Dr. Alnoor Dhanani, Lecturer in Islamic philosophy, Harvard University

Abstract

In the section on Metaphysics in the Shifa' and Najat, Ibn Sina criticises the "modern so-called Islamic philosophers," claiming that "they make a muddle of the philosophy and do not understand the goals of the ancients." Dr. Dhanani proposed in his paper that Ibn Sina's opponents are the theologians, in particular the Mut'tazili 'Abd al-Jabbar who had attacked the philosophers' doctrine of celestial beings. Placing this encounter in its intellectual context, he reviewed 'Abd al-Jabba's critique within the context of Mu'tazili cosmology and the fundamental role of celestial beings in Ibn Sina's cosmology. Exploring the ramifications of this encounter, he argued that despite the metaphysical aspect of the dispute, a detailed analysis of the local political and social context leads to the conclusion that the prevalent simplistic, essentialist notion in academic circles about the hostility of religion (kalam) to science (falsafa) in mediaeval Islamic civilisation is untenable.