. 421/1030), held a philosophical
view different from Råz¥’s but admired al-Råz¥’s scientific works greatly.
Al-B¥r¨n¥’s most important philosophical contribution was his criticism
of Avicennian natural philosophy, 7 as well as his introduction of
Hindu philosophy into the Islamic world. Finally, an important independent
philosopher, A±mad ibn Musk¨yah (Miskawayh; d. 421/1030),
wrote the first major Islamic work on philosophical ethics, Tahdh¥b alakhlåq
(Purification of Morals), as well as a book entitled Jåw¥dån khirad
(philosophia perennis).