The Political Aspects of Islamic Philosophy: Essays in Honor of Muhsin S. Mahdi.

Najjar, Fauzi M.

This volume consists of nine essays written in honor of Muhsin S. Mahdi, James Richard Jewett Professor of Arabic at Harvard University, by his former students. It is a tribute to the "dean of Islamic Philosophy", a scholar who has created a school of thought, the central theme of which permeates the writings of his distinguished students. In the introduction, Charles E. Butterworth, the most illustrious of Mahdi's disciples, underscores the importance of this theme, the political aspects of Islamic philosophy, to the understanding of the proper relationship between religion and politics, an understanding "fundamental to our appreciation of the way Greek political philosophy was transmitted to the medieval Islamic world and, through it, to us" (p. 2). Butterworth concludes the introduction with a moving and highly merited tribute to the "teacher", by whom the authors of these essays have been schooled.

Strict space limitations preclude more than a very brief account of this original and important work of scholarship. In the first essay, "Al-Kindi and the Beginnings of Islamic Political Philosophy" Charles E. Butterworth examines al-Kindi's "practical" works, such as the Treatise on the Number of Aristotle's Books and What is Needed to Attain Philosophy, Treatise on the Device for Driving Away Sorrows, and Treatise on the Utterances of Socrates. In the first, Abu Yusuf Ibn Ishaq al-Kindi (d. 866) concludes that Aristotle's philosophy "offers insufficient guidance for the attainment of man's goal, human virtue", (p. 34) Neither metaphysics nor divine science can offer such guidance, because they are accessible to only a few. Pointing to the "need for political philosophy" al-Kindi laid down the foundation upon which Abu Nasr al-Farabi (d. 950) later erected a full-fledged Islamic political philosophy. Butterworth's stimulating interpretation frees al-Kindi's work from its traditional Mu tazilite cast, placing him at the source of Islamic political philosophy.

Equally interesting is Paul E. Walker's "The Political Implications of al-Razi's Philosophy." Muhammad Ibn Zakariyya al-Razi (d. 925), the famous physician and most important representative of Natural Philosophy, did not, we are told, show any interest in politics or political philosophy as such. Yet, analysis of his philosophical and ethical doctrines reveals that they have serious political implications, in the sense that philosophers are just as good as, if not better than, prophets in having a role in forming societies and laws", (p. 94). The essay is as much an analysis of the views of Abu Hatim al-Razi (d. 936), the Isma ili advocate, who contested the "heretical" doctrines of his namesake, as it is an analysis of those of Abu Bakr.

The third essay, "The Theoretical and Practical Dimensions of Happiness as Portrayed in Political Treatises of al-Farabi," by Miriam Galston, is reprinted with minor modifications from her book Politics and Excellence: The Political Philosophy of Alfarabi. It is a thorough examination of al-Farabi's notion of happiness. Happiness is equated with the end of human life. Three alternative understandings of happiness are delineated: happiness as theoretical activity exclusively, as political activity exclusively, and a combination of the two in which the theoretical and practical aspects are both part of the essence or defining structure of happiness. Although he stresses that supreme happiness is a state transcending political existence, al-Farabi also recognizes its human origin. Supreme happiness is identical with theoretical perfection, the preserve of the philosopher. But the philosopher must rule in order to guarantee some semblance of happiness to others. As Galston puts it, al-Farabi implies that "contemplation both makes possible and finds completion in action."

Prophecy occupies a central place in the political philosophy of the falasifah. It is through their philosophical account of the nature of prophecy that they sought to introduce philosophy into the Islamic society of their time. In "The Philosopher-Prophet in Avicenna's Political Philosophy," James W. Morris gives an in-depth analysis of Avicenna's philosophic theory of prophecy, and his political doctrine underlying it. It is in his political teaching that Avicenna could dispute the belief in prophetic inspiration without compromising its social necessity. Prophecy presents itself as an essentially political fact, and not a source of certain theoretical knowledge. Avicenna's theory of prophecy is, in Morris's words, "largely designed to counter that dangerous misunderstanding of philosophy as simply a handmaiden to some higher revealed wisdom, while at the same time using the popular appeal of such reasoning to draw a wider audience to the study of philosophy", (p. 154).

The place of the philosopher in society is one of the major themes in Plato's Republic. It is also of particular importance in Islamic political philosophy. In "The Place of the Philosopher in the City According to Ibn Bajjah" Steven Harvey expounds the views of this philosopher of the Muslim West. Following in al-Farabi's footsteps, Ibn Bajjah (d. 1138) maintains that the philosopher is indispensable for the establishment of the virtuous city. However, the philosopher is unable to reform society, and therefore, will have to follow a course of thought and action that would guarantee him happiness or perfection in an imperfect city. By achieving this end, he will live a life of his own, and become a "stranger." Ibn Bajjah's treatise, the Governance of the Solitary, is a prescription for attaining this end. There is no disagreement between Ibn Bajjah (Avempace to the Latin world) and al-Farabi while the latter expressed the view that for the philosopher to fashion a virtuous city is a matter of chance, the former eliminated even such a remote possibility.

The tradition of Islamic political philosophy, founded by al-Farabi is also traced in Abu Bakr Ibn Tufayl's famous philosophical novel, Hayy Ibn Yaqzan. Hillel Fradkin, in "The Political Thought of Ibn Tufayl," concludes that, despite appearances, there is an important political teaching in the thought of the Spanish Muslim philosopher, which may be summarized as follows; although the true life of wisdom transcends political life, it can only be fully understood in contradistinction to it.

In "The Scope and Methods of Rhetoric in Averroes' Middle Commentary on Aristotle's Rhetoric" Michael Blaustein elucidates both Aristotle's and Averroes, views on the subject. The Muslim philosopher differs from the Greek master in emphasis rather than in principle. He "expands the scope of rhetoric to include theoretical subjects" and adapts its use to an Islamic audience, whereby religion can serve as a rhetorical device to persuade the multitude to pursue the moral virtues arrived at by philosophic inquiry.

The last two essays deal with the political thought of two religious philosophers: Shihab al-Din al-Suhrawardi (d. 1191), and Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi (d. 1310). In "The Source and Nature of Authority: A Study of al-Suhrawardi's Illuminationist Political Doctrine," Hossein Ziai examines the whole corpus and activities of the author of the famous work Hikmat al-Ishraq, unveiling an important illuminationist political doctrine. He defines it as "the simple stipulation of a commonly known political proposition, namely, that wise rulers are the only ones fit to rule" (p. 310). The wise ruler, God's viceregent, is identified as the "enlightened philosopher, one who combines to a perfect degree discursive and intuitive wisdom" (p.322). Thus defined, an illuminationist political doctrine may not seem out of place in a discourse on Islamic political philosophy.

"The Political Thought of Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi," by John Walbridge, demonstrates how al-Shirazi's political thought was inspired by the political philosophy of al-Farabi the "Mirrors for Princes" literature, and the political thought of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. The result is a set of reflections on how a king should rule, and the role of religion in establishing a just political order. They are more of the nature of advices to rulers than a political philosophy as such.

This is a fabulous collection, meticulously researched, written and edited. The authors should feel great satisfaction in having lived up to the expectations of their teacher, who in turn should be proud of his disciples.