VIEWPOINTS AROUND 1000 | 207from the physical world. But this is conceived of in a Muslim context: Islam
is the culmination of human experience. A roughly contemporary and again
anonymous Syriac compilation, The book of the cause of all causes, likewise
mobilizes encyclopedic knowledge in the service of a “universal religion” de-
signed for all peoples, but this time necessarily Christocentric.^37 Sectarian
allegiances remained undeniably strong, alongside an awareness of the con-
gruence of notable traditions both human and divine.
Baghdad/Rationality
As the “metropolis of Islam,”^38 Baghdad was home not only to philosophers
and members of the Brethren, but to eminent Qurʾān scholars and experts
on tradition and law. Among the Jewish population were to be found follow-
ers of rabbinical tradition, but also (as we saw in chapter 6) Karaites, philoso-
phers, scriptural commentators, all—even the Talmudists—indebted to the
fertilizing influence of the city’s cultural life with its strong Muslim coloring.
The Christian communities too were still vibrant, aware as ever of their own
differences but also contributors, perhaps disproportionately, to philosophi-
cal debate.
Contacts might be abrasive, precisely because of these different groups’
many shared concerns and traditions, and the doubts and temptations that
arose from a situation of religious pluralism—too much choice. At least
three types of discourse or debate resulted. Within the “minority” communi-
ties, educated elites were concerned to fend off doubt and apostasy by clearly
articulating dogma and identity and proposing model arguments to be de-
ployed against critics.^39 Then, between community leaders, formal debates
might occur, or be staged for their own entertainment by caliphs or viziers.
Such debates often involved the trading of Biblical or Qurʾanic proof texts. If
done with rhetorical and dialectical skill, this method might gain applause
and even benefit one’s community;^40 but it was philosophically sterile and
redundant even by scripturalist standards if, as the Qur’ān stated, the Jews
and Christians had indeed tampered with their holy books. Finally, some
intellectuals were interested in getting at the “truth” behind the symbolic or
37 G. J. Reinink, “Communal identity and the systematization of knowledge in the Syriac “Cause
of all causes,”” in Binkley (ed.), Pre- modern encyclopaedic texts [7:33] 275–88.
38 Al- Muqaddasī, The best divisions for knowledge of the regions (Ahsan al- taqāsīm fī maʿrifat al-
aqālīm) [ed. M. J. de Goeje (Leiden 1877, corrected reprint 1906); tr. B. Collins (Reading 1994)] 119.
39 See Saadia Gaon, Book of beliefs and opinions (Kitāb al- mukhtār fī ’l- amānāt wa’l- iʿtiqādāt) [ed.
y. Qāfih ( Jerusalem 1970); tr. S. Rosenblatt (New Haven 1948)], Prolegomena; D. Sklare, “Responses to
Islamic polemics by Jewish mutakallimūn in the tenth century,” in Lazarus- yafeh and others (eds), Majlis
[7:33] 141–42, 146.
40 Lazarus- yafeh and others (eds), Majlis [7:33].