[Discussion] book review: Averroes (Ibn Rushd)

[sule tarakcioglu]

  *Majid Fakhry.* /Averroes (Ibn Rushd): His Life, Works and=20
Influence//. /Great Islamic Thinkers Series. Oxford: Oneworld=20
Publications, 2001. xvi + 187 pp. Notes, bibliography, index. $23.95=20
(paper), ISBN 1-85168-269-4.

Reviewed by *Eric Ormsby*, Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill Universit=
y.
Published by H-Mideast-Medieval <http://www.h-net.msu.edu/%7Emidmed>=20
(December, 2003)


*Averroes Unveiled*

Despite the increasing importance and relevance of the thought of Abu=20
al-Walid Ibn Rushd (1126-1198), or "Averroes" to contemporary Islamic=20
thinkers, there has not been any reliable general introduction to his=20
work and thought in English for non-specialist readers. The historian of=20
Islamic philosophy Majid Fakhry has now attempted to remedy this defect=20
with a concise, meticulous, but quite readable overview of the=20
Andalusian master's life and writings. This is the first volume in a new=20
series on major philosophers, theologians, and mystics in the Islamic=20
tradition, which Oneworld Publications is inaugurating, and it bodes=20
well for the success of the series that it begins so auspiciously.

In his Guide for the Perplexed, Ibn Rushd's younger contemporary=20
Maimonides spoke of an "Andalusian philosophy," a philosophy, that is,=20
that shared certain common assumptions derived largely from Aristotle.=20
Maimonides himself was strongly influenced by this conception, in=20
general, and by Ibn Rushd, in particular. The assumptions shared by=20
Maimonides, a Jew, and Ibn Rushd, a Muslim, not only drew on a common=20
language, Arabic, but went beyond doctrinal affiliations to envision a=20
faith articulated and buttressed by a scrupulous and yet reverent=20
rationalism. Maimonides is no doubt unusual, and perhaps unique, in=20
having been influenced in almost equal measure by Ibn Rushd as well as=20
by his arch-adversary, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali. Fakhry does not mention=20
this curious fact but he does draw attention to the deep affinities that=20
linked Ibn Rushd with his Jewish compatriot; as he notes, "readers of=20
Maimonides tended to find Averroes particularly intriguing and to look=20
upon the former as the disciple of the latter" (p. 132). I mention this=20
because of the strange and anomalous position which Ibn Rushd has come=20
to occupy in the history of Islamic philosophy; on the one hand, as the=20
summation and summit of Aristotelianism in Arabic and on the other, as a=20
dead-end figure who left neither followers nor lasting influence in the=20
East. Moreover, his importance has too often been gauged by his effect=20
not only on Maimonides but on the Latin Scholastics, and especially St.=20
Thomas Aquinas, to whom his commentaries mediated the first close=20
reading of Aristotelian texts. Dante, who places him with the virtuous=20
pagans in the antechamber to hell, describes him not as a philosopher=20
but as "he who made the great commentary" (che il gran commento feo), by=20
which he meant, of course, commentary on Aristotle.

It is good therefore to have an introduction which seeks to approach Ibn=20
Rushd on his own terms, as a philosopher worthy of study and admiration=20
in his own right. This Fakhry does very well, even if the constraints of=20
his format prevent him from entering deeply into any one issue. Instead,=20
Fakhry arranges his study in eleven chapters which deal with the life=20
and works, Ibn Rushd's reactions to and critiques of Muslim=20
Neoplatonists and Ash'arite theologians, respectively, and which then=20
delve into the philosopher's own thought, beginning with logic and=20
proceeding through natural science to the realms of metaphysics and=20
ethics; in addition, Fakhry devotes a chapter to Ibn Rushd's legal and=20
medical works and concludes with two chapters that explore the legacy of=20
"Averroes" in the west, with an entire chapter devoted to his impact on=20
St. Thomas Aquinas. There is a rather brief bibliography of original=20
Arabic works and secondary scholarly literature.

Fakhry writes very clearly, avoiding excessive technical terminology and=20
presenting the major arguments succinctly but carefully. Sometimes he=20
enlivens his account with dry strokes of wit, as when he remarks, on the=20
subject of God's knowledge of particulars (and quoting a question from=20
Aristotle's Metaphysics ), "'Are there not some things about which it is=20
incredible that [God] should think?' adding with a melancholy sense of=20
despair, in his effort to spare God the indignity of idle curiosity, so=20
to speak, 'For there are even some things which it is better not to see=20
than to see'" (p. 22).

Fakhry knows the texts well in the original Arabic and in their various=20
Latin and Hebrew permutations, and it cannot have been easy to reduce=20
such complex and subtle thought for newcomers to scholastic=20
argumentation. Too often, it must be said, his recapitulations are=20
overly bland and fail to capture the dynamism of the arguments.=20
Moreover, Fakhry should have drawn attention to the rather remarkable=20
courage and even audacity which Ibn Rushd often demonstrated. His=20
arguments, for example, in the noble work known as The Decisive Treatise=20
(al-Fasl al-maqal) to the effect that the study of philosophy is not=20
merely allowable but "obligatory" (wajib) remain astonishing, all the=20
more so in that he, a chief qadi, employs classical Islamic legal=20
terminology to defend the indefensible. His further arguments for the=20
eternity of the world, using proof-texts from the Qur'an itself, are not=20
only ingenious but boldly innovative; that he escaped the spite and=20
outrage of the Maliki jurists with nothing more drastic than=20
imprisonment tells us something about the complicated and often baffling=20
intellectual world of the Almohads, about which Fakhry might have said=20
more as well.

As useful and welcome as this introduction is--and I certainly intend to=20
use it in teaching Ibn Rushd--it is unfortunately marred by evidences of=20
haste and carelessness in the text, ranging from inconsistencies in=20
transliteration of Arabic names and words to a rather high proportion of=20
typos and outright errors. The system of transliteration appears=20
haphazard; for example, subscript dots for certain Arabic letters are=20
correctly affixed on some pages and mysteriously omitted on others. It=20
would have better to omit diacritical marks entirely than to supply them=20
so randomly. Arabic words and names are often given incorrectly: taharh=20
instead of taharah (p. 120), jiziyah instead of jizyah (p. 121),=20
Al-Marakushi instead of Al-Marrakushi (p. 174), among other possible=20
examples. There are outright errors of fact; thus the Latin translator=20
Michael the Scot, who translated Ibn Rushd between 1220 and 1230, is=20
given a deathdate of 136 (clearly a typo; p. 133) and the Jewish savant=20
Shem Tob Ben Joseph Falaquera is mangled as Falquera (p. 132; the index=20
has it right but garbles "Ben" to "Bem"). It seems odd as well to date=20
the Mihnah to 827, perhaps five years too early (p. 13); and surely it=20
is gratuitously harsh to describe Ahmad ibn Hanbal as a=20
"tradition-monger" (p. 13). In the bibliography (p. 171), Miguel Asin=20
Palacios's 1914 book Abenmassara y su escuela is given as Ibn Massura y=20
su escuela. The contemporary German scholar G. Endress is turned into=20
"G. Endrell" (p. 172). With respect to the bibliography, certain=20
important scholars are inexplicably omitted, such as Barry Kogan and=20
Alain de Libera, both of whom have made fundamental contributions to the=20
modern understanding of Ibn Rushd.

Such errors can of course be easily corrected in future editions and do=20
not seriously detract from what is a cogent, clear, and highly useful=20
study.


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d%20Fakhry%2c%20Averroes%20%28Ibn%20Rushd%29%3a%20His%20Life%2c%20Works%2=
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20and%20Influence>=20


*Library of Congress call number:* B749.Z7 F35 2001
*Subjects:*

   * Averro=EBs, 1126-1198
   * Muslim philosophers -- Biography.

*Citation:* Eric Ormsby. "Review of Majid Fakhry, /Averroes (Ibn Rushd):=20
His Life, Works and Influence/," H-Mideast-Medieval, H-Net Reviews,=20
December, 2003. URL:=20
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=3D227091077594594.