eBook - ePub
Muslim Neoplatonists
An Introduction to the Thought of the Brethren of Purity
Ian Richard Netton
This is a test
- 162 pages
- English
- ePUB (adapté aux mobiles)
- Disponible sur iOS et Android
eBook - ePub
Muslim Neoplatonists
An Introduction to the Thought of the Brethren of Purity
Ian Richard Netton
DĂ©tails du livre
Aperçu du livre
Table des matiĂšres
Citations
Ă propos de ce livre
The tenth or eleventh century group of the Brethren of Purity (Ikhwan al Safa) are as well known in the Arab world as Darwin, Marx and Freud in the west. Designed as an introduction to their ideas, this book concentrates on the Brethren's writings, analyzing the impact on them of thinkers such as Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle and the Neoplatonists. Ian Netton traces the influences of Judaism and Christianity, and controversially this book argues that the Brethren of Purity did not belong to the Ismaili branch of Islam as is generally believed.
Foire aux questions
Comment puis-je résilier mon abonnement ?
Il vous suffit de vous rendre dans la section compte dans paramĂštres et de cliquer sur « RĂ©silier lâabonnement ». Câest aussi simple que cela ! Une fois que vous aurez rĂ©siliĂ© votre abonnement, il restera actif pour le reste de la pĂ©riode pour laquelle vous avez payĂ©. DĂ©couvrez-en plus ici.
Puis-je / comment puis-je télécharger des livres ?
Pour le moment, tous nos livres en format ePub adaptĂ©s aux mobiles peuvent ĂȘtre tĂ©lĂ©chargĂ©s via lâapplication. La plupart de nos PDF sont Ă©galement disponibles en tĂ©lĂ©chargement et les autres seront tĂ©lĂ©chargeables trĂšs prochainement. DĂ©couvrez-en plus ici.
Quelle est la différence entre les formules tarifaires ?
Les deux abonnements vous donnent un accĂšs complet Ă la bibliothĂšque et Ă toutes les fonctionnalitĂ©s de Perlego. Les seules diffĂ©rences sont les tarifs ainsi que la pĂ©riode dâabonnement : avec lâabonnement annuel, vous Ă©conomiserez environ 30 % par rapport Ă 12 mois dâabonnement mensuel.
Quâest-ce que Perlego ?
Nous sommes un service dâabonnement Ă des ouvrages universitaires en ligne, oĂč vous pouvez accĂ©der Ă toute une bibliothĂšque pour un prix infĂ©rieur Ă celui dâun seul livre par mois. Avec plus dâun million de livres sur plus de 1 000 sujets, nous avons ce quâil vous faut ! DĂ©couvrez-en plus ici.
Prenez-vous en charge la synthÚse vocale ?
Recherchez le symbole Ăcouter sur votre prochain livre pour voir si vous pouvez lâĂ©couter. Lâoutil Ăcouter lit le texte Ă haute voix pour vous, en surlignant le passage qui est en cours de lecture. Vous pouvez le mettre sur pause, lâaccĂ©lĂ©rer ou le ralentir. DĂ©couvrez-en plus ici.
Est-ce que Muslim Neoplatonists est un PDF/ePUB en ligne ?
Oui, vous pouvez accĂ©der Ă Muslim Neoplatonists par Ian Richard Netton en format PDF et/ou ePUB ainsi quâĂ dâautres livres populaires dans Philosophy et Philosophy of Religion. Nous disposons de plus dâun million dâouvrages Ă dĂ©couvrir dans notre catalogue.
Informations
CHAPTER ONE
The IkhwÄn al-áčąafÄâ and their RasÄâil
The group of medieval Arab philosophers known to Islamic history as the Brethren of Purity (IkhwÄn al-áčąafÄâ) has rightly been described as both an âobscure puzzleâ and a âpadlocked treasureâ.1 Their writings, presented in the form of epistles (rasÄâil) are frequently complicated, repetitive and, at the same time, impressively encyclopedic. Their subject matter is vast and ranges from mathematics, music and logic, through mineralogy, botany and embryology, to philosophical and theological topics which are concluded by a treatise on magic. It is small wonder that many scholars, with only a few notable exceptions, have preferred to avoid textual exploration and exegesis; indeed, as one scholar points out, most previous research has been concerned instead with a positive identification of the authors of the RasÄâil and a definitive dating of their work.2
These interlocked themes of authorship and dating have been the source of frequent speculation over the years, and continue both to tantalise and to irritate: for The Epistles of the Brethren of Purity (RasÄâil IkhwÄn al-áčąafÄâ) remain one of the great works of Arabic literature about whose authors we know hardly anything. It is admitted that the epistles were written by a group of philosophers who called themselves IkhwÄn al-áčąafÄâ, and traditionally agreed that this group lived in the Lower Mesopotamian river port of Basra during the tenth or eleventh century AD. The rest must be conjecture. Arabic sources differ over their individual names and perhaps it is a successful measure of the secrecy which they sought for themselves in their age that we know so little about their lives in our own. Like the deserted camp of the beloved in early Arabic poetry, the traces of their passage have become faint and shadowy.
Their written legacy, however, is much more tangible: it comprises a total of fifty-two RasÄâil addressed to their associates, each commencing with such characteristic phrases as âKnow, O brother âŠâ3 or, much more rarely, âKnow, O brethren âŠâ.4 It is clear that an extra epistle (risÄla) was added later for the text contains several assertions that the number of RasÄâil is fifty-one.5 Indeed, the fifty-second and last RisÄla, which deals with magic and kindred subjects, numbers itself as 51 in one place6 and refers to only fifty RasÄâil having preceded it.7 Yet, underneath its chapter heading, it is correctly numbered as 52!8 It has been suggested that the obvious predilection for the number fifty-one, which is seventeen multiplied by three, may be linked with the numerical symbolism of the alchemist JÄbir b. កayyÄn, who appears to have flourished in the eighth century AD: the IkhwÄn wrote seventeen RasÄâil on the natural sciences and seventeen was considered to be a key figure in the JÄbirean corpus.9
The RasÄâil are divided into four main sections, comprising fourteen RasÄâil on Mathematical Sciences, seventeen on Natural Sciences, ten on Psychological and Rational Sciences, and eleven on Theological Sciences. A central feature of the whole work is a lengthy debate between man and a variety of representatives of the animal kingdom, which occupies a large part of RisÄla 22 entitled On How the Animals and their Kinds are Formed.10 Separate from this group of fifty-two is a further RisÄla, which seems to have been intended as a conclusion, entitled âThe Summaryâ (al-RisÄlat al-JÄmiâa).11 The authorship of this has been the subject of some dispute, and, indeed, has been falsely attributed to al-MajrÄ«fÄ« (died c. 1008);12 but in view of the similar vocabulary, phraseology, and other resemblances it is highly unlikely that its authorship differs from that of the RasÄâil.
The IkhwÄn discuss the JÄmiâa briefly in their list of contents (Fihrist)13 and claim that its purpose is the clarification of the truths which have been alluded to in the other fifty-two RasÄâil.14 The lock of these epistles cannot be opened except by careful study, and it is only after such careful study that one is entitled to read the JÄmiâa.15 The reader is thus led to expect a work of considerable clarity; but the JÄmiâa does not, in fact, fulfil its promise nor its final self-designation as âthe crown of the RasÄâilâ16 to any large extent, for the work is neither exhaustive nor comprehensive. Much esotericism remains,17 as well as much repetition. It lacks most of the anecdotes and didactic storytelling of the fifty-two RasÄâil, despite the other similarities which have been mentioned, and it is also overladen with QurâÄnic quotation to an oppressive degree not found in these fifty-two.
It seems fairly certain that the RasÄâil were the product of meetings (majÄlis) convened by the Brethren for the purpose of philosophical discussion. One author has aptly likened their content to the draft of deliberations by a learned society composed by a well educated secretary,18 and this could be very close to the truth: the authors of the RasÄâil insist that their Brethren hold special meetings at set times, to which none but they are to be admitted, where their secrets and esoteric knowledge can be discussed in peace.19 Elsewhere it is suggested that such a meeting should take place every twelve days.20 There is an interesting similarity between these meetings held by the IkhwÄn and the meetings attended by the faithful of the IsmÄâÄ«lÄ« sect, during the FÄtimid period in Egypt, which were held twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays for textual reading and study.21
It is certainly possible that the RasÄâil could be the work of one author only, for there are significant lapses from the usual plural mode of address into the first person singular.22 This single author has been identified as one of a range of possibilities which includes names as diverse as the previously mentioned al-MajrÄ«áčÄ«, âAlÄ« (d. 661), Jaâfar al-áčąÄdiq (c. 700â65) and JÄbir b. កayyÄn (c. 721âc. 815), to cite just a few examples.23
Other scholars have preferred to view the RasÄâil as a joint undertaking. Thus by the time of the German scholar FlĂŒgel in the nineteenth century it was believed that the IkhwÄn comprised a group of five thinkers who had formed a secret association in BaáčŁra and published their RasÄâil. This concept of joint authorship goes back to early Muslim sources such as al-Tawáž„Ä«dÄ« (d. 1023)24 and some modern scholars such as S. M. Stern have accepted and reiterated these views.25 The arguments for and against the various names which have been put forward as the authors of the RasÄâil have been discussed frequently elsewhere and will not be repeated here.26 For even when all the material has been surveyed âwe find ourselves confronted with many contradictory opinions among students of the subjectâ.27 In this book the convention is adopted of referring to the authorship in the plural.
An equally vexing problem has been that of fixing the date of composition of the RasÄâil. A number of different ways of assessing this from internal evidence have been attempted. L. Massignon, for example, drew attention to the fragments of Arabic and Persian poetry in the text, and the definition of the trigonometrical sine, and suggested that this sort of evidence should be used to discover a date of composition.28 P. Casanova made use of astronomical data in a similar attempt;29 but his dating of the writing of the RasÄâil of 418â27 AH (1027â35 AD) is rejected by Tibawi, who prefers 338â73 AH (949â83 AD).30 The disparity in dating between these two authors, whose articles are admittedly separated by forty years, only underlines the difficulties involved in hazarding even an approximate date which will accord with all the internal data of the RasÄâil.
As a consequence of the time devoted by scholars to dating and authorship, many equally important problems arising out of the RasÄâil have been comparatively neglected or, at best, treated only cursorily. What was the precise relationship of the IkhwÄn with the IsmÄâÄ«lÄ« movement? How Islamically orthodox are the RasÄâil? How have the RasÄâil been influenced by Greek and other philosophies? All these questions, and others, posed by A. L. Tibawi, deserve an answer before we can begin to move away from his assessment of the subject of the IkhwÄn al-áčąafÄâ as a field âstill bristling with a number of question-marks and interspersed with unexplored cornersâ.31 Certainly, answers should be found to at least a few of these problems, especially that of the influences, Greek and otherwise, before an attempt is made at a positive personal identification of the authors.
Even the very name of the group, IkhwÄn al-áčąafÄâ, has not been free from controversy: it has led to the story of the ring-dove from Ibn al-Muqaffaââs KalÄ«la wa Dimna assuming a particular importance and significance in the Western history of the RasÄâil. According to this story a ring-dove and her companions become caught in a fowlerâs net. They manage to fly with the net to a friendly rat who nibbles through the net to release them. A crow, who has witnessed and been impressed by the incident, befriends the rat, and later a tortoise and a gazelle join their company. One day the gazelle is caught in a net. His comrades combine to release him, the rat gnawing through the net. The slow tortoise, however, is caught by the huntsman. This time the gazelle acts as a decoy while the rat releases the tortoise and all four animals are saved.32
In an important chapter on the humanâs need for mutual help or cooperation (taâÄwun), the IkhwÄn urge the brother to consider the story of the ring-dove in KalÄ«la wa Dimna, and how it was saved from the net, so as to realise the truth of what they have just said about mutual help.33 Ignaz Goldziher suggested that it was this story of the ring-dove which led the IkhwÄn to adopt the name IkhwÄn al-áčąafÄâ.34 It is easy to see how this tale, with its emphasis on mutual help and friendship, the double usage of that favourite verb of the IkhwÄn, to cooperate (taâÄwana),35 the frequent meeting of the animals to exchange news,36 and the designation of these animals as IkhwÄn al-áčąafÄâ,37 could have led Goldziher to regard the tale as the source of the IkhwÄnâs name. It is clear from the context in KalÄ«la wa Dimna that áčŁafÄâ means âsincerityâ rather than âpurityâ. Thus the full name of the IkhwÄn should be translated as âBrethren of Sincerityâ rather than âBrethren of Purityâ, if Goldziher were correct.
His theory might have been plausible if the IkhwÄn had described themselves only as IkhwÄn al-áčąafÄâ without any further additions. But they did not. Their title is frequently elaborated in Muâtazilite, IsmÄâÄ«lÄ« and SĆ«fi terms not found in the story of the ring-dove in KalÄ«ila wa Dimn...