Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T23:44:36.509Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Towards Intercultural Dialogue, Synthesis, and Pluralism: Revisiting Baghdad’s House of Wisdom

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2018

WISAM KH. ABDUL-JABBAR
WISAM KH. ABDUL-JABBAR*
Affiliation:
University of Calgary
*
*<[email protected]>
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study challenges present-day dualisms and divisions, which are reflected in socio-political and intercultural dialogue. The aim of this study is to connect the philosophical discourse of the ninth-century House of Wisdom to modern conceptions of Islam by extending the dialogical rhetoric of that discourse. This study revisits the House of Wisdom, first, to invoke an inclusive, intercultural Islamic tradition that negates the circumscription of Islam by radical views. Second, it reintroduces the liberal arts as pedagogical tools that are central to the Islamic wisdom tradition. Third, it explores the notions of Aql and Fitrah and how they prescribe Hikmah.

Cette étude remet en cause les dualismes et divisions actuels qui se reflètent dans le dialogue socio-politique et interculturel. Le projet vise à établir un lien entre le discours philosophique de la Maison de la Sagesse du IXe siècle et les conceptions modernes de l’islam en étendant la rhétorique dialogique dudit discours. Le projet en question a également pour but de réexaminer la Maison de la Sagesse. Ce processus consiste d’abord à invoquer une tradition islamique inclusive et interculturelle qui contrecarre la vision limitée d’un islam radical. Puis, il consiste à réintroduire les arts libéraux comme outils pédagogiques au cœur de la tradition islamique de la sagesse, et finalement, à explorer les principes du Aql et de la Fitrah ainsi que la façon dont ils prescrivent la Hikmah.

Keywords

intercultural dialoguewisdom traditioninterfaithIslamic philosophyradicalization
Type
Original Article/Article original
Information
Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review / Revue canadienne de philosophie , Volume 58 , Issue 2 , June 2019 , pp. 371 - 391
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Philosophical Association 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbes, Makram 2010 “Adab and the Formation of Men,” in Arab-Muslim Civilization in the Mirror of the Universal Philosophical Perspectives, edited by Laso, Pilar Alvarez and Tang, Qian. Paris: UNESCO, pp. 29–42.Google Scholar
Adamson, Peter 2016 Philosophy in the Islamic World: A History without Any Gaps. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Afsaruddin, Asma 2011 “Finding Common Ground: ‘Mutual Knowing,’ Moderation and the Fostering of Religious Pluralism,” in Learned Ignorance: Intellectual Humility among Jews, Christians, and Muslims, edited by Heft, James L., Firestone, Reuven, and Safi, Omid. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 67–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ahmed, Akbar S. 2005 “Islam and the West: Clash or Dialogue of Civilizations?” in Islam and Global Dialogue: Religious Pluralism and the Pursuit of Peace, edited by Boase, Roger. Aldershot, Hants: Ashgate Publishing Limited, pp. 103–119.Google Scholar
Al-Kalili, Jim 2011 The House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance. London: Penguin Press.Google Scholar
Al-Yaqubi 1937 Le Pays, translated by Wiet, G.. Cairo: L’Institute Français d’Archéologie Orientale.Google Scholar
Ansari, Zafar Ishaq 1972 “Islamic Juristic Terminology before Sāfiʿī: A Semantic Analysis with Special Reference to Kūfa.” Arabica 19 (3): 255–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Armesto, Felipe Fernandez 1995 Millennium: A History of the Last Thousand Years. New York: Scribner.Google Scholar
Bai, Heesoon, Eppert, Claudia, Scott, Charles, Tait, Saskia, and Nguyen, Tram 2015 “Towards Intercultural Philosophy of Education.” Studies in Philosophy and Education: An International Journal 34 (6): 635–650.Google Scholar
Beck, Glenn 2015 It IS About Islam: Exposing the Truth About ISIS, Al Qaeda, Iran, and the Caliphate. New York: Threshold Editions.Google Scholar
Bidar, Abdennour 2010 “How Is Reason Used for Spiritual Knowledge and Behaviour?” in Arab-Muslim Civilization in the Mirror of The Universal Philosophical Perspectives, edited by Laso, Pilar Alvarez and Tang, Qian. UNESCO, pp. 221–229.Google Scholar
Black, Antony 2001 The History of Islamic Political Thought. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Bod, Rens 2013 A New History of the Humanities: The Search for Principles and Patterns from Antiquity to the Present. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braudel, Fernand 1995 A History of Civilizations, translated by Mayne, Richard. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Dien, Mawil Izzi 2000 The Environmental Dimensions of Islam. Cambridge: The Lutterworth Press.Google Scholar
Eppert, Claudia, Vokey, Daniel, Tuong, Tram Nguyen, Anh, and Bai, Heesoon 2016 “Intercultural Philosophy and the Nondual Wisdom of ‘Basic Goodness’: Implications for Contemplative and Transformative Education,” in Philosophy East/West: Exploring Intersections Between Educational and Contemplative Practices, edited by Ergas, Oren and Todd, Sharon. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 129–152.Google Scholar
Fakhry, Majid 2009 Islamic Philosophy: A Beginner’s Guide. Oxford: Oneworld.Google Scholar
“From Hypocrisy to Apostasy: The Extinction of the Grey Zone.” 2015 Dabiq 7, https://clarionproject.org/docs/islamic-state-dabiq-magazine-issue-7-from-hypocrisy-to-apostasy.pdf.Google Scholar
Fukuyama, Francis 1992 The End of History and the Last Man. London: Hamish Hamilton.Google Scholar
Ghabra, Shafeeq, and Arnold, Margreet 2007 Studying the American Way: An Assessment of American-Style Higher Education in Arab Countries. Washington: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.Google Scholar
Groff, Peter S. 2007 Islamic Philosophy A-Z. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Gutas, Dimitri 2016 “Ibn Sina [Avicenna],” in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Zalta, Edward N.. https://plato.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia/archinfo.cgi?entry=ibn-sina.Google Scholar
Hourani, George F. 1985 Reason and Tradition in Islamic Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huntington, Samuel P. 1997 The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Ibn Al-Muqaffa, A. 1989 Athar Ibn Al-Muqaffa. Beirut: Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiya.Google Scholar
Jacobson, Louis. 2016 “Donald Trump Wrong that ‘There’s No Real Assimilation’ by U.S. Muslims.” Politifact. http://www.politifact.com/nbc/statements/2016/jun/18/donald-trump/donald-trump-wrong-theres-no-real-assimilation-us-/.Google Scholar
Kennedy-Day, Kiki 2003 Books of Definition in Islamic Philosophy: The Limits of Words. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khalidi, Tarif 1994 Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khan, M. Haminuddin 1967 History of Muslim Education. Karachi: Academy of Educational Research.Google Scholar
King, Richard 1999 Indian Philosophy: An Introduction to Hindu and Buddhist Thought. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Kirby, William C., and van der Wende, Marijk C. 2016 “A Global Dialogue on Liberal Arts and Sciences: Re-Engagement, Re-Imagination, and Experimentation,” in Experiences in Liberal Arts and Science Education from America, Europe, and Asia: A Dialogue across Continents, edited by Kirby, William C. and van der Wende, Marijk C.. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1–17.Google Scholar
Kraemer, Joel L. 1992 Humanism in the Renaissance of Islam: The Cultural Revival During the Buyid Age. Leiden: E.J. Brill.Google Scholar
Lunde, Paul, and Stone, Caroline, translators 1989 Mas‘udi: The Meadows of Gold, The Abbasids. London and New York: Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Lyons, Jonathan 2010 The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.Google Scholar
Lyons, Jonathan 2014 Islam Through Western Eyes: From the Crusades to the War on Terrorism. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Nasr, Seyyed Hossein 2006 Islamic Philosophy from Its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the Land of Prophecy. New York: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Quran 1987 Translated by Ali, Yusuf. Riadh: King Fahd Holy Quran Printing Complex.Google Scholar
Reinhart, A. Kevin 1995 Before Revelation: The Boundaries of Muslim Moral Thought. New York: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Rescher, Nicholas 1963 “Al-Farabi on Logical Tradition.” Journal of the History of Ideas 24 (1): 127–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenthal, Franz, translator 1989 The History of Al-Tabari Vol. 1: General Introduction and From the Creation to the Flood. Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Rosyad, Rifki 2006 A Quest for True Islam: A Study of the Islamic Resurgence Movement among the Youth in Bandung Indonesia. Canberra: ANU E Press.Google Scholar
Sajoo, Amyn B. 2012 “Introduction: Faith and Culture,” in A Companion to Muslim Cultures, edited by Sajoo, Amyn B.. London: I.B. Tauris Publishers, pp. 1–21.Google Scholar
Shah, Mustafa 2007 “Trajectories in the Development of Islamic Theological Thought: The Synthesis of Kalam.” Religion Compass 1 (4): 430–454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smirnov, Andrey 2004 “Causality in Islamic Thought,” in A Companion to World Philosophies, edited by Deutch, Eliot and Bontekoe, Ron. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, pp. 493–504.Google Scholar
Smith, David G. 2014 Teaching as the Practice of Wisdom. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.Google Scholar
Winter, Tim 2008 “Introduction,” in The Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology, edited by Winter, Tim J.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winter, Tim 2011 “The Essence of Islamic Education, Part One.” Islam on Demand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQtGI20D1yY.Google Scholar
Wolfson, Harry Austryn 1976 The Philosophy of the Kalam. Cambridge: Harvard College.Google Scholar
Woods, Graeme 2015 “What ISIS Really Wants.” The Atlantic, March, http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/.Google Scholar
Yildirim, Yetkin 2006 “Islamic Education,” in Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, edited by Meri, Josef W.. New York: Routledge, pp. 220–222.Google Scholar
Yusuf, Hamza 2012 “How to Read a Book.” Zaytuna Faculty Lecture Series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHIiqWqPOng.Google Scholar