The accord between philosophy and religion is rightly regarded as the most important feature of Islamic philosophy. Ibn Rushd's solution to this problem was really an ingenious one. As a philosopher, he found that it was his duty to defend the philosophers against the fierce attacks of the faqihs and theo¬logians, especially after their condemnation by al-Ghazali in his “Incoherence of the Philosophers.” Ibn Rushd's treatise called Fasl al-Maqal fi ma bain al-Hikmah w-al-Shari`ah min al-Ittisal is a defence of philosophy in so far as it is shown to be in harmony with religion.
It may be doubted nowadays whether this question should receive so much attention, but in the sixth/twelfth century it was really vital. Philosophers were accused of heresy (kufr) or irreligion. In fact al-Ghazali condemned the philosophers as irreligious in his Tahafut. If this accusation were true, the philosophers according to Islamic Law would be put to death, unless they gave up philosophizing or proclaimed publicly that they did not believe in their philosophical doctrines. Consequently, it was necessary for philosophers to defend themselves and their opinions.
Ibn Rushd begins his treatise by asking whether philosophy is permitted, prohibited, recommended, or ordained by the Shari’ah (Islamic Law). His answer is, from the very outset, that philosophy is ordained or at least recom¬mended by religion (religion is used in this context as synonymous with Shari`ah and specifically Islam). Because the function of philosophy is nothing more than speculating on the beings and considering them in so far as they lead to the knowledge of the Creator.10
The Qur'an exhorts man to this kind of rational consideration (i'tibar) in many a verse such as: “Consider, you who have vision.” Al-i`tibar is a Qur'anic term which means something more than pure speculation or reflection (nazar).
To translate this Qur'anic consideration in logical terms is nothing more than getting the unknown from the known by way of inference. This type of reasoning is called deduction of which demonstration (burhan) is the best form. And since God exhorts man to know Him through demonstration, one must begin to learn how to distinguish between the demonstrative and the dialectical, rhetorical, and sophistical deductions. Demonstration is the instru¬ment by which one can attain to the knowledge of God. It is the logical method of thinking, which leads to certainty.
It follows that the Qur'an exhorts man to study philosophy since he must speculate on the universe and. consider the different kinds of beings. We have now passed from the legal plane of Fiqh to the philosophical one, in spite of their distinction. The objective of religion is defined in philosophical terms: it is to obtain the true theory and the true practice (al-'ilm al-haqq w-al-`amal al-haqq).11
This reminds us of the definition of philosophy given by al-Kindi and his followers, which remained current all through Islamic philosophy. True knowledge is the knowledge of God, of all the other beings as such, and of the happiness and unhappiness in the hereafter.12 The way of acquiring knowledge is of two kinds, apprehension and assent. Assent is either de¬monstrative, dialectical, or rhetorical.
These three kinds of assent are all used in the Qur'an. Men are of three classes, the philosophers, the theologians, and the common people (al-jumhur). The philosophers are the people of demonstration. The theologians - the Ash'arites whose doctrine was the official one at the time of ibn Rushd - are of a lower degree, since they start from dialectical reasoning and not from scientific truth. The masses are the “people of rhetoric” who understand only through examples and poetic thinking.
So far, religion is compatible with philosophy. The act and aim of philo¬sophy are the same as those of religion. Now about the compatibility of their methods and subject-matter. If the traditional (al-manqul) is found to be contrary to the rational (al-ma`qul), it is to be interpreted in such a way as to be in harmony with the rational.13 Allegorical interpretation (ta'wil) is based on the fact that there are certain Qur'anic verses which have an ap¬parent (zahir) meaning and an inner (batin) meaning.
Early Muslim scholars in the face of such verses avoided interpreting them, because they were afraid to confuse the minds of the common people. The Ash'arites interpreted some such verses as that of “sitting on the Throne” (al-istiwa'), while the Hanbalites believed in its apparent meaning. The position of Ibn Rushd, as a philosopher, is different from that of the early Muslims, the Ash'arites and the Hanbalites. Ta’wil is to be practised only by the philosophers who are the people of demonstration. Even then, this ta'wil should be kept back as esoteric knowledge, far from being declared to the masses.
Ibn Rushd returns to the plane of Fiqh and compares the logical method of philosophy with the traditional one of Fiqh. This latter, called the principles of Fiqh, depends on four sources: the Qur'an, Tradition, ijma` (consensus) and qiyas (legal syllogism). We have seen that the Qur'an has to be ration¬ally interpreted.
Ijma' comes from the unanimous accord of the opinions of all the qualified scholars at a certain time. But there was no consensus at any time about doctrinal matters, simply because some scholars believed, as mentioned in the Qur'an, that there were certain matters which should be concealed. Only “those who are well grounded in learning”14 (al-rasikhun fi al-'ilm) had the right to know. And, since there is no consensus in doctrinal matters, al-Ghazali had no right to condemn the philosophers as irreligious on the basis of ijma'. They deserved, in al-Ghazali's opinion, the charge of heresy (takfir) for three things: their doctrine concerning the eternity of the world, their denial of God's knowledge of particulars, and their denial of bodily resurrection.
According to Ibn Rushd, religion is based on three principles in which every Muslim of the above-mentioned three classes should believe. These are the existence of God, the prophecy, and resurrection.15 These three principles constitute the subject-matter of religion.
As prophecy depends on revelation, philosophy remains distinct from religion, unless it is shown that reason and revelation are in accord with each other. This problem is discussed in other books of his in detail. But he who denies any one of the above principles is irreligious (kafir). He can believe what he likes through any of the demon¬strative, dialectical, or rhetorical ways.
Philosophers should not declare their esoteric interpretations to the masses lest they should be led to heresy. The theologians who did so were responsible for the origin of the various Islamic sects which accused one another of heresy.
All in all, philosophy is the twin sister of religion; they are the two friends who, by their very nature, love each other.
Selasa, 24 September 2024