Philosophy › Faith and reason
Philosophy in the Islamic world (falsafa)
classical period c. 830–1200· School or movement· Reality, mind & God
Mostly agreedGood evidence; some details uncertain.
Falsafa: Muslim, Christian and Jewish thinkers writing in Arabic who used Greek philosophy to reason about God, mind and the world.
See it on the Philosophy map →The idea
Idea: reason and revelation, properly understood, agree. Al-Kindi (d. c. 870) began it in Baghdad; al-Farabi (d. 950) joined Plato's politics to Aristotle's logic; Avicenna built the most complete system; Averroes in Córdoba wrote detailed commentaries on Aristotle. They debated whether the world is eternal, how God knows individual things, and how the intellect works. Main objection: al-Ghazali argued around 1095 that key philosophical claims contradicted Islam and were not even proven.
Why it matters
It kept Greek philosophy alive and advanced it, and through Latin translations it reshaped medieval Europe's universities and thinkers such as Aquinas.
Where it comes from
Hundreds of Arabic manuscripts; Latin translations made in Toledo and elsewhere in the 1100s; and the responses of al-Ghazali, Maimonides and Aquinas.
Still debated
Older accounts said falsafa faded after al-Ghazali and Averroes; recent scholars argue it continued vigorously in Persia, through Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra.
Inside this (5)
Connections (4)
▸Plotinus and Neoplatonism shaped Philosophy in the Islamic world (falsafa)Well documented
The connection
Through Arabic paraphrases, Plotinus' picture of everything flowing from the One reached Islamic thinkers. Al-Farabi and Avicenna built their cosmos on this emanation scheme: a chain of intellects descending from God to the heavens and down to our world.
When and how
Baghdad, 9th century, in al-Kindi's circle, where the 'Theology of Aristotle' paraphrased parts of Enneads IV–VI.
How we know
The Arabic 'Theology of Aristotle' survives and closely paraphrases Plotinus; al-Farabi's and Avicenna's emanation schemes follow its pattern.
Debates and open questions
Because the text was credited to Aristotle, most Islamic philosophers did not know they were following Plotinus; how this mix-up shaped their reading is still studied.
▸Greek-to-Arabic translation movement (House of Wisdom) made possible Philosophy in the Islamic world (falsafa)Well documented
The connection
Without Arabic versions of Aristotle, Plato and the Neoplatonists there would have been no falsafa. The translations supplied the texts and a new technical vocabulary; al-Kindi worked alongside translators, and al-Farabi built his logic on their versions.
When and how
Baghdad, 9th–10th centuries; al-Kindi (d. c. 870) and al-Farabi (d. 950).
How we know
Arabic philosophers cite translations by translator's name, and their technical terms match the translators' coinages.
Debates and open questions
How much the translators' choices, and errors like the misattributed 'Theology of Aristotle', shaped Islamic philosophy is still studied.
▸Al-Ghazali, The Incoherence of the Philosophers challenged Philosophy in the Islamic world (falsafa)Well documented
The connection
Al-Ghazali charged the Aristotelian philosophers (falasifa) with overstepping reason and contradicting Islam on three points that he said amounted to unbelief. He kept their logic, even urging theologians to use it, but discredited their metaphysics. After him, philosophy in the Muslim East increasingly merged with theology and Sufi mysticism.
When and how
Baghdad, about 1095, at the Nizamiyya college; his works spread across the Muslim world within a few decades.
How we know
His Incoherence, Deliverance from Error and logic manuals survive; later theologians such as Fakhr al-Din al-Razi wrote in the blended style he encouraged.
Debates and open questions
The old claim that he ended Islamic philosophy is now widely rejected: philosophy continued in Persia, through Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra, for centuries.
▸Philosophy in the Islamic world (falsafa) passed Aristotle to Scholasticism and the recovery of AristotleWell documented
The connection
Much of Aristotle reached Latin Europe through Arabic: translators in Toledo and elsewhere rendered his works together with the commentaries and systems of al-Farabi, Avicenna and Averroes. Latin scholars learned not just Aristotle's texts but Arabic ways of reading them, including problems such as essence versus existence and the nature of the intellect.
When and how
Toledo, Spain, about 1130–1280; translators like Gerard of Cremona and Dominicus Gundissalinus worked alongside Jewish and Arabic-speaking scholars.
How we know
Surviving Latin manuscripts name their translators and Arabic sources, and Latin authors cite 'Avicenna' and 'the Commentator' constantly.
Debates and open questions
How much reached Europe through Arabic versus direct Greek translations, such as those of James of Venice and William of Moerbeke, is still being worked out.