A History of Muslim Philosophy, Vol. I (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 289 A History of Muslim Philosophy, Vol. I. Ed. with an Introduction by M. M. Sharif. (Wiesbaden : Otto Harrassowitz, 1963. Pp. xi ~ 787.) The editor of this important handbook on Muslim thought mentions in his preface how this collective study by some eighty scholars has come about. In 1957, the government of Pakistan took notice of the lack of a "detailed History of Muslim Philosophy in the English language" (vii) and urged cooperation in a project to be carried out in Pakistan under the supervision of a committee of eight directors. Mr. Sharif acknowledges that, given the number of collaborators, the result was bound to have its deficiencies, but he expresses the hope that it may pave the way for future improvements. Particularly difficult to achieve was "complete uniformity of language, style, and points of view, and evenness of quality and length" (viii). Given these precautions , it may be said that the result, as far as it can be judged from this first volume, is encouraging . The Introduction states the necessity of the study of history as well as the need of a correct view on history itself, expressing the hope that the present survey "... will spotlight at least some of the misconceptions current among philosophers and historians about the nature of history and the laws governing it" (1). Conceptions of history proclaiming an organic rather than moral rise and fall of cultures are refuted; the relative independence of intellectual development from politico-social decline is accentuated. As the reader quickly perceives, there is a call for a rehabilitation of past Islamic civilization and an appeal to a rebirth of Muslim culture . The publication testifies to a conscious effort on the part of present-day Muslim scholars to study, assimilate, and present the intellectual legacy of Islam. The complete study will comprise not less than eight books, three of which appear in this first volume. After two introductory books on pre-Islamic and on Qur'anic thought, the books will follow the various stages of the history of Islam" that of the Medinese, Umayyad, and 'Abb~.sid caliphate (632-1258), treated in Book III; the "shock-absorbing period" of 1258-c. 1300; the period of the "second flowering" (1300-1700), to be treated in Book IV; the stage of decline (1700-1850) ; finally, "the modern renaissance" (since 1850), announced to be treated in Book VIII. Book V will be dealing with the sciences, humanities, and arts of the first period (632-1258), fields which were in close relationship with philosophy, as the bibliographies of the thinkers themselves indicate. The contents of Volume I may be indicated as follows" Book I, "Pre-Islamic philosophical thought" (pp. 15--135), comprises pre-Islamic Indian, Chinese, Iranian, Greek, Alexandro-Syriac, and Arabian thought, the last chapter treating the religious situation in Arabia before c. 600 A.D. Book II, "Advent of Islam" Fundamental Teachings of the Qur'~n" (pp. 136-198), summarizes briefly the philosophical, ethical, and economic-political teachings of the Muslim Scripture . Book III, "Early Centuries (lst/7th Century to the Fall of Baghdad)" (pp. 199-787), presents the substance of the present volume. It is subdivided in the following way. Part I: Theologico-philosophical movements. Mu'tazilism, Ash'arism, Tah.~wism (including Abil I~Ianifah), M~turidism, Z.~b. irism, II$_ hw~.n al-~afa. Part II" Sufis. Early Sufis (doctrine), early Sufis (historical survey), 'Abd al-Q~iir Jil~ni and Shih~b al-Din Suhrawardi (d. 1226), Shih~ib al-Din Suhrawardi MaqtQl (d. 1191), Ibn 'Arabi. Part III" The "Philosophers." A1-Kindi, Mull.ammad ibn Zakariya al-l~zi, A1-F~r~bi, Miskawaih, Ibn Sin~., Ibn Bajjah, Ibn Tufail, Ibn Rus_hd, Nadir al-Din .Tfisi. Part IV: The Middle-Roaders. A1-Ghaz~li (metaphysics, mysticism, ethics, influence), Fakhr al-Din R~zi. Part V: Political thinkers. Early Islam, AbQ .Hanifah and Abf~ Yfisuf, A1-F~,r~.bi, AI-M~wardi , Political theory of the Shi'ites, Nizam al-Mulk TQsI, A1-_Ghazali. The plan of this volume is itself significant. The book on pre-Islamic thought surveys the intellectual world in which Islamic thought would take place, that on Qur'anic teachings describes the...