Ibn Rushd ( Averroës )

1126-1198

Physician, judge, and philosopher

Wajahat Rasheed

Advisor: Sir Abdul Basit Mujahid

Reg.No.301-FET/BSEE/F17

Contributions of Muslim Scientists

Course Code : GR 412

International Islamic University Islamabad Pakistan

June 16, 2021

 Outline

I. Introduction

II. Legacy

III. Biography

IV. Conclusion

2
 Introduction

Ibn Rushd , known in the West as Averroës, was a physician and religious judge in Muslim
Spain. He was also one of the greatest thinkers of the Muslim world and a follower of the Greek
philosopher Aristotle. Ibn Rushd became well known for his writings on Aristotle, earning him the
name of “The Commentator.”1

Ibn Rushd was born in the Spanish city of Córdoba to a well-educated and cultured family.
Both his father and grandfather served as judges in that city. Ibn Rushd devoted most of his time
to scholarly pursuits, studying mathematics, medicine, Islamic law, and theology. He later became
a physician and chief judge at the royal court in Muslim Spain.2

Averroes was a strong proponent of Aristotelianism; he attempted to restore what he

considered the original teachings of Aristotle and opposed the Neoplatonist tendencies of earlier
Muslim thinkers, such as Al-Farabi and Avicenna. He also defended the pursuit of philosophy
against criticism by Ashari theologians such as Al-Ghazali. Averroes argued that philosophy was
permissible in Islam and even compulsory among certain elites. He also argued scriptural text
should be interpreted allegorically if it appeared to contradict conclusions reached by reason and
philosophy. In Islamic jurisprudence, he wrote the Bidāyat al-Mujtahid on the differences
between Islamic schools of law and the principles that caused their differences. In medicine, he

1
“Ibn Rushd - Oxford Islamic Studies Online.” n.d. Www.oxfordislamicstudies.com.
http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t243/e145.

2
“Ibn Rushd - Oxford Islamic Studies Online.” n.d. Www.oxfordislamicstudies.com.
http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t243/e145.

3
proposed a new theory of stroke, described the signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease for the
first time, and might have been the first to identify the retina 3

Legacy

In Jewish Tradition:
Maimonides (d. 1204) was among early Jewish scholars who received Averroes's works
enthusiastically, saying he "received lately everything Averroes had written on the works of
Aristotle" and that Averroes "was extremely right" 4 Thirteenth-century Jewish writers,
including Samuel ibn Tibbon in his work Opinion of the Philosophers, Judah ibn Solomon
Cohen in his Search for Wisdom and Shem-Tov ibn Falaquera, relied heavily on Averroes's texts.5

In Latin Tradition:
Averroes's main influence on the Christian west was through his extensive commentaries
on Aristotle.[104] After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, western Europe fell into a cultural

3
Wikipedia Contributors. 2019. “Averroes.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. October 15,
2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Averroes.

4 Bakker, Freek L. 2010. “Paul F. Knitter, without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian, Oxford:
Oneworld Publications 2009, 257 P., ISBN 978-1-85168-673-5, Price US $
22.95.” Exchange 39, no. 4: 426–27. https://doi.org/10.1163/157254310x537061.

5 Bakker, Freek L. 2010. “Paul F. Knitter, without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian, Oxford:
Oneworld Publications 2009, 257 P., ISBN 978-1-85168-673-5, Price US $
22.95.” Exchange 39, no. 4: 426–27. https://doi.org/10.1163/157254310x537061.
4
decline that resulted in the loss of nearly all of the intellectual legacy of the Classical Greek
scholars, including Aristotle.6

Averroes's commentaries, which were translated into Latin and entered western Europe in
the thirteenth century, provided an expert account of Aristotle's legacy and made them available
again. The influence of his commentaries led to Averroes being referred to simply as "The
Commentator" rather than by name in Latin Christian writings. He has been sometimes described
as the "father of free thought and unbelief" and "father of rationalism".7

Authorities of the Roman Catholic Church reacted against the spread of Averroism. In
1270, the Bishop of Paris Étienne Tempier issued a condemnation against 15 doctrines—many of
which were Aristotelian or Averroist—that he said were in conflict with the doctrines of the
church. In 1277, at the request of Pope John XXI, Tempier issued another condemnation, this time
targeting 219 theses drawn from many sources, mainly the teachings of Aristotle and Averroes

Averroes received a mixed reception from other Catholic thinkers; Thomas Aquinas, a
leading Catholic thinker of the thirteenth century, relied extensively on Averroes's interpretation
of Aristotle but disagreed with him on many points

6
Bakker, Freek L. 2010. “Paul F. Knitter, without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian, Oxford:
Oneworld Publications 2009, 257 P., ISBN 978-1-85168-673-5, Price US $
22.95.” Exchange 39, no. 4: 426–27. https://doi.org/10.1163/157254310x537061.

7
Bivins, Roberta. 2010. “Christopher Hamlin, Cholera: The Biography. Oxford University Press,
2009. Pp X+344. ISBN 978-0-19-954624-4. £12.99 (Hardback). - Mark Jackson,
Asthma: The Biography. Oxford University Press, 2009. Pp Xi+249. ISBN 978-0-19-
923795-1. £12.99 (Hardback). - Andrew Scull, Hysteria: The Biography. Oxford
University Press, 2009. Pp Vii+223. ISBN 978-0-19-956096-7. £12.99 (Hardback). -
Robert Tattersall, Diabetes: The Biography. Oxford University Press, 2009. Pp X+229.
ISBN 978-0-19-954136-2. £12.99 (Hardback).” The British Journal for the History of
Science 43, no. 3: 476–78. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007087410001020.

5
In Islamic Tradition:
Averroes had no major influence on Islamic philosophic thought until modern times. Part
of the reason was geography; Averroes lived in Spain, the extreme west of the Islamic civilization
far from the centers of Islamic intellectual traditions. Also, his philosophy may not have appealed
to Islamic scholars of his time. His focus on Aristotle's works was outdated in the twelfth-century
Muslim world, which had already scrutinized Aristotle since the ninth century and by now was
engaging deeply with newer schools of thought, especially that of Avicenna. In the nineteenth
century, Muslim thinkers begin to engage with the works of Averroes again. By this time, there
was a cultural renaissance called Al-Nahda ("reawakening") in the Arabic-speaking world and the
works of Averroes were seen as inspiration to modernize the Muslim intellectual tradition 8

Biography

Ibn Rushd was born in Cordova, Spain, to a family with a long and well-respected tradition
of legal and public service. His grandfather, the influential Abdul-Walid Muhammad (d. 1126),
was the chief judge of Cordova, under the Almoravid dynasty, establishing himself as a specialist
in legal methodology and in the teachings of the various legal schools. Ibn Rushd’s father, Abdul-
Qasim Ahmad, although not as venerated as his grandfather, held the same position until the
Almoravids were ousted by the Almohad dynasty in 1146.

Ibn Rushd’s education followed a traditional path, beginning with studies in hadith,
linguistics, jurisprudence and scholastic theology. The earliest biographers and Muslim chroniclers
speak little about his education in science and philosophy, where most interest from Western
scholarship in him lies, but note his propensity towards the law and his life as a jurist. It is generally
believed that Ibn Rushd was influenced by the philosophy of Ibn Bajjah (Avempace), and perhaps
was once tutored by him. His medical education was directed under Abu Jafar ibn Harun of
Trujillo. His aptitude for medicine was noted by his contemporaries and can be seen in his major
enduring work Kitab al-Kulyat fi al-Tibb (Generalities) This book, together with Kitab al-Taisir fi
al-Mudawat wa al-Tadbir (Particularities) written by Abu Marwan Ibn Zuhr, became the main
medical textbooks for physicians in the Jewish, Christian and Muslim worlds for centuries to come.
Ibn Rushd traveled to Marrakesh and came under the patronage of the caliph ‘Abd al-Mu’min,
likely involved in educational reform for the dynasty. The Almohads, like the Almoravids they
had supplanted, were a Northwest African Kharijite-influenced Berber reform movement.
Founded in the theology of Ibn Tumart (1078-1139), who emphasized divine unity and the idea of
divine promise and threat, he believed that a positive system of law could co-exist with a rational
and practical theology. This led to the concept that law needed to be primarily based on revelation
instead of the traditions of the jurists. Ibn Talmart’s theology affirmed that the existence and

8
Leaman, Olivier (2002), An Introduction to Classical Islamic Philosophy (2nd ed.), Cambridge
University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-79757-3
6
essence of God could be established through reason alone, and used that to posit an ethical legal
theory that depended on a divine transcendence.

Ibn Rushd’s relationship with the Almohad was not merely opportunistic, (considering the
support his father and grandfather had given to the Almoravids) for it influenced his work
significantly; notably his ability to unite philosophy and religion. Sometime between 1159 and
1169, during one of his periods of residence in Marrakesh, Ibn Rushd befriended Ibn Tufayl
(Abubacer), a philosopher who was the official physician and counselor to Caliph Abu Yaqub
Yusuf, son of ‘Abd al-Mu’min. It was Ibn Tufayl who introduced Ibn Rushd to the ruler. The
prince was impressed by the young philosopher and employed him first as chief judge and later as
chief physician. Ibn Rushd’s legacy as the commentator of Aristotle was also due to Abu Yaqub
Yusuf. Although well-versed in ancient philosophy, the prince complained about the challenge
posed by the Greek philosopher’s texts and commissioned Ibn Rushd to write a series of
commentaries on them.

Through most of Ibn Rushd’s service, the Almohads grew more liberal, leading eventually
to their formal rejection of Ibn Talmart’s theology and adoption of Malikite law in 1229. Despite
this tendency, public pressure against perceived liberalizing tendencies in the government led to
the formal rejection of Ibn Rushd and his writings in 1195. He was exiled to Lucena, a largely
Jewish village outside of Cordoba, his writings were banned and his books burned. This period of
disgrace did not last long, however, and Ibn Rushd returned to Cordoba two years later, but died
the following year. Doubts about Ibn Rushd’s orthodoxy persisted, but as Islamic interest in his
philosophy waned, his writings found new audiences in the Christian and Jewish worlds.9

Conclusion

Among Jewish thinkers, however, Ibn Rushd had a more positive impact. His thoughts on
Aristotle and the relationship between philosophy and religion, particularly revelation, inspired a
renewed interest in the interpretation of scripture and the Jewish religion. Key Jewish philosophers,
such as Maimonides, Moses Narboni and Abraham ibn Ezra, became associated with Ibn Rushd
in the West, even though they took Ibn Rushd’s doctrines into novel directions. As such, Leaman
notes, the category of a Jewish “Averroist” cannot be given to these philosophers, for their
relationship with Ibn Rushd’s thought was one of critique and integration into their own
philosophical systems. Nevertheless, without the work of the Spanish-Muslim philosopher, much
of what occurred in medieval philosophy would have not existed. He became an example of how

9
“Ibn Rushd (Averroes) | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.” n.d.
https://iep.utm.edu/ibnrushd/.

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religions are dynamic and evolving traditions, often shaped by epistemological influences from
other traditions.10

10
“Ibn Rushd (Averroes) | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.” n.d.
https://iep.utm.edu/ibnrushd/.