Introduction to ‘Classical Islamic Thought’: Change and Continuity Civilization Studies Program (AUB) CVSP 202: The Monotheistic Traditions from Late Antiquity to the 13th Century   Introduction to ‘Classical Islamic Thought’: Change and Continuity Dahlia E. M. Gubara October 10, 2017

I. Introduction: ‘The Golden Age’ - al-‘asr al-dhahabī - (broadly the 9 and 10th 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 - inḥiṭāṭ - until the more recent efforts at European-led modernization beginning in the late 19thc.

I. Introduction: Can we think of these texts rather as: ‘The Golden Age of Islam’ - al-‘asr al-dhahabī - (broadly the 9 and 10th 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 - inḥiṭāṭ - 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. Late Antiquity Two conventional theories on the formation of Islam: ‘Out of Arabia’ the Late Antique Near East

Late Antiquity as a ‘shared epistemic space’ II. Late Antiquity 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. Islam as a Tradition The Old – the existing traditions of late antiquity The New – a new era (past = jāhiliyya; Hijri calendar) a new polity (al-Madina) a new community (ummah) new teachings and texts (Qur’an, Sunnah) a new Tradition

III. Islam as a Tradition Balancing the old and the new – continuity and change/radical break from the past.  

III. Islam as a Tradition 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. Islam as a Tradition 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. Islam as a Tradition 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. Islam as a Tradition 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 or ‘spiritual’ modes of religious life

IV. Grounding Knowledge in Tradition How to justify (or legitimize) knowledge as one perceives (or apprehends) it, but also as one receives it from the many pasts through transmission?

IV. Grounding Knowledge in Tradition 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-manqūl [transmitted knowledge] and al-ma‘qūl [interpretative/demonstrative knowledge]?

IV. Grounding Knowledge in Tradition 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-manqūl [transmitted knowledge] and al-ma‘qūl [interpretative/demonstrative knowledge]? Or: How do I know that what I know is true? [Epistemic Certainty]

IV. Grounding Knowledge in Tradition 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-manqūl [transmitted knowledge] and al-ma‘qūl [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?

Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ wa Khullān al-Wafā’ wa Ahl al-Ḥamd amd Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ wa Khullān al-Wafā’ wa Ahl al-Ḥamd amd wa Abnā’ al-Majd (the Brethren of Purity, the Loyal Friends, People of Praise, and Sons of Glory)

Al-Ghazālī’s Wanderings

The Harūniyya, (Seljuk-Ilkhanid mausoleum in Tus, near Mashhad, Iran) where al-Ghazālī is said to be buried. (http://archnet.org/sites/3885/media_contents/62839)

V. Common Narratives, Contextual Matters: Our authors, their times, their works, and their reception Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazālī Anonymous collective – esoteric fraternity Renowned figure – ‘Hujjat al-Islam’/mujadid   Possibly active in the last quarter of the 10th century A.D. in Basra and Baghdad Born 1058 near Tus, northeastern Iran Died in 1111 A.D. Political, sectarian and creedal affiliation unknown Sunni, Ash‘arī, Shāfi‘ī, and close to Seljuk vizir Nizām al-Mulk and the Abbasid court Other works unknown Prolific corpus spanning many disciplines (jurisprudence, theology, philosophy and Sufism) Rasā’il – encyclopedic, classification of knowledge Al-Munqidh - Intellectual, autobiographical Philosophically - mainly neo-Platonist and Pythagorean. Ecumenical in spirit Critical of falsafa? Reconciles legal orthodoxy with Sufi mysticism

Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ, Epistle 22: The Case of the Animals vs Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ, Epistle 22: The Case of the Animals vs. Man before the King of the Jinn

“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” (Ikhwān, Epistle 22: The Case of the Animals vs. Man before the King of the Jinn, p.103)

“Very well,” said the King, “lets us hear them.” “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.” (Ikhwān, Epistle 22: The Case of the Animals vs. Man before the King of the Jinn, p.103)

VI. 3 Levels of Interpretation: 1. Epistemic certainty Integrated Methods, Modes of Reasoning/Knowing: Demonstrative reasoning Scriptural and prophetic utterances Tafsīr (manifest/literal meaning [al-zāhir] or hidden/esoteric meaning [al-bātin]) “but only those who are well rooted in knowledge” can comprehend Silsilah of testimonials – chain of transmission [tawātur]

VI. 3 Levels of Interpretation: Epistemic certainty: Integrated Methods, Modes of Reasoning/Knowing The Ends (Purpose) of Knowledge: Social: pedagogy, instruction, initiation into a community, social and political order…

VI. Levels of Interpretation: 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-ḥisāb)

Ghazali discusses 4 seekers of knowledge (theologians, ta’limites/batinites, philosophers, sufis) and their truth-claims, 1) theology (kalām) – ✖ – merely defensive 2) authoritative instruction (ta’līm) – ✖ – unreasonable 3) philosophy (falsafa) – ✖ – incoherent. 4) mysticism (taṣawwuf) – ✔ – experience (dhawq), 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, p.28)

Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ: Epistle 22: The Case of the Animals vs Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ: Epistle 22: The Case of the Animals vs. Man before the King of the Jinn: Al-Ghazālī, Al-munqidh min al-ḍalāl: The Trial: disputation, debate, proof and the methods of reasoning Diving into the Profound Sea of Knowledge Cosmological doctrines (Creation and Creator) Severing the Fetters of Servile Conformism Mediation on power and justice (mastery/bondage; tyranny/mercy; truth/falsehood-ignorance) Deducing the True Meaning of Things Ethical-spiritual ecology (ayāt Allah, earth as a Trust) The Primordial Covenant, Prophecy and the Question of tawātur Knowledge as Ḥikmah The fable as a form (universal truth, the speech of the powerful vs. the powerless) The Ḥakīm’s antidote (sickness of the heart)

If knowledge is “a deep and treacherous sea,” 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. Final Considerations: Reason vs. Revelation? (al-manqūl and al-ma‘qūl)

VII. Final Considerations: Reason vs. Revelation? (al-manqūl and al-ma‘qūl) Origins, Borrowing - Syncretism and Reconciliation?

VII. Final Considerations: Reason vs. Revelation? (al-manqūl and al-ma‘qūl) Origins, Borrowing - Syncretism and Reconciliation? Philosophy vs. Religion?

Postscript – ‘Polymathesis,’ Education, Edification 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 on, and engage with, a wide range of topics and subjects to think through the issues of his/her day as a deeply involved citizen of the world.  

Postscript – ‘Polymathesis,’ Education, Edification 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 on, and engage with a wide range of topics and subjects to think through the issues of his/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 [Wo]Man’