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

154 Part 3: Islamic Philosophy in History
symbolic language of ¡ayy ibn Yaqz • ån also indicates the esoteric character
of veritable philosophy, whose meaning cannot be exhausted by
the outer meaning of its language and mode of exposition.
It is in light of this background that one must examine the attempt
of the most celebrated of the Islamic philosophers of Spain,
Ab¨˘l-Wal¥d ibn Rushd, to reconcile religion and philosophy. The
philosopher who became a central intellectual figure in the Latin West
under the name of Averroes was born in Cordova in 520/1126, where
he was to become the chief judge (qå¿¥) later in life. But the political
situation of Andalusia changed, and Ibn Rushd fell from political favor.
He spent the last part of his life in Marrakesh, where he died in
595/1198.
This greatest speculative philosopher of the Maghrib was to have
two distinct destinies. In the West he became known as the commentator
par excellence of Aristotle: hence the words of Dante, “Averrois
che’l gran comento feo” (Divine Comedy, Inferno; iv, 144). It was through
his eyes that for a long time the West saw Aristotle, and by mistake
Averroes became known as the author of the double truth theory and
the inspiration for a politicized Averroism. He even came to be known
as the symbol of a rationalism opposed to religious faith, a view that
continued into the modern period, as seen by the classical work of the
nineteenth-century French rationalist Ernest Renan. 57 Averroes became
a major figure in Western intellectual history, and in fact most of his
works have survived not in the original Arabic but in Hebrew and
Latin. As a result, there came into being a distinct school known as
Latin Averroism. 58
The Muslim Ibn Rushd was quite a different figure. Besides seeking
to present the pure teachings of Aristotle, his main aim was to
harmonize religion and philosophy. But his real thesis was not “double
truth” but recourse to ta˘w¥l, which is so important for the understanding
of the whole Islamic philosophical tradition. According to
this principle as understood by Ibn Rushd, there are not two contradictory
truths but a single truth that is presented in the form of religion
and, through ta˘w¥l, results in philosophical knowledge. Religion
is for everyone, whereas philosophy is only for those who possess the
necessary intellectual faculties. Yet, the truth reached by one group is
not contradictory to the truth discovered by the other. The principle
of ta˘w¥l permits the harmony between religion and philosophy. 59 The
whole thrust of the philosophy of Ibn Rushd, who was at once a pious
Muslim and an authority in the Shar¥‘ah and a great philosopher, was
to harmonize faith and reason. He represents yet another fruit of the
tree of philosophy that has grown and thrived in the land of prophecy.