The Disagreement between Avicenna and al-Ghazali on the Issue of the Pre-eternity of the Universe, how their Arguments Originated from Greek Philosophers and their Effect on Muslim Philosophers

The aim of this thesis is to explore one of the three condemnations by al-Ghazali of Avicenna in his widely publicised book ‘Incoherence of the Philosophers’. The paper will focus on one of these three specific issues because it was these topics that were used by al-Ghazali to insinuate that Avicenna had transgressed the boundaries of valid traditional Islamic belief (kufr). The refutation of al-Ghazali are found in three parochial topics: (I) pre-eternity of matter and temporal nature of the world (II) God’s knowledge of particulars and universals, (III) the relationship between the resurrection of the body and the soul. The focus of this thesis will be on the issue of presenting the opinions of both the proponents of pre-eternity of matter as well as advocates of the universe being created out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo). It will explore the opinion of Greek philosophers leading up to Avicenna, then will navigate through the opinion of Muslim philosophers and theologians and then finally moving onto the opinions of contemporary philosophers and scientists. The thesis will first explore the opinion of Avicenna regarding the pre-eternity of the universe and whether his positon traversed the boundaries of Islam and into heresy. The thesis will then move onto looking into the opinions and positons of Greek and Muslim philosophers, to enquire into the accuracy of the perception that the position of Avicenna was a ‘rogue’ position that was rejected by Muslim philosophers. The contention of al-Ghazali and the opinions of latter Muslim theologians will be explored in order to give the reader a holistic understanding of these issues so that one can determine whether it was philosophically sound for latter scholars to anathematise Avicenna. Finally the thesis will explore the relevance of the Avicenna amongst philosophers and scientists in current times.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

mphil

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Ahmed, Sulaiman

• B Athroniaeth (Cyffredinol)

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:1202