علماء الحكمةPhilosophers Logicians and Dialecticians

Scholars of Philosophy

Among the ancients were Aristotle [Edition footnote 1], his teacher Plato, and those who came after them.

[Edition footnote 1] al-Ghazaalee declared him an unbeliever in his book al-Munqidh min al-Dhalaal, and he also declared al-Faaraabee an unbeliever. He said that the totality of what the two had erred in concerning the divine sciences returned to twenty principles, on three of which they must be declared unbelievers and on seventeen of which they must be deemed innovators. As for the three questions, they opposed all Muslims in them: first, they said that bodies would not be resurrected, but only the garments and the punished would be the spirits; second, their statement that God knows universals but not particulars; and third, their statement that the world is eternal. Believing this is manifest unbelief—we seek refuge in God from it. Ibn al-Wardee related this in his history. Sayyid Noor al-Hasan Khaan, may God Most High preserve both him and the author.

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Among the Muslims were al-Faaraabee, Ibn Seenaa, Fakhr al-Deen al-Raazee, and Naseer al-Toosee.

Among those who followed these men in knowledge of philosophy was the shaykh Shihaab al-Deen al-Maqtool al-Suhrawardee.

Those who joined their ranks included Qutb al-Sheeraazee, Qutb al-Raazee, Sa'd al-Taftaazaanee, and al-Shareef al-Jurjaanee, followed by Jalaal al-Dawaanee, Khwaaja Zaada, and Mustafaa, known as al-Qustallaanee. The biographies of some of them have already appeared in the second section of this book, under the science of al-Alfee; consult them there. In His hand is benefit and harm.

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Scholars of Logic

They are generally scholars of philosophy, but here we mention some who authored works on the science of logic and became known for it, while also participating in the other sciences—may God Most High have mercy upon them.

Mahmood ibn Abee Bakr ibn Ahmad al-Umawee, the shaykh Siraaj al-Deen Aboo al-Sanaa, author of Mataali' al-Anwaar and Bayaan al-Haqq. He followed the Shaafi'ee school and studied in Mosul under Kamaal al-Deen ibn Yoonus. He was born in 594 AH, four years short of six hundred, and died in 682 AH in the city of Konya.

Muhammad Qutb al-Deen al-Raazee, known as al-Tahtaanee. This attribution distinguished him from another Qutb who was al-Fawqaanee; the two lived in one school, one on the upper floor and the other on the lower floor.

He was an outstanding imaam in the rational sciences. His name became renowned and his fame spread, and he came to Damascus in 763 AH.

Ibn al-Subkee said: “We debated with him in Damascus and found him an imaam in logic and philosophy, knowledgeable in Qur'aanic exegesis, the meanings, and eloquence, and conversant with grammar. His intelligence blazed. He had well-known marginalia on al-Kashshaaf, and a commentary on al-Urmawee's Mataali' in logic; it is a commentary of immense importance. He also had a commentary on al-Kaatibee's al-Risaala al-Shamsiyya in logic.” He died in 776 AH on the outskirts of Damascus, at approximately seventy-four years of age. He had a servant whom he raised from childhood and taught until he became an excellent teacher in all the sciences. He was called Mubaarak Shaah al-Mantiqee, and it was from him that al-Shareef al-Jurjaanee learned Qutb al-Deen al-Raazee's commentary on the Mataali'—may God have mercy upon him.

Aboo al-Futooh Yahyaa ibn Habash ibn Ameerak, known by the title Shihaab al-Deen al-Maqtool al-Suhrawardee. It is also said that his name was Ahmad, and it is also said that it was 'Umar.

He was among the scholars of his age. He studied philosophy and the principles of jurisprudence with the shaykh Majd al-Deen al-Jeelee, the teacher of Fakhr al-Deen al-Raazee, in Maraagha in the region of Aadharbaayjaan, until he excelled in both disciplines. He was trained under him and benefited from his company.

He was an imaam in his fields. In Tabaqaat al-Atibbaa' it is said: “Al-Suhrawardee was unparalleled in his age in the philosophical sciences, encompassing the philosophical disciplines, accomplished in the principles of jurisprudence, exceptionally intelligent, and eloquent in expression. His knowledge exceeded his intellect.” It is said that he knew the science of alchemy, and extraordinary things are related of him; some of them are recounted in Madeenat al-'Uloom and Wafayaat al-A'yaan.

He wrote works including al-Talweehaat and al-Mutaarahaat on logic and philosophy, Hayaakil al-Noor and Hikmat al-Ishraaq on philosophy, and al-Tanqeehaat on the principles of jurisprudence, in addition to other works. He also had fine passages in verse and prose, which there is no need to mention at length.

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He followed the Shaafi'ee school and was given the epithet al-Mu'ayyad bi-al-Malakoot. He was accused of unsound belief and of denying the divine attributes, and he was thought to adhere to the doctrine of the ancient philosophers. This became notorious about him. When he reached Aleppo, its scholars issued a legal opinion permitting his blood and killed him because of his belief and the evil of his doctrine as it appeared to them. The two most vehement against him were the shaykhs Zayn al-Deen and Majd al-Deen, the sons of Humayd.

Sayf al-Deen al-Aamidee said: “I met him in Aleppo, and he said to me: 'I must rule the earth.' I asked him: 'From where have you obtained this?' He said: 'I saw in a dream that I drank the water of the sea.' I said: 'Perhaps this means the spread of knowledge, or something consistent with it.' Yet I found that he would not turn back from what had taken root in his mind. I found him possessed of much knowledge and little reason.” He said that when the execution had become certain, he would often recite:

I see my feet have shed my blood ... My blood has become cheap—here is my remorse

This took place during the reign of al-Malik al-Mudhaffar, the ruler of Aleppo and son of Sultan Salaah al-Deen. He imprisoned him and then strangled him on 5 Rajab 582 AH in the citadel of Aleppo. He was thirty-eight years old, and people differed concerning him.

Some attributed to him Zandaqa and unbelief.

Others testified to his sound belief.

The qaadhee Bahaa' al-Deen, known as Ibn Shaddaad—the qaadhee of Aleppo—said: “Al-Suhrawardee showed great reverence for the religious rites,” and he elaborated on this. At the end of al-Talweehaat, he mentioned himself in admonitions that he set down there: “Beware the evil of the base person to whom you have shown kindness; indeed, I have suffered hardships from them.”

Its commentator said: “By this he meant some of his disciples who accompanied him in travel and residence and transmitted from him things contrary to the Law. Perhaps his killing was because of these men.” We ask God for pardon and well-being in religion, this world, and the Hereafter; that He make us among the people of truth and right guidance; and that He protect us from the evil of the people of deviation and corruption. He is the Patron of guidance and right direction. Among his sayings is: “Reflection in a sacred form, through which the seeker of spiritual ease is gently refined; the regions of holiness are a dwelling that ignorant people do not tread. It is forbidden for darkened bodies to enter the kingdom of the heavens. So affirm God's oneness while you are filled with reverence for Him; remember Him while you are stripped of the garments of created forms. If there were two suns in existence, the foundations would be obliterated, and the order of things refuses to be other than it has been:”

I became hidden until I said: I am not manifest ... And I appeared through my striving over the created worlds

If we had known that we would not meet ... We would have taken our fill of Sulaymaa

O God, release my subtle spirit from this dense world.

Ibn Khallikaan attributed to him some graceful poems, but we shall not lengthen the discussion by mentioning them here.

Aboo al-Barakaat al-Baghdaadee: his biography has already appeared under the science of logic; consult it there.

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Scholars of Dialectics

Aboo Bakr Muhammad ibn 'Alee al-Qaffaal ibn Ismaa'eel al-Shaashee, the Shaafi'ee jurist:

He was the first of the excellent jurists to compose a work on dialectics. Without dispute, he was the imaam of his age: a jurist, traditionist, legal theorist, linguist, and poet.

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There was no one like him among the Shaafi'ees beyond the Oxus in his time.

He traveled to Khuraasaan, Iraq, the Hijaaz, Syria, and the frontier regions, and his renown spread throughout the lands.

He learned jurisprudence from Ibn Surayj. He had many works on dialectics and a book on the principles of jurisprudence; through him the Shaafi'ee school spread in his lands.

He transmitted from Muhammad ibn Jareer al-Tabaree and his peers.

And al-Haakim, Ibn Mandah, and a large group transmitted from him.

He died in 336 AH. It is also said that he died in al-Shaash in the year 365 AH.

Al-Shaash is a city beyond the Oxus, in the land of the Turks, from which a group of scholars emerged.

This al-Qaffaal is not al-Qaffaal al-Marwazee, who came later than him. Thus Ibn Khallikaan stated in his History of the Deaths of Eminent Men.

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