antagonism between the philosophical heritage
of the Greeks and God’s revelations. Al-Kindi’s
conclusion, however, found few adherents, as
kalam and falsafa developed relatively indepen-
dent of each other, marked by periods of fertile
conflict and constructive engagement. Intrigu-
ingly, a philosophical disposition is at the core
of Mutazili theology, as the mUtazili school
represents a species of theological rationalism in
which reason (aql) is accorded pride of place in
the determination of God’s will as revealed in the
prophetic traditions, the Quran, and hadith. abU
nasr al-Farabi (ca. 870–950) is the tradition’s
first truly systematic philosopher and logician,
having penned a distinguished work of Islamic
political philosophy inspired by several Platonic
dialogues. Disagreeing with al-Sirafi, al-Farabi
stressed the fundamental differences between
the logic of philosophy and the rules of gram-
mar, with grammar unable to provide the logical
constraints for reasoning in language, nor was it
sufficient for explaining the kinds of reasoning
employed in the Islamic sciences.
Ibn Sina was a first-rate logician and the tradi-
tion’s greatest Neoplatonic philosopher. His impact
on medieval Christian theology and philosophy
was profound, as was his influence on European
science and literature. Indeed, he is responsible for
articulating the metaphysical vocabulary appropri-
ated by St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274). Like Ibn Sina
before him, Ibn Rushd was a polymath, yet unlike
his predecessor, he was deeply involved in public
life, first as a judge of Seville and later as chief
judge of Cordoba, while also serving as the sultan’s
physician. For Ibn Rushd, philosophy and religion
converge on the same truths, revelations speaking
through narrative, allegory, symbol, analogy, and
metaphor, while philosophy communicates with
the logical consistency, coherence, and concep-
tual clarity evidenced in the certitude attained by
syllogistic demonstration, a method befitting the
exalted reasoning of the philosophers.
There appears to be consensus among many
contemporary Muslim intellectuals that Islamic
philosophy reached its quintessential expres-
sion in the work of Muhammad ibn Ibrahim
al-Qawami al-Shirazi, better known as mUllah
sadra (ca. 1572–1640). This is in consonance
with the historical observation that since the 12th
century, the cultivation of Islamic philosophy has
taken place largely on Shii soil, especially its Per-
sian precincts. In the modern period, something
of Islamic philosophy persists in the writings of
Jamal al-din al-aFghani (1838–97) and mUham-
mad abdUh (1849–1905), although their output,
together with that of mUhammad rashid rida
(1865–1935) and sayyid qUtb (1906–66), is more
aptly seen as the product of Muslim intellectuals
rather than the musings of philosophers. Still,
our time knows something of Islamic philosophy
in the precious few works of the Indo-Pakistan
poet-philosopher mUhammad iqbal (1877–1938),
while seyyed hossein nasr (b. 1933) remains the
best-known and most prolific contemporary Mus-
lim philosopher.
See also aFterliFe; allah; creation; Fat e; rev-
elation; soUl and spirit.
Patrick S. O’DonnellFurther reading: Peter A. Adamson and Richard C. Tay-
lor, eds., The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philoso-
phy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005);
Majid Fakhry, A History of Islamic Philosophy, 3d ed.
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2004); Lenn E.
Goodman, Islamic Humanism (New York: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 2003); Oliver Leaman, A Brief Introduc-
tion to Islamic Philosophy (Oxford: Polity Press, 1999);
———, An Introduction to Classical Islamic Philosophy
2d ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002);
Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman, eds., History
of Islamic Philosophy (London: Routledge, 2001).pilgrimage See hajj; umra; ziyara.
Pillars of Islam See five pillars.
Pillars of Islam 555 J