Eighth to the Sixteenth Century - Rashid Islamic Center

The Mosque, the Laboratory, and the Market • 87century. Ibn Rushd felt compelled to justify their study, whileIbn as-Salah, astonishingly, denied their legitimacy (as wesaw earlier in the chapter). I know of no analogous discussionin the late Latin Middle Ages in which any natural philosopher ortheologian felt compelled to determine whether the Bible permitted thestudy of secular subjects. It was simply assumed that it did. (Grant2004, 241–42, emphasis added)Disregarding the presence of Goldziher, two noteworthyaspects of this passage are (i) the author’s unstated aim to present acomparison between Christianity and Islam (the italicized portionof the quotation) in which he attempts to show two highly respectedMuslim scholars (Ibn Rushd and Ibn as-Salah) mired in debate on anissue that had long been resolved in Christianity and (ii) his lack ofunderstanding of the technical terms used in the original texts. IbnRushd’s celebrated treatise, Kitâb fašl li’l-maqâl wa taqrîr mâ bayna alsharî‘ahwa’l hikmah min’l ittišâl, mistranslated as On the Harmony ofReligion and Philosophy, has nothing to do with science and religiondebates whatsoever. Grant is apparently using George Hourani’sEnglish translation (listed in his bibliography), and not the originalArabic, but even this problematic translation with an incorrect titleclearly indicates that the subject of the treatise is to determine, froman Islamic legal perspective, the nature, limits, and conditions ofthe use of falsafah (philosophy) and mantiq (logic). Ibn Rushd, let usrecall, was born into a family of distinguished scholars and juristswho had held the office of Grand Qâdi (Judge) for two generationsbefore his birth; he himself was to become the preeminent GrandQâdi (Judge) of Cordoba and was duly trained in sharî‘ah (IslamicLaw) as well as all branches of Islamic learning of the time, includingjurisprudence (fiqh), medicine, and falsafah. His works include bookson a wide range of topics, including philosophy, medicine, IslamicLaw, astronomy, and music. The purpose of this particular book,whose Arabic title can be translated as A Decisive Book and Commentaryon What Is Common in Islamic Law and Wisdom, is to ascertain, asIbn Rushd himself tells us, “from an Islamic Legal point of view(ala jahtan nazar al-shari‘) the position of falsafah (philosophy) andmantiq (logic), whether they as branches of knowledge (‘ulum) arepraiseworthy (mubah), prohibited (mahzur), or commanded (ma’mur)”