C IVILIZATION S TUDIES P ROGRAM (AUB) CVSP 202: The Monotheistic Traditions from Late Antiquity to the 13 th Century I NTRODUCTION TO ‘C LASSICAL I SLAMIC T HOUGHT ’: C HANGE AND C ONTINUITY D AHLIA E. M. G UBARA October 18, 2016

I. I NTRODUCTION : ‘The Golden Age’ - al-‘asr al-dhahab ī - (broadly the 9 and 10 th c) Seen as the period in which Islam’s essential features and greatest contributions to human civilization were made before entering a long period of decline - in ḥ i ṭ ā ṭ - until the more recent efforts at European-led modernization beginning in the late 19thc.

I. I NTRODUCTION : ‘The Golden Age of Islam’ - al-‘asr al-dhahab ī - (broadly the 9 and 10 th c) Seen as the period in which Islam’s essential features and greatest contributions to human civilization were made before entering a long period of decline - in ḥ i ṭ ā ṭ - until the more recent efforts at European-led modernization beginning in the late 19thc.  What does the past mean to us today?  What is ‘Classical’? What is ‘Islamic’ ?What is ‘Thought’? Can we think of these texts rather as: Classics of Islamic Thought

Expansion of the Islamic State

II. L ATE A NTIQUITY  Two conventional theories on the formation of Islam: ‘Out of Arabia’ the Late Antique Near East

II. L ATE A NTIQUITY Two conventional theories on the formation of Islam: ‘Out of Arabia’ the Late Antique Near East  More than an epoch: Late Antiquity as a ‘shared epistemic space ’ (a space of knowledge-making)

III. I SLAM AS A T RADITION The O LD – the existing traditions of late antiquity The N EW – a new era (past = j ā hiliyya ; Hijri calendar) a new polity (al-Madina) a new community ( ummah ) new teachings and texts (Qur’an, Sunnah) A NEW T RADITION

III. I SLAM AS A T RADITION  Balancing the old and the new – continuity and change/radical break from the past.

III. I SLAM AS A T RADITION  Balancing the old and the new – continuity and change/radical break from the past. Tradition is an arena that sustains in ways both conscious (thought) and unconscious (unthought) a particular mode of life and knowledge-making

III. I SLAM AS A T RADITION  Balancing the old and the new – continuity and change/radical break from the past. Tradition is an arena that sustains in ways both conscious (thought) and unconscious (unthought) a particular mode of life and knowledge-making Revelation and Prophecy as the linchpin of tradition

III. I SLAM AS A T RADITION  Balancing the old and the new – continuity and change/radical break from the past. Tradition is an arena that sustains in ways both conscious (thought) and unconscious (unthought) a particular mode of life and knowledge-making Revelation and Prophecy as the linchpin of tradition Tradition is therefore not opposed to reason, debate and change, it is their condition of possibility

III. I SLAM AS A T RADITION  Different positions: grossly, Rationalists –those who appeal above all to human reason Traditionalists –those who assert the primacy of transmitted knowledge Legalists –those who adopt a legal (fiqh-based) interpretation of scripture Mystics –those who emphasize more esoteric/ ‘spiritual’ modes of religious life

IV. G ROUNDING K NOWLEDGE IN T RADITION How to justify/legitimize knowledge as one perceives/apprehends it, but also as one receives it from the many pasts through transmission?

IV. G ROUNDING K NOWLEDGE IN T RADITION How to justify/legitimize knowledge as one perceives/apprehends it, but also as one receives it from the many pasts? i.e. what is the relationship between al-manq ū l [transmitted knowledge] and al-ma’q ū l [interpretative/demonstrative knowledge]?

IV. G ROUNDING K NOWLEDGE IN T RADITION How to justify/legitimize knowledge as one perceives/apprehends it, but also as one receives it from the many pasts? i.e. what is the relationship between al-manq ū l [transmitted knowledge] and al-ma’q ū l [interpretative/demonstrative knowledge]? Or: How do I know that what I know is true? [Epistemic certainty]

IV. G ROUNDING K NOWLEDGE IN T RADITION How to justify/legitimize knowledge as one perceives/apprehends it, but also as one receives it from the many pasts? i.e. what is the relationship between al-manq ū l [transmitted knowledge] and al-ma’q ū l [interpretative/demonstrative knowledge]? Or: How do I know that what I know is true? [Epistemic certainty] And how is this relationship demonstrated in Islamic tradition and the texts before us?

Ikhw ā n al- Ṣ af ā ʾ wa Khull ā n al-Waf ā ʾ wa Ahl al-Hamd wa Abn ā ʾ al-Majd (the Brethren of Purity, the Loyal Friends, People of Praise, and Sons of Glory)

Al-Ghaz ā l ī ’s Wanderings

The Har ū niyya, (Seljuk-Ilkhanid mausoleum in Tus, near Mashhad, Iran) where al-Ghaz ā l ī is said to be buried. (

V. C OMMON N ARRATIVES, C ONTEXTUAL M ATTERS : Our authors, their times, their works, and their reception

Ikhw ā n al- Ṣ af ā ʾ, Epistle 22: The Case of the Animals vs. Man before the King of the Jinn (online source)

“These cattle, beasts of prey and wild creatures – all animals in fact – are our slaves. We are their masters. Some have rebelled and escaped. Others obey grudgingly and scorn our service” (Ikhw ā n, Epistle 22: The Case of the Animals vs. Man before the King of the Jinn, p. 103)

“These cattle, beasts of prey and wild creatures – all animals in fact – are our slaves. We are their masters. Some have rebelled and escaped. Others obey grudgingly and scorn our service” The King replied, “What proof or evidence have you to back up your claims?” “Your Majesty,” said the human, “we have both traditional religious arguments and rational proofs of our position.” “Very well,” said the King, “lets us hear them.” (Ikhw ā n, Epistle 22: The Case of the Animals vs. Man before the King of the Jinn, 103)

VI. 3 L EVELS OF I NTERPRETATION : 1. Epistemic certainty Integrated Methods, Modes of Reasoning/Knowing: Demonstrative reasoning Scriptural and prophetic utterances Tafs ī r (manifest/literal meaning [ z ā hir ] or hidden/esoteric meaning [ b ā tin ]) “ but only those who are well rooted in knowledge” can comprehend Silsilah of testimonials – repetition of transmission [ taw ā tur ]

VI. 3 L EVELS OF I NTERPRETATION : Epistemic certainty:  Integrated Methods, Modes of Reasoning/Knowing The Ends (Purpose) of Knowledge:  Social: pedagogy, instruction, initiation, social and political order

VI. L EVELS OF I NTERPRETATION : Epistemic certainty:  Integrated Methods, Modes of Reasoning/Knowing The Ends of Knowledge:  Social: pedagogy, instruction, initiation, social and political order  Individual: happiness, salvation (soteriology -the final return to God, yawm al- ḥ isāb )

Ghazali discusses 4 seekers of knowledge ( theologians, ta’limites/batinites, philosophers, sufis ) and their truth-claims, 1) theology ( kal ā m ) – ✖ – merely defensive 2) authoritative instruction ( ta’l ī m ) – ✖ – unreasonable 3) philosophy ( falsafa ) – ✖ – incoherent. 4) mysticism ( tasawwuf ) – ✔ – experience, qalb

“In myself I know that, even if I went back to the work of disseminating knowledge, yet I did not go back. To go back is to return to the previous state of things. Previously, however, I had been disseminating the knowledge by which worldly success is attained (...). But now I am calling men to the knowledge whereby worldly success is given up. (...) It is my earnest longing that I may make myself and others better. I do not know whether I shall reach my goal or whether I shall be taken away while short of my object. I believe, however, both by certain faith and by intuition that there is no power and no might save with God, the high, the mighty, and that I do not move of myself but am moved by Him, I do not work of myself but am used by Him.” (al-Ghazali, al-munqidh - trans. by W. M. Watt)

If knowledge is “ a deep and treacherous sea,” then tradition is what anchors the seeker on her journey through this life and the next and delivers her to safety by God’s will.

VII. F INAL C ONSIDERATIONS :  Reason vs. Revelation? ( al-manq ū l and al- ma‘q ū l )

VII. F INAL C ONSIDERATIONS :  Reason vs. Revelation? ( al-manq ū l and al- ma‘q ū l )  Origins, Borrowing - Syncretism and Reconciliation?

VII. F INAL C ONSIDERATIONS :  Reason vs. Revelation? ( al-manq ū l and al- ma‘q ū l )  Origins, Borrowing - Syncretism and Reconciliation?  Philosophy vs. Religion?

Postscript – ‘Polymathesis,’ Education, Edification Polymath: a scholar with broad expertise who views knowledge as a complex organic whole, and who is accordingly able to converse and engage with a wide range of topics and subjects to think through the issues of her day as a deeply involved citizen of the world.

Postscript – ‘Polymathesis,’ Education, Edification Polymath: a scholar with broad expertise who views knowledge as a complex organic whole, and who is accordingly able to converse and engage with a wide range of topics and subjects to think through the issues of her day as a deeply involved citizen of the world. What mattered most was the purpose to which knowledge was put, and by extension, its ability to instruct its bearer on the meaning and methods of living a good life. It’s edifying function in other words.

the ‘CVSP Man’