162 chapter five
distinctive features. The spread of the religio-political philosophy, the
critique of the Greek philosophy, the development of the Islamic
juridical philosophy, and the establishment of a coherent school of
mysticism are most prominent. These are highlighted below.
Islamic religio-political philosophy
The Islamic religio-political philosophy developed so rapidly that in
a short period it reached a stage of a considerable diversion and
high complexity. Very often a philosophy would be introduced, from
which another would be developed, which would breed a third, from
which a fourth would be generated, and so on. Various sects in
Islamic religious philosophy existed, some very often contradictory,
and many with political implications. Allegations went as far as accus-
ing some of these sects, such as some Isma"ilite sects, of heresy, com-
munism and unacceptable religious practice.
Interestingly enough, the thinking of Muslims on religio-political
philosophy during that period seemed to have shaped the thinking
of Muslims for many years to come. The Mu"atazilah, the Ash"ariah,
flùfìsm, Asceticism, Mysticism, theosophy, pantheism, Fraternal order,
the Rosary, the cult of Saints, Shì"ah, Isma"ìliyyah, Batiniyyah, Qar-
matiyyah, the Assàssìns, Nusayris, Druzes, Takhtajis (woodcutters) of
western Anatolia, Ali-Illahis of Persia and Turkestan, Qizil-bash (red-
heads) of the east of Anatolia, and the Baktashis of Turkey and
Albania and the Zaydis of al-Yemen, are the main sects and con-
cepts that developed in Islamic religious philosophy over the period
from the early ninth century to the early eleventh century (Mahmoud,
1986).
Religious sects were severely criticised by Muslim scholars. For
example, we find the eminent scholar al-Ghazàlì(1058–1111) con-
demning them and regarding them as those described as being on
the wrong path. In his criticism, al-Ghazàlìcondemned those who
changed the concepts, perception and meaning of Islamic phrasing
and terminology. He elucidated that Fiqh, instead of being the sci-
ence of the knowledge of the meaning of the Qur"àn and the Sunnah,
had become the science of the unusual legal cases, mystery of the
minutest details of jurisprudence and excessive debates over them.
Ilm, the science of the knowledge of God and His verses, became
the science of those who could well debate the cases of jurispru-
dence with their adversaries, and those who could not do that were