1st Edition

Islamic Philosophy and Theology

Edited By Ian Richard Netton
    1624 Pages
    by Routledge

    Islam, one of the world’s great faiths, was born as a result of the revelation of the Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad (c. 570-632) in Arabia. A proper understanding of the Islamic present depends on an accurate knowledge of the way in which Islamic thought developed from medieval times onwards. For instance, Islam evolved a sophisticated theology and set of philosophical systems of its own, which owed something to the impact of Greek thought, but became uniquely Islamic because of the vital presence within that faith of the Qur’an.

    Furthermore, Islam soon came into contact with Greek philosophy and science, and a translation movement into Arabic began. The roles of Kason and Revelation, and the primacy that was to be given to one or the other, came to the fore. Problems which had also vexed Christianity such as anthropomorphism, free will and predestination provided intellectual stimulation for Islamic thinkers, while the mystical impulse, articulated in Islamic Sufism, imbued the writings of several of the theologians and philosophers considered in these volumes.

    Taken together, all of these issues constitute a golden period of Islamic debate and intellectual inquiry, and the articles collected in this fascinating set reflect that Islamic dynamic.

    Volume I: Legacies, Translations and Prototypes  Volume II: Revelation and Reason  Volume III: Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism  Volume IV: Eclecticism, Illumination and Reform