Abu al-Walid Muhammad Ibn Rushd, better known in the West as Averroës, but also in medieval times as Avén Ruiz and Averrhoes, was born in 1126 A.D. in Cordova, once the illustrious capital of Moorish Spain. The descendant of a distinguished Cordovan family of scholars, he was the third generation of his lineage to hold the office of qadi [judge]. One of the foremost figures of Arab civilization, he became known as the "Prince of Science" - the master of jurisprudence, mathematics, medicine and, above all, philosophy.
The twelfth century produced some of the most outstanding scholars of Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), like the neo-Aristotelian school developed by Avempace (Ibn Bajja), Ibn Tufayl and Maimonides (Ibn Maymun) which was to have considerable influence on Christian Europe. However, Ibn Rushd, who it is said never missed reading or writing except the day he married and the day his father died, was to overshadow them all in medieval intellectual thought.
In the Middle Ages, his ideas influenced the transformation of thought in medieval Europe. The last of the great Muslim thinkers, his beliefs were to have an affect on the minds of many Middle Ages intellectuals, living well beyond the borders of Moorish Spain.
As was the practice among the well-known families in his time, Ibn Rushd acquired his education within the family, excelling in Qur'anic studies, jurisprudence, theology and tradition. In addition, he became versed in astronomy, literature, mathematics, music and zoology, but his most outstanding accomplishments were in the areas of medicine and philosophy.
Ibn Rushd owes much of his success in life to his ardor for learning and to patronage by the two enlightened Almohade (the ruling dynasty 1145-1269 A.D.) caliphs, Abu Yaqub Yusuf (1163-1184) and Abu Yaqub al-Mansur (1184-1199). Under their rule, toleration and friendship were generally experienced by intellectuals, in contrast to the hostility to philosophy by the Almoravides, 1056-1145 A.D., and the Malikite school in Islam, which was the main intellectual faction of Islamic thought in Al-Andalus.
After appointing Ibn Rushd in 1169 as qadi in Seville, the Almohade Caliph Abu Yaqub brought him two years later to Cordova and, bestowing on him favors and honors, made him his chief judge and his personal physician. Under his sponsorship, Ibn Rushd took on the task of commenting on Aristotle's works. From their first meeting, which was arranged by their free-thinking companion Ibn Tufayl, Ibn Rushd and Abu Yaqub became great friends. Thereafter in private, Ibn Rushd was able to discuss Greek philosophy freely with Abu Yaqub who encouraged him to write his commentaries on the works of Aristotle.
Early in his life Ibn Rushd greatly admired Aristotle and considered him a giant who had attained the truth. He regarded Aristotle as embodying the highest development of the human intellect. It is said that Ibn Rushd understood, and interpreted and analytically discussed Aristotle's true thoughts more than any of his Muslim predecessors or contemporaries.
Ibn Rushd maintained that the deepest truths must be approached by means of rational analysis and that philosophy could lead to the final truth. He accepted revelation, and attempted to harmonize religion with philosophy without synthesizing them or obliterating their differences. He believed the Qur'an contained the highest truth while maintaining that its words should not be taken literally. He argued that as the milk-sister of religion, philosophy confirms and does not contradict the revelation.
To Ibn Rushd, the supremacy of the human intellect did not allow for the possible contradiction between science and revelation. He gives religion an important role in the life of the state, considering that the scriptures, when philosophically understood, are far superior to the religion of pure reason. Striving to bring the two together, he wrote that in the case of differences - provided scriptural language did not violate the principles of reason, that is, it does not commit a contradiction - science should give way.
Ibn Rushd is also noted for developing a theory of the intellect, which greatly influenced the history of Aristotelian scholarship. Many Aristotelian scholars, past and present, believe that it represents a correct understanding of Aristotle. It, however, goes beyond Aristotle and is rightly identified with Ibn Rushd. The theory is difficult and there has been controversy in interpreting it. It has been understood, in a general way, to mean that he envisaged the human soul as part of an all-embracing divine soul. Like a number of others in his time, he attempted to draw a picture of the ultimate truth by a mixture of analytical arguments and innate intuition derived from man's participation in the world soul.
He contended that philosophy is nothing more than the the systematic probing into the phenomenon of creation, revealing God's wisdom and might. Hence, revelation dictates the study of philosophy...
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