Islamic HumanismThis book is an attempt to explain how, in the face of increasing religious authoritarianism in medieval Islamic civilization, some Muslim thinkers continued to pursue essentially humanistic, rational, and scientific discourses in the quest for knowledge, meaning, and values. Drawing on a wide range of Islamic writings, from love poetry to history to philosophical theology, Goodman shows that medieval Islam was open to individualism, occasional secularism, skepticism, even liberalism. |
Contents
The Sacred and the Secular | |
Humanism and Islamic Ethics | |
Being and Knowing | |
The Rise of Universal Historiography | |
Notes | |
Bibliography | |
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abarī Abbāsid Abū Active Intellect adīth al-Dīn al-Qays Alī ancient Arab Civilization argues Aristotelian Aristotle Aristotle’s Asharite authority Averroes Avicenna biblical caliph called claims creation critical culture divine Dunlop eternal ethics faith Fārābī Ghazālī God’s Goodman Greek Hamadhānī historians Historiography human Ibid Ibn azm Ibn Khaldūn Ibn Taymiyya idea ideal images Imru al-Qays Islamic Philosophy isnāds Jewish jihād kalām Khalidi Kindī Kitāb knowledge learning literary literature logic Maimonides Maqāmāt Margoliouth Masūdī means medieval metaphysics mind Miskawayh monotheism monotheistic moral Muammad Muslim Mutazilite mystic narrative nature Neoplatonic notion one’s Persian philosophers piety Plato poetry poets political practice pre-Islamic Prophet Qurān Qurānic Rāzī religion religious Rosenthal Saadiah scholars sciences scriptural secular seems sense Shboul Shīite soul spiritual Sufi Sufism theme theology theory things thinkers thought Tirmidhī tradition translated Umayyad universal history University Press values virtue virtue ethics wine worldly writing