Ibn Hazm
Encyclopedia
Abū Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd ibn Ḥazm ) was an Andalusian
philosopher
, litterateur
, psychologist
, historian
, jurist
and theologian born in Córdoba
, present-day Spain
. He was a leading proponent of the Zahiri
school of Islamic thought and produced a reported 400 works of which only 40 still survive, covering a range of topics such as Islamic jurisprudence
, logic
, history
, ethics
, comparative religion
, and theology
, as well as The Ring of the Dove
, on the art of love.
, his grandfather Sa'id moved to Córdoba
and his father Ahmad both held high advisory positions in the court of the Umayyad
Caliph
Hisham II
. The family claimed to be of Persian descent. However, some modern day scholars believe that there is evidence that Ibn Hazm was a descendant of a Christian
Iberian family in Manta Lisham (near Sevilla).
As one of the major members of the Zahiri group, he was well-known in his time. Some other scholars reprimanded him, but Ibn Hazm was a great resister.
government, produced an eager and observant attitude in young Ibn Hazm, he gained an excellent educational opportunity at Cordoba. His talent gained him fame and entered service under the Caliphs of Córdoba, and was known to have worked under Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir
, Hajib (Grand Vizier
) to the last of the Ummayad caliphs, Hisham III
. He was also a colleague of Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo
.
After the death of the Grand Vizier
al-Muzaffar
in 1008, the Umayyad Caliphate of Spain, became embroiled in a civil war that lasted until 1031 resulting in its collapse of the central authority of Córdoba
and the emergence of many smaller incompetent states called Taifa
s.
Ibn Hazm's father died in 1012 and Ibn Hazm continued to speak in favor of a centralized Political Structure he was accused of supporting the Umayyads, for which he was frequently imprisoned. By 1031 Ibn Hazm retreated to his family estate at Manta Lisham and had begun to express his activist convictions in the literary form. According to one of his sons, Ibn Hazm produced some 80,000 pages of writing, consisting of 400 works, only 40 of those works are still existent. A varied character of Ibn Hazm's literary activity covers an impressive range of Anthropology
, Jurisprudence
, Logic
, History
, Ethics
, Comparative Religion
and Theology
. He is also known to have been fond of adventure and travels, he wrote about his visit to the island of Majorca and its capitol Medina Mayurqa near Palma, and gives interesting insight into the invention and construction of Caravel
s.
According to a saying of the period, "the tongue of Ibn Hazm was a twin brother to the sword of al-Hajjaj" (an infamous 7th century general and governor of Iraq) and he became so frequently quoted that the phrase “Ibn Hazm said” became proverbial.
He opposed the allegorical interpretation of religious texts, preferring instead a grammatical and syntactical interpretation of the Qur'an
. He granted cognitive legitimacy only to revelation and sensation and considered deductive reasoning
insufficient in legal and religious matters. He did much to revitalize the Zahiri
madhhab
, which denied the legitimacy of legal rulings based upon qiyas
(analogy) and focused upon the literal meanings of legal injunctions in the Qur'an
and hadith
and governance. Many of his rulings differed from those of his Zahiri
predecessors.
Ibn Hazm also wrote more than ten books on medicine.
A number of his works have been translated, including:
, philosophy
and theology
, Ibn Hazm stressed the importance of sense perception
as he realized that human reason
can be flawed. While he recognized the importance of reason, since the Qur'an
itself invites reflection
, he argued that this reflection refers mainly to revelation
and sense
data, since the principles of reason are themselves derived entirely from sense experience
. He concludes that reason is not a faculty for independent research
or discovery
, but that sense perception should be used in its place, an idea that forms the basis of empiricism
.
, in which he stressed on the importance of sense
perception
as a source of knowledge. He wrote that the "first sources of all human knowledge are the soundly used senses and the intuitions of reason
, combined with a correct understanding of a language." Ibn Hazm also criticized some of the more traditionalist theologians who were opposed to the use of logic
and argued that the first generations of Muslim
s did not rely on logic. His response was that the early Muslims had witnessed the revelation
directly, whereas the Muslims of his time have been exposed to contrasting beliefs, hence the use of logic is necessary in order to preserve the true teachings of Islam
.
believed that the Earth was flat, as mentioned in the works of the Ancient Greeks
. But scholars like Ibn Hazm asserted that the Earth
was a sphere, he is known to have started his debate by stating verses from the Quran: "He makes the Night overlap the Day, and the Day overlap the Night" (Zumar;5). And after detailed studies using celestial globes he concluded proof, and the now astronomer Ibn Hazm stated publicly stated that: "the Sun
is always vertical to a particular spot on Earth
". Ibn Hazm proof inspired generations later on including the geographer al-Idrisi, who depicted the world as a globe.
is that it travels at specific speeds. He gave examples of echo
inside the Mosque of Córdoba to prove his statements, among the examples he proposed was the reference to the intervel between lightning
and the thunder
that follows it. He also implicitly believed that lightning causes thunder.
Ibn Hazm also presented a notion on Dynamics regarding the "nature of motion of bodies". Ibn Hazm explained that: "there are mobile objects and stationary objects, but there is no motion nor staticness".
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
philosopher
Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy is a branch of Islamic studies. It is the continuous search for Hekma in the light of Islamic view of life, universe, ethics, society, and so on...
, litterateur
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
, psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
, historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
and theologian born in Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
, present-day Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. He was a leading proponent of the Zahiri
Zahiri
Ẓāhirī , is a school of thought in Islamic jurisprudence and Aqida. The school is named after one of its early prominent jurists, Dawud ibn Khalaf al-Zahiri Ẓāhirī , is a school of thought in Islamic jurisprudence and Aqida. The school is named after one of its early prominent jurists, Dawud ibn...
school of Islamic thought and produced a reported 400 works of which only 40 still survive, covering a range of topics such as Islamic jurisprudence
Fiqh
Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....
, logic
Logic in Islamic philosophy
Logic played an important role in Islamic philosophy .Islamic Logic or mantiq is similar science to what is called Traditional Logic in Western Sciences.- External links :*Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: , Routledge, 1998...
, history
Historiography of early Islam
The historiography of early Islam refers to the study of the early origins of Islam based on a critical analysis, evaluation, and examination of authentic primary source materials and the organization of these sources into a narative timeline....
, ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, comparative religion
Comparative religion
Comparative religion is a field of religious studies that analyzes the similarities and differences of themes, myths, rituals and concepts among the world's religions...
, and theology
Kalam
ʿIlm al-Kalām is the Islamic philosophical discipline of seeking theological principles through dialectic. Kalām in Islamic practice relates to the discipline of seeking theological knowledge through debate and argument. A scholar of kalām is referred to as a mutakallim...
, as well as The Ring of the Dove
The Ring of the Dove
The Ring of the Dove is a treatise on love written ca. 1022 by Abū Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Ḥazm al-Andalusī. Normally a writer of theology and law, The Ring of the Dove is his only work of literature....
, on the art of love.
Lineage
Ibn Hazm was born into a notable family. His great-grandfather Hazm was a convert to IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, his grandfather Sa'id moved to Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
and his father Ahmad both held high advisory positions in the court of the Umayyad
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
Hisham II
Hisham II
Hisham II was the third Caliph of Cordoba, of the Umayyad dynasty. He ruled 976–1009, and 1010–1013 in the Al-Andalus ....
. The family claimed to be of Persian descent. However, some modern day scholars believe that there is evidence that Ibn Hazm was a descendant of a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
Iberian family in Manta Lisham (near Sevilla).
As one of the major members of the Zahiri group, he was well-known in his time. Some other scholars reprimanded him, but Ibn Hazm was a great resister.
Career
Ibn Hazm lived among the circle of the ruling hierarchy of the UmayyadUmayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
government, produced an eager and observant attitude in young Ibn Hazm, he gained an excellent educational opportunity at Cordoba. His talent gained him fame and entered service under the Caliphs of Córdoba, and was known to have worked under Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir
Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir
Abu Aamir Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abi Aamir, Al-Hajib Al-Mansur , better known as Almanzor, was the de facto ruler of Muslim Al-Andalus in the late 10th to early 11th centuries. His rule marked the peak of power for Moorish Iberia.-Origins:He was born Muhammad Ibn Abi Aamir, into a noble Arab...
, Hajib (Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier, in Turkish Vezir-i Azam or Sadr-ı Azam , deriving from the Arabic word vizier , was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself...
) to the last of the Ummayad caliphs, Hisham III
Hisham III
Hisham III was the last Umayyad ruler in the Al-Andalus , and the last person to hold the title Caliph of Cordoba....
. He was also a colleague of Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo
Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo
Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo , born and died in Córdoba, was the son of Almanzor and chief minister of Hisham II, Caliph of Córdoba....
.
After the death of the Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier, in Turkish Vezir-i Azam or Sadr-ı Azam , deriving from the Arabic word vizier , was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself...
al-Muzaffar
Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar
Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar was hajib of Cordoba from the death of his father Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir in 1002 until his own death in 1008. He was succeeded by his half-brother Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo....
in 1008, the Umayyad Caliphate of Spain, became embroiled in a civil war that lasted until 1031 resulting in its collapse of the central authority of Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
and the emergence of many smaller incompetent states called Taifa
Taifa
In the history of the Iberian Peninsula, a taifa was an independent Muslim-ruled principality, usually an emirate or petty kingdom, though there was one oligarchy, of which a number formed in the Al-Andalus after the final collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031.-Rise:The origins of...
s.
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
, Logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
, History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, Ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, Comparative Religion
Comparative religion
Comparative religion is a field of religious studies that analyzes the similarities and differences of themes, myths, rituals and concepts among the world's religions...
and Theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
. He is also known to have been fond of adventure and travels, he wrote about his visit to the island of Majorca and its capitol Medina Mayurqa near Palma, and gives interesting insight into the invention and construction of Caravel
Caravel
A caravel is a small, highly maneuverable sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave her speed and the capacity for sailing to windward...
s.
According to a saying of the period, "the tongue of Ibn Hazm was a twin brother to the sword of al-Hajjaj" (an infamous 7th century general and governor of Iraq) and he became so frequently quoted that the phrase “Ibn Hazm said” became proverbial.
He opposed the allegorical interpretation of religious texts, preferring instead a grammatical and syntactical interpretation of the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
. He granted cognitive legitimacy only to revelation and sensation and considered deductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning, also called deductive logic, is reasoning which constructs or evaluates deductive arguments. Deductive arguments are attempts to show that a conclusion necessarily follows from a set of premises or hypothesis...
insufficient in legal and religious matters. He did much to revitalize the Zahiri
Zahiri
Ẓāhirī , is a school of thought in Islamic jurisprudence and Aqida. The school is named after one of its early prominent jurists, Dawud ibn Khalaf al-Zahiri Ẓāhirī , is a school of thought in Islamic jurisprudence and Aqida. The school is named after one of its early prominent jurists, Dawud ibn...
madhhab
Madhhab
is a Muslim school of law or fiqh . In the first 150 years of Islam, there were many such "schools". In fact, several of the Sahābah, or contemporary "companions" of Muhammad, are credited with founding their own...
, which denied the legitimacy of legal rulings based upon qiyas
Qiyas
In Islamic jurisprudence, qiyās is the process of deductive analogy in which the teachings of the Hadith are compared and contrasted with those of the Qur'an, in order to apply a known injunction to a new circumstance and create a new injunction...
(analogy) and focused upon the literal meanings of legal injunctions in the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
and hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
and governance. Many of his rulings differed from those of his Zahiri
Zahiri
Ẓāhirī , is a school of thought in Islamic jurisprudence and Aqida. The school is named after one of its early prominent jurists, Dawud ibn Khalaf al-Zahiri Ẓāhirī , is a school of thought in Islamic jurisprudence and Aqida. The school is named after one of its early prominent jurists, Dawud ibn...
predecessors.
Works
- Al Kitab al-Muhallā bi'l AthārAl-MuhallaAl-Muhalla is a book by Islamic scholar , The only book of his Legal rulings existent to date.-Overview:...
(The Book Ornamented with traditions), only existing book of his legal rulings - Ihkam Al Ahkam fi Usul al Ahkam, usul al fiqh
- Mukhtasar al-Muhalla li Ibn Hazm, an abridgment of Ibn Hazm's fiqh manual
- Ṭawq al-ḤamāmahThe Ring of the DoveThe Ring of the Dove is a treatise on love written ca. 1022 by Abū Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Ḥazm al-Andalusī. Normally a writer of theology and law, The Ring of the Dove is his only work of literature....
(The Dove's Necklace or The Ring of the Dove); In classical Arabic literary tradition, the dove represented love, or romance, while the ring refers to a necklace. In essence, it is the "necklace of love". The book is meant to adorn one's love. It is inspired by ishq (defined by Hakim Bey as "crazed, hopeless passion"), and treats equally of desire both for males and females, but cautions the reader against breaking religious injunctions and praises remaining chaste.
Ibn Hazm also wrote more than ten books on medicine.
A number of his works have been translated, including:
- Al-Akhlaq wa al-Siyar fi Mudawat al-Nufus (Morals and Right Conduct in the Healing of Souls")
- Maratib al-`Ulum ("The Categories of the Sciences")
- Al-Mujalla
- Al-Fisal fi al-Milal wa al-Ahwa' wa al-Nihal ("The Separator Concerning Religions, Heresies, and Sects").
Detailed Critical Examination
In his Fisal (Detailed Critical Examination), a treatise on Islamic scienceIslamic science
Science in the medieval Islamic world, also known as Islamic science or Arabic science, is the science developed and practised in the Islamic world during the Islamic Golden Age . During this time, Indian, Iranian and especially Greek knowledge was translated into Arabic...
, philosophy
Early Islamic philosophy
Early Islamic philosophy or classical Islamic philosophy is a period of intense philosophical development beginning in the 2nd century AH of the Islamic calendar and lasting until the 6th century AH...
and theology
Kalam
ʿIlm al-Kalām is the Islamic philosophical discipline of seeking theological principles through dialectic. Kalām in Islamic practice relates to the discipline of seeking theological knowledge through debate and argument. A scholar of kalām is referred to as a mutakallim...
, Ibn Hazm stressed the importance of sense perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
as he realized that human reason
Reason
Reason is a term that refers to the capacity human beings have to make sense of things, to establish and verify facts, and to change or justify practices, institutions, and beliefs. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, language, ...
can be flawed. While he recognized the importance of reason, since the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
itself invites reflection
Introspection
Introspection is the self-observation and reporting of conscious inner thoughts, desires and sensations. It is a conscious and purposive process relying on thinking, reasoning, and examining one's own thoughts, feelings, and, in more spiritual cases, one's soul...
, he argued that this reflection refers mainly to revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
and sense
Sense
Senses are physiological capacities of organisms that provide inputs for perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology , and philosophy of perception...
data, since the principles of reason are themselves derived entirely from sense experience
Experience
Experience as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or event....
. He concludes that reason is not a faculty for independent research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
or discovery
Discovery (observation)
Discovery is the act of detecting something new, or something "old" that had been unknown. With reference to science and academic disciplines, discovery is the observation of new phenomena, new actions, or new events and providing new reasoning to explain the knowledge gathered through such...
, but that sense perception should be used in its place, an idea that forms the basis of empiricism
Empiricism
Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge comes only or primarily via sensory experience. One of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with rationalism, idealism and historicism, empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence,...
.
Logic
Ibn Hazm wrote the Scope of Logic on logic in Islamic philosophyLogic in Islamic philosophy
Logic played an important role in Islamic philosophy .Islamic Logic or mantiq is similar science to what is called Traditional Logic in Western Sciences.- External links :*Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: , Routledge, 1998...
, in which he stressed on the importance of sense
Sense
Senses are physiological capacities of organisms that provide inputs for perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology , and philosophy of perception...
perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
as a source of knowledge. He wrote that the "first sources of all human knowledge are the soundly used senses and the intuitions of reason
Reason
Reason is a term that refers to the capacity human beings have to make sense of things, to establish and verify facts, and to change or justify practices, institutions, and beliefs. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, language, ...
, combined with a correct understanding of a language." Ibn Hazm also criticized some of the more traditionalist theologians who were opposed to the use of logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
and argued that the first generations of Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s did not rely on logic. His response was that the early Muslims had witnessed the revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
directly, whereas the Muslims of his time have been exposed to contrasting beliefs, hence the use of logic is necessary in order to preserve the true teachings of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.
Ethics
In his book, In Pursuit of Virtue, ibn Hazm had urged his readers with the following:Do not use your energy except for a cause more noble than yourself. Such a cause cannot be found except in Almighty God Himself: to preach the truth, to defend womanhood, to repel humiliation which your creator has not imposed upon you, to help the oppressed. Anyone who uses his energy for the sake of the vanities of the world is like someone who exchanges gemstones for gravel.
Poetry
A poem, or fragment of a poem, by him is preserved in Ibn Said al-Maghribi's Pennants of the Champions:-
-
- You came to me just before
- the Christians rang their bells.
- The half-moon was rising
- looking like an old man's eyebrow
- or a delicate instep.
-
-
-
- And although it was still night
- when you came a rainbow
- gleamed on the horizon,
- showing as many colours
- as a peacock's tail.
-
Spherical Earth
By the 9th century, many Muslims in Al-AndalusAl-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
believed that the Earth was flat, as mentioned in the works of the Ancient Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
. But scholars like Ibn Hazm asserted that the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
was a sphere, he is known to have started his debate by stating verses from the Quran: "He makes the Night overlap the Day, and the Day overlap the Night" (Zumar;5). And after detailed studies using celestial globes he concluded proof, and the now astronomer Ibn Hazm stated publicly stated that: "the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
is always vertical to a particular spot on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
". Ibn Hazm proof inspired generations later on including the geographer al-Idrisi, who depicted the world as a globe.
Physics and Dynamics
Ibn Hazm's views on soundSound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
is that it travels at specific speeds. He gave examples of echo
Echo
Echo most commonly refers to Echo , the reflection of a sound.It may also refer to:-Science and technology:* Echo satellite, one of the first communications satellites...
inside the Mosque of Córdoba to prove his statements, among the examples he proposed was the reference to the intervel between lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
and the thunder
Thunder
Thunder is the sound made by lightning. Depending on the nature of the lightning and distance of the listener, thunder can range from a sharp, loud crack to a long, low rumble . The sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning produces rapid expansion of the air surrounding and within...
that follows it. He also implicitly believed that lightning causes thunder.
Ibn Hazm also presented a notion on Dynamics regarding the "nature of motion of bodies". Ibn Hazm explained that: "there are mobile objects and stationary objects, but there is no motion nor staticness".
Sources
- The Ring of the Dove by Ibn Hazm, translation and preface by A. J. Arberry ISBN 1-898942-02-1
- al-Fasl fi al-milal wa-al-ahwa' wa-al-nihal, by Ibn Hazm. Bairut: Dar al-Jil, 1985
- Abenházam de Córdoba y su Historia crítica de las ideas religiosas vols. 1–5, by Miguel Asín Palacios. Madrid, 1928–1932
- Muslim writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible : from Ibn Rabban to Ibn Hazm, by Camilla Adang. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1996. ISBN 90-04-10034-2
- Ibn Hazm et la polémique islamo-chrétienne dans l´histoire de l´Islam, by Abdelilah Ljamai. Leiden: Brill, 2003. ISBN 90-04-12844-1
- Kitab al-'axlaq wa-s-siyar ou Risala fi mudawat an-nufus wa-tahdib al-'axlaq wa-z-zuhd fi r-rada'il / Ibn Hazm al-'Andalusi ; introd., éd. critique, remarques par Eva Riad. Uppsala : Univ. ; Stockholm : Almqvist & Wiksell international (distr.), 1980. ISBN 91-554-1048-0
- The Zahiris, Their Doctrine and Their History: a contribution to the history of Islamic theology by Ignaz Goldziher, trans. and ed. Wolfgang Behn. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1971.
- "Ibn Hazm of Cordova: on Porphyry's Isagoge", by Rafael Ramón Guerrero, in J. Meirinhos - O. Weijers (eds.): Florilegium mediaevale. Études offertes à Jacqueline Hamesse à l'occasion de son éméritat, Louvain-La-Neuve, FIDEM, 2009, pp. 525–540.
External links
- The original Arabic manuscript of Tawq Alhamama
- Global webpost Ibn Hazm and female prophethood
- Muslim Heritage Biography
- Sunnah.org Ibn Hazm
- Britannica.org Encyclopaedia Britannica article on Ibn Hazm The Position of Ibn Hazm about Asharism by Shaykh Muhyi Ddîn Ath Thawrî