Greek Ideology and Islam: An Overview of Their Main Features and Thinkers

 Greek ideology and Islam are two different systems of thought that have influenced each other in various ways throughout history. Greek ideology refers to the philosophical, scientific, artistic, and political ideas that emerged from ancient Greece and were transmitted to the Islamic world through translations and interactions. Islam is a monotheistic religion that was revealed to Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century and is based on the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Here are some points of comparison between them:

  • Greek ideology is based on human reason and observation, while Islam is based on divine revelation and faith.
  • Greek ideology is diverse and pluralistic, with many schools of thought and branches of knowledge, while Islam is unified and holistic, with a comprehensive system of life and law.
  • Greek ideology emphasizes individualism, democracy, and freedom of expression, while Islam emphasizes community, obedience, and submission to God’s will.
  • Greek ideology values rational inquiry, logic, and science, while Islam values spiritual insight, wisdom, and morality.

Some of the famous Greek and Islamic thinkers are:

Socrates (469-399 BC): A Greek philosopher who is considered the founder of Western philosophy and ethics. He taught by asking questions and challenging assumptions, and was condemned to death for corrupting the youth and impiety.

Plato (427-347 BC): A Greek philosopher and the founder of the Academy, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. He was a student of Socrates and wrote dialogues that explored various topics such as metaphysics, epistemology, politics, and ethics.

Aristotle (384-322 BC): A Greek philosopher and the founder of the Lyceum, another school of philosophy. He was a student of Plato and wrote extensively on logic, physics, biology, psychology, ethics, politics, and rhetoric. He is regarded as the father of Western science and logic.

Al-Kindi (801-873): An Iraqi philosopher and the first of the Muslim peripatetic philosophers. He was famous for promoting Greek and Hellenistic philosophy in the Muslim world and showing its compatibility with Islamic theology. He wrote on various subjects such as metaphysics, cosmology, mathematics, medicine, and music.

Al-Farabi (872-950): A Turkic philosopher and one of the greatest Muslim philosophers ever. He developed a comprehensive system of philosophy that synthesized Aristotelianism, Neoplatonism, and Islamic theology. He wrote on logic, metaphysics, ethics, political philosophy, psychology, music, and linguistics.

Ibn Sina (980-1037): A Persian philosopher and polymath who is also known as Avicenna in the West. He developed his own school of philosophy known as Avicennism which had strong Aristotelian and Neoplatonic roots. He wrote on logic, metaphysics, natural philosophy, medicine, psychology, ethics, and mysticism.

Al-Ghazali (1058-1111): A Persian philosopher and theologian who is considered one of the most influential Muslim thinkers. He wrote a critique of philosophy and rationalism in his famous work The Incoherence of the Philosophers and advocated a form of Islamic mysticism known as Sufism. He also wrote on jurisprudence, theology, ethics, and spirituality.

Averroes (1126-1198): A Moroccan philosopher and jurist who is also known as Ibn Rushd in the Muslim world. He was the last notable Muslim peripatetic philosopher and defended the use of Aristotelian philosophy against the attacks of al-Ghazali. He wrote commentaries on Aristotle’s works and also on logic, metaphysics, natural philosophy, medicine, law, and theology. 

The history of Islamic philosophy 

Here are some of the main periods and schools of Islamic philosophy:

- Early Islamic philosophy (9th-10th centuries): This period marks the emergence of the first Muslim philosophers, such as al-Kindi, al-Farabi, and Ibn Sina (Avicenna), who were influenced by Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism. They developed a rational and systematic approach to philosophy and tried to harmonize it with Islamic theology.

- Classical Islamic philosophy (11th-12th centuries): This period witnessed the rise of various philosophical movements and debates, such as Ash'arism, Mu'tazilism, Kalam, Sufism, Illuminationism, and Falsafa. Some of the prominent figures of this period are al-Ghazali, Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Ibn Tufayl, al-Suhrawardi, and Ibn Arabi. They explored issues such as free will, causality, God's attributes, prophecy, mysticism, and ethics.

These two periods ( the philosophical activity that took place in the Islamic world from the 9th to the 12th centuries CE) is also known as the Islamic Golden Age, as it witnessed remarkable achievements in various fields of knowledge, such as science, mathematics, medicine, literature, and art. One of the main features of this period was the translation and assimilation of Greek and Hellenistic philosophy into Arabic, which provided a rich and diverse source of inspiration and rational inquiry for Muslim thinkers. Some of the most influential Greek philosophers whose works were translated and commented upon by Muslim philosophers were Aristotle, Plato, Plotinus, and Porphyry.

The most prominent figure of early Islamic philosophy was Ibn Sina (980-1037), also known as Avicenna in the West. He was a polymath who wrote extensively on logic, metaphysics, natural philosophy, medicine, psychology, ethics, and mysticism. He developed his own school of philosophy known as Avicennism, which had strong Aristotelian and Neoplatonic roots. He also formulated his famous proof of God’s existence based on the notion of necessary being. He influenced many later philosophers both in the Islamic world and in Europe.

Another important figure of early Islamic philosophy was Ibn Rushd (1126-1198), also known as Averroes in the West. He was a jurist and a philosopher who defended the use of Aristotelian philosophy against the attacks of al-Ghazali (1058-1111), a theologian and a mystic who criticized philosophy and rationalism in his famous work The Incoherence of the Philosophers. Ibn Rushd wrote commentaries on Aristotle’s works and also on logic, metaphysics, natural philosophy, medicine, law, and theology. He advocated a form of philosophical rationalism that was compatible with Islamic faith. He also influenced many Jewish and Christian thinkers in Europe.

The translation of Arabic philosophical texts into Hebrew and Latin led to the transformation of almost all philosophical disciplines in the medieval Latin world. The works of Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd were especially influential in shaping the views of thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon, Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham. Early Islamic philosophy also contributed to the development of empirical research methods, logic, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and technology.

Some of the most influential mystics and esotericists of this period were Ibn Arabi (1165-1240), who developed the doctrine of unity of being (wahdat al-wujud) and the concept of perfect man (al-insan al-kamil); al-Suhrawardi (1154-1191), who founded the school of Illuminationism (ishraq) and introduced the notion of imagination (khayal) as a faculty of knowledge.

- Post-classical Islamic philosophy (13th-18th centuries): This period saw the decline of philosophical activity in the Western Islamic world due to political and religious factors. However, philosophy continued to flourish in the Eastern Islamic world, especially in Persia and India. Some of the influential schools of this period are Transcendent Theosophy, Isfahan School, Mulla Sadra School, and Akbarian School. Some of the notable thinkers of this period are Mulla Sadra, Mir Damad, Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi, Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, and Muhammad Iqbal.

A feature of this period was the interaction and dialogue between Islamic philosophy and other intellectual traditions, such as Jewish philosophy, Christian philosophy, Hindu philosophy, and Buddhist philosophy. Some Muslim philosophers engaged in comparative studies and polemics with other religions and philosophies, while others adopted and adapted some of their ideas and methods. Some examples of this interaction are: Ibn Kammuna (d. 1284), who wrote a critical examination of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149-1209), who wrote a comprehensive commentary on the Qur’an that incorporated philosophical arguments; Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), who was influenced by Western philosophy and tried to reconstruct Islamic thought in modern terms; and Dara Shikoh (1615-1659), who was a Mughal prince who translated Hindu scriptures into Persian and tried to find common ground between Islam and Hinduism.

Dara Shikoh’s findings were that Islam and Hinduism shared a common origin and a common goal, which was to realize the oneness of God and the unity of existence. He argued that both religions taught the same principles of monotheism, prophecy, revelation, resurrection, and judgment. He also claimed that both religions had similar mystical paths that led to the attainment of gnosis (marifat) and annihilation (fana) in God. He quoted extensively from both the Qur’an and the Upanishads to support his views. However, his work was also controversial and opposed by many orthodox Muslims who accused him of heresy and apostasy. He was eventually defeated and executed by his younger brother Aurangzeb.

This period is marked by the revival and reformulation of Avicennian philosophy by some of the most influential Muslim philosophers ever, such as Mulla Sadra (1571-1640), who founded his own school of philosophy known as Transcendent Theosophy or Sadrianism. He combined Avicennian metaphysics with Sufi mysticism and introduced new concepts such as substantial motion, gradation of existence, and principiality of existence.

- Modern Islamic philosophy (19th-21st centuries): This period is characterized by the revival of interest in Islamic philosophy in response to the challenges of modernity and colonialism. Some of the themes and issues that are addressed by modern Muslim philosophers are reformism, secularism, democracy, human rights, feminism, science, and pluralism. Some of the prominent figures of this period are Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Muhammad Abduh, Muhammad Iqbal, Ali Shariati, Abdolkarim Soroush, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and Tariq Ramadan.