368 Ibn Sina, Abu Ali al-Husayn
was invited to the ALMOHADcourt at MARRAKECHto help
establish Islamic educational institutions, translating,
abridging, and commenting on works of ARISTOTLE in
1169.
CAREER AND WRITINGIbn Rushd was appointed a judge in SEVILLEat the age of
44, just as he finished translating and abridging Aristo-
tle’s On the Soul.This book was later translated into LATIN
by MICHAELScot. Two years later he was transferred to
Córdoba, his birthplace, where he served 10 years as a
judge. During that time Ibn Rushd wrote further com-
mentaries on the works of Aristotle, including The Meta-
physics.He was called back for a time to Marrakech as a
physician to the CALIPHthere, before a return to Córdoba
to be chief judge.
Ibn Rushd was a deeply religious man, as was clear
in the depth of his faith and knowledge of the QURAN
and prophetic traditions, quoted in support of his views
in his writing. For Ibn Rushd true happiness was
achieved through religious belief and psychological
health. One could not enjoy this health unless one’s
ways led to happiness in the hereafter as a result of a
strong belief in GOD. Ibn Rushd commented that ISLAM
sought true knowledge, the knowledge of God and of
creation.
LEGACY IN PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGYIn philosophy, his most important work was written in
response to AL-GHAZALI’s work. Ibn Rushd was criticized
by many Muslim scholars for this book, which, neverthe-
less, had a profound influence on European thought,
from the 13th century on. On fate he believed that
humans were not in full control of their destiny, which
was not fully predetermined. He wrote three commen-
taries on the works of Aristotle, known to the West
through translations. These three commentaries probably
correspond to different stages in the education of pupils.
In addition, Ibn Rushd wrote many books on the ques-
tions of THEOLOGY; in them he tried to apply his knowl-
edge of philosophy and logic.
LEGACIES IN MEDICINE, ASTRONOMY,
TRANSLATIONSIn medicine, his well-known book Kitab al-Kulyat fi al-
Tibbwas written before 1162. Ibn Rushd wrote on vari-
ous aspects of medicine, such as diagnoses, cures, and
prevention of diseases. In astronomy, he wrote a treatise
on the motion of the spheres. Ibn Rushd’s writings were
translated into various languages, including Latin,
English, German, and Hebrew. Ibn Rushd has been con-
sidered one of the greatest thinkers and scientists of the
12th century. His commentaries were even used as stan-
dard texts instead of the treatises of Aristotle in the 14th
and 15th centuries. His books were read in Europe until
the advent of modern experimental sciences. In reality,
however, Ibn Rushd did not hold many of the views
attributed to him by Christians. He died in 1198.
Further reading:Oliver Leaman, Averroës and His
Philosophy(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988); Ralph M.
McInerny, Aquinas against the Averroists: On There Being
Only One Intellect(West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue Univer-
sity Press, 1993).Ibn Sina, Abu Ali al-Husayn (Avicenna)(980–1037)
philosopher, physician
Ibn Sina was born at Kharmatain, near BUKHARA, in 980
and was educated there. He displayed extraordinary pre-
cocity, and when he was 10 years old, he had mastered
the Quran and learned algebra. He went on to study
LOGIC, Euclid, and the Almagest,and then, as a diversion,
MEDICINE.
Twenty-one when he composed his Book of the Sum
Total,whose ideas he later illuminated in a 20-volume
commentary, after serving as physician to the sultan, he
was promoted by Sultan Mansur II (r. 976–999) to the
office of grand vizier. After a political revolution over-
threw the SAMANID dynasty in 1005, Ibn Sina left
BUKHARA and wandered from place to place gaining
employment as a physician.
About 1012 he was able to begin his great work on
MEDICINE. It presented a summary of the doctrines of the
ancient Greek physicians, the Canon of Medicine. He
became a physician to the Persian sovereign for a while.
Acknowledging his failing health, he freed his slaves,
gave his wealth to the poor, and died near Hamadan, at
the age of 57 or 58 in 1037 while accompanying a mili-
tary campaign.
Ibn Sina or Avicenna wrote nearly 100 works on PHI-
LOSOPHY, mathematics, and medicine and at least seven
treatises on ALCHEMY. His Canon of Medicineacquired a
great reputation in Europe and was translated into LATIN
and Hebrew.
Further reading: Avicenna, Avicenna on Theology
(Westport, Conn.: Hyperion Press, 1979); Soheil Muhsin
Afnan, Avicenna, His Life and Works(1958; reprint, West-
port, Conn.: Greenwood Press 1980); Lenn Evan Good-
man, Avicenna (New York: Routledge, 1992); Sirat
al-Shaykh al-Rais, The Life of Ibn Sina: A Critical Edition
and Annotated Translation, ed. William E. Gohlman
(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1974);
David B. Burrell, Knowing the Unknowable God: Ibn-Sina,
Maimonides, Aquinas(Notre Dame, Ind.: University of
Notre Dame Press, 1986).Ibn Tumart(the Mahdi of the Almohads)(ca. 1080–
1130)Berber leader, founder of the Almohad movement
A Masmuda tribal BERBERborn about 1080 in a mountain
village in southern MOROCCO, Ibn Tumart showed remark-
able piety as a youth. In pursuit of religious learning, he
left home in 1105 or 1106 to study Islamic THEOLOGY, and