1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910457851803321

Autore

Treiger Alexander

Titolo

Inspired knowledge in Islamic thought : Al-Ghazali's theory of mystical cognition and its Avicennian foundation / / Alexander Treiger

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Abingdon, Oxon ; ; New York, N.Y. : , : Routledge, , 2012

ISBN

1-283-44227-2

9786613442277

0-203-80648-4

1-136-65562-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (196 p.)

Collana

Culture and civilization in the Middle East ; ; v. 27

Disciplina

181/.5

Soggetti

Cognition - Philosophy

Mysticism - Islam

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [162]-175) and indexes.

Nota di contenuto

Front Cover; Inspired Knowledge in Islamic Thought; Copyright Page; Contents; List of tables; Acknowledgments; Introduction: A new paradigm in Ghazālian studies; Methodological principles of the present study; Objectives and structure of the present study; Al-Ghazālī's books used in this study and their chronology; A note on works of doubtful authenticity; Transliteration and translation; 1. Heart, intelligence, knowledge; Heart (qalb); Intelligence ('aql); Other meanings of the term "intelligence" ('aql); Knowledge ('ilm); The mirror analogy; Cognition (ma'rifa); 2. The science of unveiling

The Revival of the Religious Sciences: What sciences are being revived?The content of the science of unveiling; The term "unveiling" (mukāshafa): A Sūfī background; The soteriological role of the science of unveiling: Philosophical background; 3. Tasting and witnessing; Tasting (dhawq); Witnessing (mushāhada); The Avicennian foundation; 4. Inspiration and revelation; Al-Ghazālī's taxonomy of the modes of cognition (turuq al-tahsīl); Two educational approaches: The "Sūfīs" versus the "theoreticians"; Inspiration explained: Model A - the Preserved Tablet and a curtain



Inspiration explained (contd.): Model B - a pond with two openingsAvicennian background: Avicenna's theory of intuition (hads); Avicennian background (contd.): Imagination-based prophecy; 5. Al-Ghazālī and the philosophical tradition; Tahāfut, Discussions 16 and 20; Tahāfut: A pseudo-refutation?; The Nīshāpūr controversy: Al-Ghazālī's response to the charge of philosophical influence; Conclusion; Appendix A; Appendix B; Notes; Bibliography; Index; Index of Qur'ānic verses

Sommario/riassunto

It has been customary to see the Muslim theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111) as a vehement critic of philosophy, who rejected it in favour of Islamic mysticism (Sufism), a view which has come under increased scrutiny in recent years. This book argues that al-Ghazali was, instead, one of the greatest popularisers of philosophy in medieval Islam. The author supplies new evidence showing that al-Ghazali was indebted to philosophy in his theory of mystical cognition and his eschatology, and that, moreover, in these two areas he accepted even those philosophical teachings which he os