Home Of The Meshuganas

Hasan A. Yahya, Ph.Ds

The Jewish Philosophical and theological world was closely linked to the Arabian intellectual tradition. The writings of Jewish authors were originally written in Arabic. Many, later translated to Hebrew and Latin. Beginning with Arabs and Jews philosophers who lived in an Islamic land, namely, Andalusia (Spain) for a long time, the intellect were educated in Arabic language. I studies Muslim, Jewish and Christian philosophers, for example in Islam I was fond of  al-Kindi, al-Ghazali, al-Farabi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Ibn Rush (Averroes), In Judaism, Moses Maimonides, and Saadiah Gaon, and in Christianity, Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. Because I believed that the best human state is to be a philosopher, because wise men of the world are philosophers. They dealt with every question through reason until proved true. For them, reasons of things are gathered from things around them. In the early years of my studies at the university I was fond of studying theories and their application. When philosophy pumped up in my mind one day, I was in a group discussing the relation between the two R’s (reason and revelation).

From Aristotle (384-322 B.C) to Al-Razi  (865 – 925), and Saadiah Gaon, or Saadiah bin Joseph (882-942), the Jewish philosopher, who wrote in Arabic in the 10th century, to Ibn Sina-Avecinna (980-1037)  to Ibn Bajjah-Avempace (1090-1139), who  was the first Muslim philosopher in Spain, who paved the way for both Jewish and Muslim philosophers, namely,  Ibn Rushd (Averroes) 1126-1198, and Maimonides (1138-1204) in logic and Mathematics.  

On the Christian side, the Latin translation of James of Venice in the 12th century and especially those of William of Moerbeke (1215-1285) at Paris proves fundamental to Christian assimilation of philosophy, these translations were used later by Thomas Aquinas  (1225-1274)

On the Jewish side, Maimonides in the 12th century, born in Cordova was educated in philosophy by Arab Teachers, he sought to reconcile Aristotleism and Judaism in his “Guide of Perplexity” to help those who are perplexed with conflicts between knowledge and the center of Jewish revelation.  

Maimonides translated Averroes’s commentaries from Arabic to Hebrew, then later translated to Latin, Where it became available for Europe philosophers.  

Geronides or Levi bin Gershom in the 14th century, his “Super Commentaries” on Averroes was famous,  he was an Aristotelian more than Aristotle himself, For many analysts, his book became the primary source.  

The line of Jewish philosophy continued with Joseph Caspi, Moses of Norbonne, Judah Messer Leon and Elijah de Medigo in the 15th century,  

Jews and Muslim philosophers in that period fought parallel battles concerning the study of philosophy especially in the subject of the  two R’s. Moses Maimonides in his “treatise on Logic”  referred the debate between superiority of logic over grammar, portraying logic as universal grammar and distinguishing between generally accepted religious  opinions,  traditions and universally as necessary valid ones.

Al-Ghazali (1059-1111) can be viewed  as anti-philosophical, but in fact, he was not opposed to philosophy per say, but rather challenged the philosophical approaches of those who in uncritical way accepted too readily certain Greek philosophical positions. For example, Aristotelian theses concerning the natural world by affirming that God knows only universals, not particulars, and maintaining that the world and soul are eternal.

Saadiah GAON,  (882-942) the 10 century Egyptian expert in Jewish Law, Hebrew grammar and the translator  from Arabic and commentator on biblical books, introduced dialectical theology into the medieval Jewish community, but the challenges faced the Jews in that period, were from both internal and external forces, From within was the perplexity due to the Karaites, (from Qar’a, read) Jews who rejected the authority of the oral rabbinical tradition, and considered the role of rational judgment of religion. The external, however were coming from both Muslims and Christians and Plutonian circles. His  book “Doctrines of Beliefs” to enhance Jewish belief. He provided “Attributes of God” like Muslims who made “the 99 Best God’s  names” Both  al-Ghazali and Saadiah  denunciated the Christian Trinity, and defended the four Aristotelian arguments about: Creation-nihilo, but opposed Aristotle’s theory of eternity of the world. For him, philosophy became a necessary instrument in facing these perplexities. The main conflict between philosophy and theology in Islam was similar to the Jewish experience in terms of the two Rs  and reached their highest intensity when philosophy, is taken in its strictest sense, referring to the Platonic Philosophy in the earlier medieval conflicts, that led to the philosophy of Aristotle when his non-logical works become translated into Arabic and Latin. 

Al-Kindi,(d. 870) earlier, however, a Muslim philosopher, began at Baghdad,  where the translations of Aristotle’s “Metaphysics”  and “On the Heavens” made and became available other philosophers east and west.