Ibn Bajja (called Avempace by Western scholastics) was
born late in the 11th century at Zaragoza and died in 1138 at Fez. He was a
musician, physician, poet and became vizier to the Almoravid Governor ibn
Tifalwit, though his collaboration with these Muslim conquerors may be why he
was briefly imprisoned. Later he was arrested by an Almoravid ruler for heresy,
but he was released by the grandfather or father of Averroes. Ibn Bajja was
Vizier at Fez for twenty years under Governor Abu Bakr ibn Tashfin. Ibn Bajja
was influenced by Plato, Aristotle, Galen, and al-Farabi,
and he emphasized the unity of the soul. In his Rule of the Solitary ibn Bajja suggested individuals needed
a medicine for the soul. He believed that the ideal state could not be
established by force or even by social reform but rather by people disciplining
themselves and that a society needing judges and physicians is already
dysfunctional. In a just society the wise rule; but in an imperfect society the
wise are like weeds and must work privately by using the active intellect to
discover the spiritual forms. Only by acting rationally can one be free. The
enlightened may find a home by traveling to other planes.
Ibn Tufayl (Abubacer) was born early in the 12th century
in Granada and died in Morocco in 1185. He studied ibn Bajja and became a
mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, poet, and was court physician and
perhaps a judge for the second Almohad prince Abu Ya'qub Yusuf (r. 1163-1184).
Ibn Tufayl is famous for his philosophical romance Hayy the Son of Yaqzan, which is based on characters from a
visionary recital by Avicenna. In the introduction he recommended the
illuminative philosophy of Avicenna, and he reviewed the philosophies of ibn
Bajja, al-Farabi, Avicenna, and al-Ghazali. Hayy son of Yaqzan, which means
"Alive son of Awake," is born alone on an island and is raised by a
gazelle until he is seven years old. He observes nature and learns how to take
care of himself. When the doe dies, he learns of the spiritual principle of
life found in the heart. By the time he is 35, Hayy has become absorbed in
contemplating the creator and necessary being, whom he believes will lead him
to eternal bliss. He recognizes that divine essence of the soul and observes in
animals what relates to his body. He finds that emulating this animal element
interferes with the higher vision, which begins to open when he turns to the
second emulation within himself. Pure vision comes from the third emulation of
the necessary being.
In analyzing food Hayy decides that fruit is the most
pure, followed by early plant growth in vegetables; animals and their eggs can
be eaten when the others are not available, but no species should be
exterminated. He keeps his body pure by washing it and using aromatic herbs.
His contemplation of the necessary being is enhanced by closing his senses and
by spinning himself rapidly like the celestial bodies. Hayy falls into the
error of identifying himself with God, but divine mercy helps correct this.
From a nearby island Asal gives his money to the poor and comes there to be a
hermit. At first Hayy communicates by gently stroking Asal, who eventually
teaches him language. Hayy describes the essence of truth, and Asal tells him
about the inhabited island. Hayy is surprised that people waste their time on
superfluous things, but he agrees to go and teach them what he knows. However,
people soon became hostile to his ideas that challenge their way of life, and
they are content following the authorities. So Hayy asks to be forgiven and
says he believes they are guided on the right path. Asal goes with Hayy back to
the solitary island, where they worship God until they die. Ibn Tufayl
concluded that he wrote this book because others may wish to climb the heights
that eyes fail to see.
Ibn Rushd, known in the West as Averroes, was born into a
family of distinguished jurists at Cordoba in 1126. He knew the first Almohad
ruler 'Abd al-Mu'min at Marrakesh in 1153 and wrote a book on medicine. In 1168
the court physician Ibn Tufayl introduced Averroes to that ruler's son and
successor Abu Ya'qub Yusuf, who asked him to write commentaries on Aristotle. The next year Averroes
was appointed a judge at Seville, and in 1171 he returned to Cordoba and later
was chief judge there. In 1182 he replaced the retiring Ibn Tufayl as court
physician. Averroes fell out of favor during a holy war against Spain in 1195,
and all his works were burned except those that were considered scientific. After
a brief exile he lived in retirement at Marrakesh until he died in 1198. Best
known in Europe for his extensive commentaries on Aristotle, the writings of Averroes
were translated into Hebrew and Latin and had considerable influence in
bringing the ideas of Aristotle to Jews and
Christians.
Averroes criticized the philosophic criticisms of
al-Ghazali in his Incoherence of
the Incoherent. Averroes blamed democracy for emphasizing private life
and for its lack of control of people's desires, and in his commentary on Plato's Republic he
concurred with the government deceiving people in order to maintain its class
system. Believing that truth was not always persuasive, Averroes advised
compelling people also as though they were children. Yet he regretted that
women were not treated equally in Islamic society. He wrote that one of the
causes of poverty in their cities is that women are not allowed to do anything
except procreate and raise children. He agreed with Plato that women could be
philosophical governors.
Averroes wrote The Decisive Treatise Determining the Nature of the Connection between
Religion and Philosophy about 1180. He believed that everyone
should follow Islamic law but that only the elite could understand philosophy.
Averroes argued that the law commands the study of philosophy and that this is
best done by demonstrative reasoning. Thus the religious thinker as well as the
lawyer must study logic. He believed that the demonstrative and dialectical
methods are superior to the rhetoric used for the common people. For Averroes
demonstrative truth and scripture could not conflict. If the apparent meaning
is different, then the scripture must be interpreted allegorically. This
stimulates the learned to greater study, but metaphorical interpretations must
never violate the Islamic consensus that is certain.
Averroes argued that al-Ghazali's criticisms of al-Farabi
and Avicenna were only tentative, and he contended that the Aristotelians do
believe God has an omniscient awareness that does include particulars. Averroes
warned against the learned setting down allegorical interpretations in popular
writings, as al-Ghazali did, because they can confuse the common people, who
rely on the apparent meaning. Thus he warned that the philosophical view of
scripture should not be taught to the majority. Everyone must attempt to understand
the symbols by their own ability because to tell someone the inner meaning
without helping them to understand it destroys their simpler belief without
replacing it with something better. Even worse is to give people allegorical
interpretations that are false. He argued that hostile sects arose in Islam
because of the wrong use of allegory by the Mu'tazilis and the Ash'aris.
Averroes believed that these harms could be cured by teaching people the
apparent meanings, but he supported the Muwahhid policy of censoring any
deviation from the consensus of Islamic law.
Khwajah Nasir al-Tusi was born February 15, 1201 in Tus;
his father was a prominent Shi'i jurist. Al-Tusi studied at Nishapur, and he
joined the administration of a local Isma'ili prince. Al-Tusi wrote many books
on a variety of subjects. When the Mongols destroyed the Alamut fortress in
1256, he and the historian al-Juwayni helped to preserve the library and
astronomical instruments. He served Hulagu when the Mongols attacked Baghdad
and was stationed at the gate to protect innocent people. Although it was
reported by some that he saved the lives of many Muslim scholars, others said
that al-Tusi destroyed the libraries of his adversaries and persuaded Hulagu
not to fear killing the last 'Abbasid caliph. After helping Hulagu consolidate
his authority in Baghdad, al-Tusi went to the Shi'i center of learning at
Hillah to see the Shi'i jurist Muhaqqiq-i Hilli. Tusi supervised the
construction of the astronomical observatory at Maragha, which was sponsored by
Hulagu and became a great center of learning. After Abaqa' Khan was wounded by
a bison while hunting, al-Tusi supervised the surgery. Tusi died at Baghdad in
1274, the same year as the death of Thomas Aquinas to whom he has been
compared.
The Nasirean
Ethics of Tusi was written in 1235 when he was already a celebrated
scholar. Tusi based his ethics on the knowledge of God, the prophet Muhammad,
and the succeeding imams, and he recommended cultivating the virtues of
asceticism and the fear of God. He considered injustice and tyranny the worst
vices, and he denounced the material gains of the world. He believed that
accumulating wealth is unnecessary, futile, and bad; greed and avarice should
be avoided. He argued that poverty is better than wealth just as truth is
better than a lie; being trustworthy is better than being unreliable; and
silence is better than speech, because too much talk is hazardous. For Tusi the
highest virtues also include being kind, patient, forgiving, and controlling
anger. One should be neither envious nor hostile. Humility is a virtue, and
arrogance is a vice. Being generous is better than being stingy. One should be
brave and control desires. He recommended companionship with the wise and good
friends while avoiding those who are ignorant and do wrong.
Tusi included ethics in practical philosophy along with
social and political issues. He distinguished natural virtues which do not
change from conventional virtues that do alter because they depend on community
consensus. The human soul is the subject of ethics because it is the origin of
good and bad acts and because humans are more noble than plants and animals.
The noblest humans are prophets and saints. The ultimate goal of knowledge is
serenity and certainty while the ultimate end of action is to achieve harmony
and balance in relationships and society. Al-Tusi criticized those who make
enjoyment of things their purpose in life because they have subjected the soul
to ephemeral lust. The bestial and savage aspects of the soul can be controlled
by the angelic admonishing soul. He believed happiness comes from wisdom,
courage, piety, and justice.
Tusi wrote that correction disposition is the noblest of
disciplines. He adopted the psychology and classical virtues of Socrates and
the ancient Greeks. Wisdom is the virtue of the theoretical faculty, justice
the virtue of the practical faculty, courage the virtue of the irascible, and
continence the virtue of the appetites. Within wisdom he defined the seven
virtues of wit, understanding, mental clarity, learning, intellect, retention,
and recall. The eleven virtues he described as part of courage are greatness,
bravery, high-mindedness, perseverance, mildness, calmness, vigor, patience,
humility, honor, and compassion. The twelve species under the virtue of
continence for Tusi are shame, meekness, right guidance, peace, tranquillity,
fortitude, contentment, gravity, moderation, order, freedom, and liberality. He
also found under liberality the eight virtues of generosity, preference,
forgiveness, manliness, attainment, charity, supererogation (doing more than
required), and leniency. Twelve virtues under justice are sincerity, amity,
fidelity, concern, care of kin, requital, fellowship, fairness, affection,
acceptance, reliance, and devotion. Tusi suggested that love is the quest for
nobility, virtue, and perfection, and the more one yearns for perfection the
easier it is to attain it.
Tusi believed that disposition can be changed by
education and that ethics is a noble art. Justice is the most noble virtue, and
as with music, it depends on balance. He suggested that justice depends on what
he called mahabbat, which
means "loving kindness" or "friendship." Happiness is
physical, social, and spiritual. Physical happiness depends on acquiring
knowledge that benefits the body's health. The knowledge that aids social
happiness is political, economic, social, religious, and cultural. Spiritual
diseases are healed by curing vices such as anger, envy, vanity, stubbornness,
frivolity, enmity, fear of death, lust, idleness, and sadness. In domestic
ethics Tusi suggested that a good wife is a partner to her husband in wealth
and management of the household and his representative when he is absent. He
did not recommend polygamy although he did still believe that a wife should
fear her husband, should be concealed from strangers, and should not be
encouraged to follow her desires.
Tusi
described six stages in the path of purifying the soul. The first starts the
movement and requires faith, persistence, intention, honesty, trust in God, and
purification of all thoughts, words, and deeds. The second stage of overcoming
barriers is achieved by repentance, asceticism, poverty, hardship,
introspection, and abstinence from sin. In the third stage of progress in the
spiritual quest one must master solitude, thinking, fear, hope, patience, and
gratitude. In the fourth stage success depends on will, ecstasy, love,
knowledge, conviction, and serenity. In the fifth stage of completing the quest
the virtues are faith, contentment, surrender, monotheism, unity, and oneness.
The sixth and final stage assimilates all the preceding stages and annihilates
the individual in God so that there is no longer a seeker or seeking. Tusi
believed that on the day of judgment all concealments would disappear, and
reality will shine as good and bad acts are accurately measured. By drawing on
the philosophy of the Greeks, Indians, and Persians in addition to the
teachings of the Qur'an and
the traditions Tusi provided a more comprehensive ethics than the theologians
who depend only on the Islamic law
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