The Role of Islam in the Development of Philosophical Thought
(1)
By:
Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Hamdy Zaqzouq
President of Al-Azhar Center for Dialogue
Edited by:
Dr. Kamal Boraiqa Abdelsalam Hassan
Al-Azhar Magazine (Rabi’ Al-Awwal, 1441 A.H. November, 2019.)
This subject will be discussed from two angles: First a reference will be made to some of the important ideas contained in the Islamic teachings which have had and continue to have a tremendous impact on the development of human thought. Then we will later discuss how Islamic thought was transmitted to Europe and the great effect of Ijtihad in activating and consolidating the revival in thought and culture in the West.
The systematic aspect:
Islam had ensured the presence of all the essential conditions for the emergence of an intellectual movement among Muslims. This movement took place and flourished in all Muslim countries and was able to take up creative relations with all the different cultures it interacted with. Muslims never rejected any culture in principle but accepted it in so far it was positive and useful. The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an says: "in this way God illustrates truth and falsehood- the froth disappears, but what is of benefit to man stays behind- this is how God makes illustrations." (surah 13,verse 17) In other words, one should accept all that is positive and useful and reject all that is negative and void of any benefit. The Prophet says, "To seek knowledge is a duty enjoined upon every Muslim, male and female". He also said, "Wisdom is the believer’s ultimate goal: he has a right to it wherever he may find it." These sayings were like lamps that illumined the minds in order to show their way to unlimited knowledge and science. The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an has highly praised in clear terms all knowledge and men of learning. The very first verses that were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) urged him to seek knowledge. The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an considers the scholars to be the most God -fearing people because they understand the profound secrets of Allah's creations and are aware of the magnificence of this universe and the beauty of all creations. Islam has equated the ink of the men of learning with the blood of the martyrs.
The foundations laid down by Islam for the development and growth of human thought were not merely theoretical foundations. They were indeed concrete measures which were of immense fruitfulness for the Islamic society. The Islamic state was tolerant with philosophy and philosophers to a greater extent. As for the examples of some Muslim philosophers who were subjected to many hardships and calamities in their lives, they were victims of political intrigues.
Their plight was neither due to any prohibition of philosophy nor due to any suppression of freedom of thought. Islam can confront any culture without any cause for fear as long as its believers understand the Islamic principles and goals. Islam has never been an impediment in the path of research in the natural sciences as was already witnessed in Europe in the Middle Ages.
Indeed Islam has even been behind every achievement recorded by Muslim scientists. We find in the Ever-Glorious Qur‘an numerous references that show that Islam has granted unrestrained freedom to all intellectual efforts. Following are some examples of this intellectual approach in the Ever-Glorious Qur‘an:
a) The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an presents quite accurately the opinions of the antagonists and then answers them with irrefutable explanations based on sound logic and genuine creative power. It records the views of the idolaters, materialists, infidels, and hypocrites, and comments on them in a convincing manner supported by unmistakable proofs and the most powerful arguments. For instance, when the infidels deny resurrection after death by stating: "They say, ‘There is only our life in this world: we die, we live, nothing but time destroys us.’ They have no knowledge of this; they only follow guesswork. Their only argument," (Surah 45, verse 24), The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an retorts: "But of this they have no knowledge; they merely conjecture".
Here The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an differentiates between conjecture and knowledge, thereby drawing our attention to the necessity that we scrutinize our opinions and judgments and that we ascertain the soundness of their sources. The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an thus urges us towards objective criticism.
The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an cautions against passing judgments on matters of which one is not fully informed so that one may avoid errors and contradictions. In this context The Ever- Glorious Qur‘an says: "Do not follow blindly what you do not know to be true: ears, eyes, and heart, you will be questioned about all these." (Sura 17, verse 36) When, for instance, the infidels alleged that the angels were female, The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an commented by saying: "They consider the angels- God’s servants- to be female. Did they witness their creation? Their claim will be put on record and they will be questioned about it." (Sura 43, verse 19) In other words, The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an states that if this assumption of yours is correct, it should be based on observation and scrutiny, which are the means for true knowledge and perception.
b) The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an tells us about the intellectual debate between Abraham (may peace be upon him) and his people regarding divinity. The rational arguments used by Abraham are presented in an excellent step- by- step manner. This argumentation is an ideal model for the manner in which the intellect argues, draws its conclusions, and attains certitude. The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an refers to this certitude in the following verse: "In this way, We showed Abraham [God’s] mighty dominion over the heavens and the earth, so that he might be a firm believer." (Sura 6, verse 75).
The Islamic culture has produced many eminent philosophers, for example Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina,Al-Ghazali, Ibn Baja, Ibn Tufail and Ibn Rushd. Especially the ninth and tenth centuries of the Christian era witnessed excellent intellectual activities among the Muslims.
While translating the Greek philosophy into Arabic the Muslims also proved their skill in assimilating it and making new contributions to it as well as pointing out its shortcomings. They were, of course, aware of the fact that philosophy is an ever-growing discipline and cannot remain stagnant. Abu Bakr Al-Razi (864-925 A.D) says in this connection: "Generations after generations participate in building the edifice of philosophy; each generation adds something new to this edifice. No generation in particular has had the last word in the realm of philosophy. If this were to happen, then philosophy would become a frozen subject and condemned to eternal barrenness".
Muslim intellectuals rendered distinguished services in many other fields too. We may mention here as an example the science of Algebra, which was of their innovation. They had evolved it from absolute nothingness. This science still continues to carry the Arab name in Western languages. The Muslims added to the numerals that are commonly known by the name of Arabic numerals the cipher which caused a real revolution in the science of Mathematics. The logarithms were evolved by a Muslim mathematician, Al-Khuwarizimi by name, who died about the year 847 A.D.
But we don't intend to turn our attention away from the subject of our discussion in order to enumerate the vast number of achievements of the Muslim mind in the world of sciences; that would be a quite time-consuming endeavor. Neither are we here to blow our trumpets and talk about our past glories. We only want to place on record some of the marvelous achievements in the field of knowledge that were made possible due to Islamic teachings. The fruits of these endeavors were later transmitted to Europe through the various translations that were begun to be rendered beginning from the early part of the twelfth century of the Christian era. These translations made a tremendous impact and brought about a new awakening, a fact that has been endorsed by impartial European historians.
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The Role of Islam in the Development of Philosophical Thought
(2)
By:
Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Hamdy Zaqzouq
President of Al-Azhar Center for Dialogue
Edited by:
Dr. Kamal Boraiqa Abdelsalam Hassan
Al-Azhar Magazine (Rabiʼ-ul-Akhir, 1441 A.H. December, 2019.)
We would now like to mention some of the important ideas introduced by Islam that had a decisive effect in the development of human thought and culture. We shall mention in this article only one example: 1. the principle of Ijtihad, which means independent thinking. In the coming article we will discuss another example that will reflect the role of Islam in the development of philosophical thought.
The principle of Ijtihad
Islam has emphasized the ideas of the Oneness of God, the closing of the prophethood, and the termination of a guardianship over the human mind. After the closing of prophethood and the cessation of divine revelations, the human mind had now to depend on itself for all matters regarding which there was no clear religious text, and had to rely on its own abilities. It is from this viewpoint that the Ever-Glorious Qur‘an calls upon man to make use of his intellect and to adopt constantly an empirical approach; it also calls upon man to contemplate this universe and to acquaint himself with the men and life of the past ages. It urges him to consider all these ways of thinking as important sources of human knowledge.
Starting from this basis, Islam has taken several important steps that could help in the development of thought and urge man to think and reflect in order to carry on the tasks of progress and development. Among these steps was the principle of Ijtihad, i.e. independent thinking in matters pertaining to the Shari‘ah (Islamic law). That was the beginning of the intellectual approach among Muslims. This principle prevailed under the protection of the teachings of the Ever-Glorious Qur‘an. Ijtihad is considered the dynamic principle of Islam as stated by the famous philosopher Muhammad Iqbal (died 1938).
The toleration of Islam went to the extent that it encourages the human mind to make its own decisions even concerning religious matters about which there existed neither a Quranic text nor a Hadith of the Prophet. It granted the human intellect full freedom and urged it to do its best. In this context an Islamic ruling was adopted that ran as follows: "If a Mujtahid (i.e. one who exercises his independent thinking) is wrong in his conclusions, he will have one reward, and if he is right in his conclusions, he will have two rewards". It is narrated by Mu‘adh Ibn Jabal, a companion of the Prophet Muhammd, that when the Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him) sent him to be the governor of Yemen, he (the Prophet) asked him, “How will you judge when the occasion of deciding a case arises? He replied: I shall judge in accordance with Allah's Book. He asked: (What will you do) if you do not find any guidance in Allah's Book? He replied: (I shall act) in accordance with the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah. He asked: (What will you do) if you do not find any guidance in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah and in Allah's Book? He replied: I shall do my best to use my independent thinking to form an opinion and I shall spare no effort. The Messenger of Allah then patted him on the breast and said: Praise be to Allah Who has helped the messenger of the Messenger of Allah to find something which pleases the Messenger of Allah.
The principle of Ijtihad (independent thinking) had a tremendous effect on the shaping and enriching the studies pertaining to Islamic Jurisprudence. It helped evolve quick solutions of problems that had no precedents in the early period of Islam. It is on the basis of this principle that the four schools of Islamic Jurisprudence came into existence. These four schools still exist in the Muslim world. Ijtihad also led to the birth of a new discipline of philosophy known as the principles of Islamic Jurisprudence; it is considered to be the philosophical basis for the Islamic law. The scholar who pioneered in this field and developed this branch of study was Imam al-Shafa'i; this took place before Islamic thought was influenced by the Greek thought.
Thus the Muslim's reliance upon his intellect in making decisions on matters regarding which there is no clear edict, was the first landmark in Islam's approach towards the human mind. It is the foundation on which the culture of Islam was ushered into this world over a span of several centuries during which it bore the best of its fruits.
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The Role of Islam in the Development of Philosophical Thought
(3)
By:
Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Hamdy Zaqzouq
President of Al-Azhar Center for Dialogue
Edited by:
Dr. Kamal Boraiqa Abdelsalam Hassan
Al-Azhar Magazine (Jumada al-awwal, 1441 A.H. January, 2020.)
2. The idea of moderation:
With regard to the second important Islamic concept, namely the path of moderation or the middle-path approach, we find that it pervades all the teachings of Islam. Man is made up of body and soul. Islam does not want either of these two components to prevail over the other in a manner that would disturb the balance between the two. Islam seeks to maintain a harmony or reconciliation between the demands of body and soul. Man should, therefore, enjoy all the good things of life but at the same time he should not neglect the demands of his soul. The Ever-Glorious Quran says, "But seek, with the (wealth) which God had bestowed on thee, the Home of the Hereafter, nor forget the portion in this World". (Sura 28, verse 77) And the Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him) says, “Strive in this World of yours as though you are going to live in it forever and strive for the next World as though you are going to die tomorrow".
The Prophet one day heard three of his companions in conversation regarding their religious duties, and he found that they were exaggerating to the extent of nearly fully neglecting the demands of their bodies. One of them said that he spends the whole night in prayers; the second one said that he continuously observes fasting; and the third man said that he keeps away from women and has never married. The Prophet did not approve of their attitudes and explained to them that although he himself was the most Godfearing and the most pious man, he fasted and broke his fast, he offered prayers, slept and married. And that was his path to be adhered to; whoever deviated from this straight path, kept himself away from the Prophet's teachings.
This idea of moderation, which should decide about the relations between body and mind, should also determine the relationship between intellect and religion. Islam always avoids any conflict or contradiction between intellect and religion, because they both emanate from one source. God has created both in order to provide guidance to man and to show him the right path. The intellect and religion are both works of the Perfect Being, namely God and the works of the Perfect Being cannot contradict each other.
From the Islamic point of view, it is not allowed to start from the assumption that there is a conflict between intellect and religion, and that man has to choose between them both. Because they are both essential factors that are connected with each other and do not contradict each other. Man is in need of both of them. True religion does not hinder the human mind to philosophize. On the contrary, it grants the intellect the right to think, reflect, and contemplate in the kingdom of heaven and earth. Indeed it urges him to do so. Islam considers the human mind the pivot and the essence of humanity. If the functioning of the human mind is hampered due to ignorance or negligence or short sightedness, then the humanity of man is violated, and he is reduced to the level of an animal.
Islam has thus ended the fictitious enmity between religion and intellect. Islam, therefore, is not in need of secularism because the reasons that led to the evolution of the concept of secularism in Europe do not exist in Islam. The popular allegation that there is a never-ending conflict between religion and intellect or between religion and science does not apply to the religion of Islam. In Islam both these components make one integrated unit.
The middle-path approach and the spirit of moderation that are embedded in the teachings of Islam have made a great impact on the Islamic culture in general and philosophical thought in particular. It is as a result of this approach that Muslim philosophers began to emphasize the reconciliation between religion and philosophy, founded on the fact that the ultimate goal for both religion and philosophy is to attain the truth. The Muslim philosophers adopted several methods in this context.
Ibn Miskawaih (died 1030 A.D.) focused the attention on the ultimate goal. He, therefore, deliberated about the idea of reconciliation between the goal of ethics, which is a branch of philosophy, and religion, since they both aim at the happiness of mankind.
Another thinker, Ibn Hazm, paid attention to the practical meaning of philosophy and religion. He was of the opinion that both religion and philosophy seek to reform the human soul, and that there is no contradiction between philosophy and Islam.
The philosopher Al-Kindi (701 - 865 A.D.) defined philosophy as the knowledge of the essence of things. In this view philosophy cannot contradict religion because the ultimate goal for both is one and the same.
Al-Farabi (870-950 A.D.) was of the opinion that the subjects of religion and philosophy are one and the same because both impart the basic principles of all things that exist in this universe. They impart the knowledge of the first principle and the first cause for everything that exists in this universe, and they impart the knowledge of the ultimate aim for which man has been created, i.e. the ultimate happiness. True philosophy dos not contradict true religion. If there is some kind of contradiction between both, it can only be due to the weak structure of a particular school of philosophy wherein the arguments that lead to certitude are still in a state of insufficiency. In the opinion of AlFarabi truth is one but the paths that lead to it are numerous.
Ibn Sina (980-1036 A.D.) was of the opinion that there does not exist in the domains of wisdom (i.e. philosophy) anything that contradicts religion. But if any philosopher deviates from the path of religion it is as a result of his own inability and shortcomings and not because of his preoccupation with philosophy, because philosophy does not lead to such a consequence.
Ibn Tufail (1110-1185 A.D.) has shown in his well-known philosophical novel entitled Hay Ibn Yaqzan how man can attain knowledge of the spiritual world and of God and the immortality of the soul without the aid of any external source, only with his intellect, and that this knowledge he attains does not contradict religion.
Ibn Rushd has made a general comparison between the basic principles of religion and philosophy in spite of the differences in the methods of both. He has shown in his treatise Faslu Al maqal the harmony between religion and philosophy by stating, "Truth does not contradict truth, but on the contrary they concur with each other and mutually testify for each other". He has also said," Verily, wisdom (which means philosophy) is the companion of Islam and its foster-sister; they always go hand in hand and love each other in essence and by instinct".
Al-Ghazali (1059-1111 A.D.) has emphasized the need to maintain the unity between religion and intellect, although he does not use the word 'Philosophy' in this connection. According to him, man cannot renounce either religion or intellect. The intellect is the basis on which the edifice of religion is built, and it is impossible to imagine the latter without the first, and a foundation without an edifice is without use. Therefore, Al-Ghazali is of the opinion that they both are closely united and cannot be separated from each other. Whoever tries to destroy one of these two is, in the opinion of Al-Ghazali, either ignorant or self-conceited. He has further said that if there is no contradiction between intellect and religion, there is of course no contradiction between the humane sciences and the religious disciplines either. The inability to fuse the two together can in his opinion only be due to a lack of sense of perception and discernment.
We may now, after having surveyed the viewpoints of the Muslim philosophers of the Middle Ages concerning the reconciliation between intellect and religion, move on to consider the viewpoints of modern philosophy. Here we should like to cite as an example the famous thinker Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905). About the relationship between religion and intellect in Islam he says "The intellect and religion found themselves in harmony with each other for the first time on the basis of a Sacred Book (i.e. The Quran) revealed to a Messenger of God in a clear manner that does not permit any casuistry". And as Muhammad Abduh further points out it came to be accepted among all Muslims, except those who cannot be trusted neither for their religion nor for their intellect, that there are religious principles which cannot be given credence except through the intellect, such as the knowledge of the existence of God, of the Messengers that are sent by God, of understanding the meaning of the Message and endorsing it.
It has also been unanimously agreed upon that if religion conveys anything beyond human understanding, it cannot, however, convey anything that contradicts the intellect. The intellect is, therefore, the closest supporter of the religion of Islam.
It is evident from the above that Islam has always taken the clear position that there is unity between religion and intellect. Anyone who studies the history of the development of the Islamic disciplines will note that the spirit of conciliation has by and large prevailed among the Muslims with regard to all disciplines. We notice this conciliation in Islamic theology, Islamic law, mysticism, and philosophy. The chief aim of the Arab philosophers was to present to the world a complete theory on the unity of the universe in a manner acceptable to religion and intellect. It is for this reason that they sought to reconcile the ethical, spiritual, and philosophical aspects of knowledge.
There are contemporary Muslim scholars who justly put an emphasis on the importance of the vital role played by Islam in developing human thought in general-a fact that we have already pointed out. This role is especially manifest in the excellent synthesis that the Islamic culture evolved from the positive elements of the two opposing cultures neighboring each other, namely the Persian culture on one side and the Roman culture on the other side. The former had a mystic imprint while the latter had a rational and intellectual imprint. With the advent of Islam and its dissemination, the barriers that separated these two cultures were demolished and Islam gave to the world a new Islamic culture befitting any milieu. The Islamic culture was forged as a universal culture because the basic tenets of Islam enable man to make use of his mind in intellectual matters and all matters concerning his life. These basic tenets also prepare man for direct contact with God. Thus the East and West converged in one culture. It was a culture that fused mystic intuition with logical reasoning in a manner that produced great Muslim mystics as well as great Muslim philosophers.
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The Role of Islam in the Development of Philosophical Thought
(4)
By:
Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Hamdy Zaqzouq
President of Al-Azhar Center for Dialogue
Edited by:
Dr. Kamal Boraiqa Abdelsalam Hassan
Al-Azhar Magazine (Jumada AL-Akhera, 1441 A.H. February, 2020.)
3. The Islamic view of history
Several verses of the Ever-Glorious Qur‘an underline the fact that human knowledge is dependent on the senses as well as on the intellect. In other words, it rules out all other knowledge that is dependent on superstitions, delusions, divinations, witchcraft, etc.
If we study the verses of the Ever-Glorious Qur‘an carefully, we can trace the principles of knowledge regarding the paramount truths such as God, the universe, man, and values; we can also learn about the principles underlying practical life in this world, and we may also gain knowledge about the science of ethics. The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an also contains the method by which one can obtain pragmatic knowledge (based on the senses) and theoretical knowledge.
The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an focuses attention also on history since it considers history one of the sources of human knowledge. The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an tells us a lot about the previous nations and urges us to take heed of the experiences of our fellow human beings of the past and the present. In this context it presents to us the principles of a method by which we can deal with the history of mankind. This method proceeds from merely collocating and surveying the events of history to the attempt to find the laws that are described in the Ever-Glorious Qur‘an as the laws laid down by Allah.
The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an also emphasizes the necessity of scrutinizing facts accurately. It says, "Believers, if a troublemaker brings you news, check it first, in case you wrong others unwittingly and later regret what you have done," (Sura 49, verse 6) It has thus set forth an important principle of historical criticism. It enunciates the fact that the personal integrity of the narrator is an important factor in assessing his narration. The Muslims derived great benefit from this principle when they applied it to the traditions (hadiths i.e. words) of the Prophet. Later on, the principles of historical criticism developed gradually as a result of the application of this method.
Muslim historians acquired from the Ever-Glorious Qur‘an two main ideas that deeply influenced their writing of history. The first idea is the idea of the unity of the origin of mankind. The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an states that God has created all human beings from one soul, and that he who kills a person without any justification is deemed to have committed an outrage on the whole mankind; and he who saves a life is deemed to have saved therewith all human beings. The Ever-Glorious Qur‘an seeks to make this idea a vital factor in the daily life of every Muslim. The second idea is the concept of human existence as a continuous movement in time. Thus history is a continuous and evergrowing and inevitable movement of the whole community. These Quranic ideas have been of great influence on Ibn Khaldun's (1332-1406) philosophical view of history. The famous treatise of Ibn Khaldun entitled Al-Muqaddima,i.e. Introduction to History, conveys in most of its parts the inspiration that the author drew from the Ever-Glorious Qur‘an. As is well known, Ibn Khaldun is the first philosopher of history and a unique pioneer in the field of social philosophy. He was the first thinker to attempt to determine causes and factors that influenced human societies. He grasped very ably the problems in question, and his analyses were supported by convincing proofs. He considered the problems from different angles such as human races and their inborn traits, climatic conditions, the sources that are at man's disposal for earning his livelihood, and so on. Ibn Khaldun surveyed all these factors and explained their impact on the intellectual and physical formations of the individuals and of the society. He was of the opinion that culture and prosperity of mankind are governed by certain permanent laws.
We have thus surveyed the extent of Islam's contribution to the development and support of philosophical thought and human culture through the three concepts of Ijtihad, middle-path approach, and Islam's view of history. Needless to say, these three concepts are only a few examples among a multitude of other concepts that Islam has endowed to humanity. Now we would like to discuss the historical aspect of Islam's influence on the development of philosophical thought outside the Islamic world.
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The Role of Islam in the Development of Philosophical Thought
(6)
By:
Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Hamdy Zaqzouq
President of Al-Azhar Center for Dialogue
Edited by:
Dr. Kamal Boraiqa Abdelsalam Hassan
Al-Azhar Magazine (Shaaban, 1441 A.H. April, 2020.)
5. The Islamic influences on modern European philosophy:
If it is evident that Islamic philosophy influenced European philosophy in the Middle Ages, and when we consider the fact that the latter has in turn influenced modern European philosophy, we may then say that there exists at least an indirect influence of Islamic philosophy on modern European philosophy; this, of course, does not rule out the possibility of a direct influence as well.
In the following pages we would like to point out some aspects of the influence of Islamic thought on modern European philosophy, and we hope that this subject will receive the attention it
deserves. The first influence in the modern period is that of Al-Ghazali on Descartes.
Al-Ghazali evolved the Methodical Doubt as a means to achieve philosophical certitude. His work entitled "al-Munqidh min al-dalal" (Deliverance from Error) essentially deals with the details
of this method. He totally and categorically rejected the unquestioning adoption of any tradition or concept and also rejected intellectual servitude. He emphasized the necessity of independent thinking in the search for truth. He embarked on a critical evaluation of the human heritage of knowledge and took an attitude of skepticism about all knowledge ranging from knowledge gained byperceptions through the senses to intellectual knowledge. He then discussed the problem of certitude and the question of faith and the problem of distinguishing between the knowledge that man gains while he is awake and the knowledge that he gains during his dreams while sleeping. Finally he discussed the problem of the metaphysical skepticism stating the idea of a deceitful Satan or a misguiding creature. At last he achieved philosophical certitude; it was an irrevocablecertitude that he has described as the return of trust in the intellectual principles. Al-Ghazali attained self-knowledge and knowledge of God through an intellectual method and not through mysticism, as alleged by some. It is, however, not our intention in this paper to discuss the details of this method any further.
The Methodical Skepticism evolved by Al-Ghazali had a far-reaching effect on the philosophical thought that emerged later on and was given expression to by Descartes, who is described as the father of modern philosophy. The steps taken by Al-Ghazali in his methodical skepticism were the same that were taken by Descartes after a lapse of nearly five centuries. Descartes' method was hailed as a new achievement in the world of philosophy.
In a dissertation submitted to Munich University in 1968, I have made a detailed comparative study of al-Ghazali and Descartes; it was later on also published in Arabic. It clearly emerged from this study that there is an almost complete conformity in the basis of their thought and philosophical method. I had limited myself in this comparative study to the philosophical aspect only and, therefore, have not gone into the historical aspect in order to trace Descartes' direct dependence on al-Ghazali. But in 1976 a scholar was able to find material proof in the library of Descartes for the fact that Decartes had indeed acquainted himself with Al-Ghazali's thought, and that he had been greatly influenced by him through reading a translation of al-Ghazali's abovementioned book. The scholar Othman Al-Kaak, a Tunisian historian, mentioned his findings in a paper that he submitted to the Meeting on Islamic Thought in Algiers in 1976.
There are some other aspects of al-Ghazali's philosophy of which we find echoes in the thinking of other modern philosophers besides Descartes. For instance, al-Ghazali's elaborate criticism of the principle of causality and his ascribing of the relationship between cause and effect to habit, and his considering it as a relationship in time between two things, this elaborate criticism can be found some centuries later in David Hume's philosophy. David Hume has not added anything new to this theory. The scholar Renan has therefore observed: "Hume has not said about the criticism of the principle of causality anything more than what al-Ghazali has said".
It is possible to make many more comparisons between other Muslim and European philosophers of the modern period. Spinoza, for instance, has been influenced either directly or through Ibn Maimoon (1135-1204 A.D.), who himself was deeply influenced by Islamic philosophy as is clearly evident from his book entitled "Guide to those who Went Astray". Yet1401 Shaaban, 1441 A.H April, 2020 ap.E. another example is that of the philosophical group Ikhwan al-Safa (Brothers of Purity) who emerged in Basra in the 10th century A.D. and produced a huge encyclopedia about all branches of human knowledge. These philosophers in Basra were the pioneers for those philosophers of the age of enlightenment in the 18 th century who produced similar encyclopedias. Last but not least Ibn Khaldun's ideas on the philosophy of history and social philosophy later became most fruitful in Europe.
Epilogue:
After we have now pointed out the position of the intellect in Islam and the role of Islam in the development of philosophical thought, we would like now at the end of this pages to draw attention to the following facts:
1. Any discussion about Islam should draw a clear line of distinction between two aspects:
a) Islam as a religion with its teachings that has proved to the world, throughout many centuries, its effectiveness and its influences.
b) The present cultural situation of Muslims.
The principles of Islam in developing and safeguarding human thought still remain valid and competent to fulfill the same role they have fulfilled in the past because Islam is not impervious to progress and innovation. On the contrary, it is a religion that comprehends life in its fullness, and calls for constant change and progress in life. But at the same time it points to the fact that no principles, however sublime and lofty they may be, can be realized without the human will realizing them.
This is a Quranic principle. The Holy Quran says, "God does not change the condition of a people [for the worse] unless they change what is in themselves,"(Sura 13, verse 11).
2. We should not allow ourselves to continue the polemics between cultures. Indeed, the dangers that are encompassing us today are not dangers that encompass a particular culture but dangers that encompass mankind as a whole. It is, therefore, imperative for all cultures to strive hard to increase mutual understanding. I believe that the time has come for the scholars of Europe to look at Islam and the Islamic culture in a just and objective manner, without letting themselves any longer being influenced by their old and new misconceptions. It is only through such an attitude that it would be possible to have a fruitful dialogue between the Islamic and European cultures.