Islamic philosophy

Islamic philosophy (????? ? ??????) is a longstanding attempt to create harmony between faith, reason or philosophy, and the religious teachings of Islam.

Related Topics:
Faith - Philosophy - Islam

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The attempt to fuse religion and philosophy is difficult because there are no clear preconditions. On the other hand, classical religious believers have a set of religious principles that they hold to be fact. Indeed, due to these divergent goals and views, some hold that one cannot simultaneously be a philosopher and a true adherent of Islam, which is believed to be a revealed religion by its adherents. In this view, all attempts at synthesis ultimately fail.

Related Topics:
Islam - Revealed religion

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However, others believe that a synthesis between Islam and philosophy is possible. One way to find a synthesis is to use philosophical arguments to prove that one's preset religious principles are true. This is a common technique found in the writings of many religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but this is not generally accepted as true philosophy by philosophers. Another way to find a synthesis is to abstain from holding as true any religious principles of one's faith at all, unless one independently comes to those conclusions from a philosophical analysis. However, this is not generally accepted as being faithful to one's religion by adherents of that religion. A third, rarer and more difficult path is to apply analytical philosophy to one's own religion. In this case a religious person would also be a philosopher, by asking questions such as:

Related Topics:
Judaism - Christianity

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• What is the nature of God? How do we know that God exists?
• What is the nature of revelation? How do we know that God reveals his will to mankind?
• Which of our religious traditions must be interpreted literally?
• Which of our religious traditions must be interpreted allegorically?
• What must one actually believe to be considered a true adherent of our religion?
• How can one reconcile the findings of philosophy with religion?
• How can one reconcile the findings of science with religion?
 
Islamic philosophy: Introduction ►