Skip to content
Register Sign in Wishlist

God and Logic in Islam
The Caliphate of Reason

£24.99

  • Date Published: September 2013
  • availability: Available
  • format: Paperback
  • isbn: 9781107641099

£ 24.99
Paperback

Add to cart Add to wishlist

Other available formats:
Hardback, eBook


Looking for an inspection copy?

This title is not currently available on inspection

Description
Product filter button
Description
Contents
Resources
Courses
About the Authors
  • This book investigates the central role of reason in Islamic intellectual life. Despite widespread characterization of Islam as a system of belief based only on revelation, John Walbridge argues that rational methods, not fundamentalism, have characterized Islamic law, philosophy and education since the medieval period. His research demonstrates that this medieval Islamic rational tradition was opposed by both modernists and fundamentalists, resulting in a general collapse of traditional Islamic intellectual life and its replacement by more modern but far shallower forms of thought. However, the resources of this Islamic scholarly tradition remain an integral part of the Islamic intellectual tradition and will prove vital to its revival. The future of Islam, Walbridge argues, will be marked by a return to rationalism.

    • A systematic treatment of the role of reason in Islam that challenges the idea that Islam rejects reason
    • Proposes the recovery of the rationalist heritage of Islam as part of the future of Islam
    • Integrates treatment of law, philosophy, mysticism and science within a general account of Islamic attitudes to reason
    Read more

    Reviews & endorsements

    'This is a daring attempt to understand the role of reason in the Islamic intellectual tradition and to explain it in simple, lucid terms. Full of fresh insights.' Zafar Ishaq Ansari, International Islamic University

    'This book is beautifully written and researched, deeply learned and contemplated by a fellow citizen of the 21st century who wishes to demonstrate that Islam is a reasonable mode of being human. This book demonstrates what should never have been doubted: that the venture of Islam - like the venture of Christianity or Buddhism or Judaism - has been enacted by none other than practising human beings who wish to know why they are 'here,' why they live, and why they suffer and to discover how they can live better while they are 'here.' The answers that are given are the results of human reason, but the language in which such answers are formed may be the language of science, the language of religion, the language of the enlightenment, the language of the church, or the language of Islam. This book goes some good and necessary distance in dispelling the current darkness, and I am grateful to its author for having written it.' Todd Lawson, University of Toronto

    'Walbridge's book is clearly the product of many years of study and reflection. Its tone is thoughtful, scholarly, and temperate. It is a fruitful source of insights for scholars of Islam, the Middle East, and international politics. Those who argue that Islam is inherently radical and irrational must take account of the argument he offers here, and the path he indicates for the modernization of Islam.' Luigi Bradizza, The European Legacy

    See more reviews

    Customer reviews

    Not yet reviewed

    Be the first to review

    Review was not posted due to profanity

    ×

    , create a review

    (If you're not , sign out)

    Please enter the right captcha value
    Please enter a star rating.
    Your review must be a minimum of 12 words.

    How do you rate this item?

    ×

    Product details

    • Date Published: September 2013
    • format: Paperback
    • isbn: 9781107641099
    • length: 228 pages
    • dimensions: 229 x 152 x 13 mm
    • weight: 0.34kg
    • contains: 3 b/w illus.
    • availability: Available
  • Table of Contents

    1. Introduction
    Part I. The Formation of the Islamic Tradition of Reason:
    2. The diversity of reason
    3. Empirical knowledge of the mind of God
    4. The failure of the Fārābian synthesis of religion and philosophy
    5. Mysticism, post-classical Islamic philosophy, and the rise and fall of Islamic science
    Part II. Logic, Education, and Doubt:
    6. Where is Islamic logic?: the triumph of scholastic rationalism in Islamic education
    7. The long afternoon of Islamic logic
    8. The institutionalization of disagreement
    Part III. The Fall and the Future of Islamic Rationalism:
    9. The decline and fall of scholastic reason in Islam
    10. A chaos of certitudes: the future of Islamic reason.

  • Author

    John Walbridge, Indiana University
    John Walbridge is a Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University. He is the author of nine books on Islam and Arabic culture, including four books on Islamic philosophy, including The Wisdom of the Mystic East: Suhrawardi and Platonic Orientalism (2001) and Suhrawardi: The Philosophy of Illumination (with Hossein Ziai, 1999).

Related Books

Sorry, this resource is locked

Please register or sign in to request access. If you are having problems accessing these resources please email [email protected]

Register Sign in
Please note that this file is password protected. You will be asked to input your password on the next screen.

» Proceed

You are now leaving the Cambridge University Press website. Your eBook purchase and download will be completed by our partner www.ebooks.com. Please see the permission section of the www.ebooks.com catalogue page for details of the print & copy limits on our eBooks.

Continue ×

Continue ×

Continue ×
warning icon

Turn stock notifications on?

You must be signed in to your Cambridge account to turn product stock notifications on or off.

Sign in Create a Cambridge account arrow icon
×

Find content that relates to you

Join us online

This site uses cookies to improve your experience. Read more Close

Are you sure you want to delete your account?

This cannot be undone.

Cancel

Thank you for your feedback which will help us improve our service.

If you requested a response, we will make sure to get back to you shortly.

×
Please fill in the required fields in your feedback submission.
×