Al-Azhar Scholar’s View about Relationship between Quran and Philosophy
This is according to Zaki Al-Milad, writing in an article on the ‘Unlimited Believers’ website about the book “Quran and Philosophy” by Sheikh Musa.
He writes: In 1958, Sheikh Muhammad Yusuf Musa (1859-1963), one of the sheikhs of Al-Azhar, published the first edition of his book entitled “Quran and Philosophy”. This work was originally the first part of his doctoral thesis, which was written in French and defended in 1948 at the Sorbonne University in France. He was awarded a doctorate in philosophy with the highest honors. The title of this thesis was “Religion and Philosophy from the Perspective of Ibn Rushd and the Philosophers of the Middle Ages”.
After defending the treatise, Dr. Musa translated it from French into Arabic and published it in two volumes. The first volume was published under the title “The Quran and Philosophy” and the second volume, with the same title as the treatise, was published in 1959.
The first thing that catches the reader’s attention about this book is its striking title, (The Quran and Philosophy). This is perhaps the first book in the modern and contemporary Arab world to take this title, placing the Quran and philosophy in a complex and dual relationship; one of harmony and connection, not of contradiction and separation. This approach is both fascinating and surprising, but it seems to have been received with less interest and wonder. Not only that, but it has been largely ignored and forgotten, as if it were one of those works that were published, studied for a while, and then forgotten, leaving no lasting impression. Like dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of other writings and works that have faded into obscurity among Arabs and Muslims over time.
In this book, Dr. Muhammad Yusuf Musa presents an important perspective on the relationship between the Quran and philosophy. On the one hand, he tries to defend philosophy, on the other hand, he emphasizes that the Quran does not contradict philosophy, and at the same time, he tries to reveal the nature of the relationship between the two.
By examining this perspective in a coherent and integrated manner, it can be summarized in the following elements:
First: The Quran, due to its inclusion of philosophical principles, both related to humanity and to God and His relationship with humanity, was one of the most important factors that encouraged Muslims to engage in philosophical research.
Second: Dr. Musa argues that the Quran is, first of all, a book of true faith, a law suitable for all times and places, and a set of ethics without which a healthy society cannot exist. However, in many of its verses, it also addresses fundamental philosophical, theological, natural, and human issues that have always occupied the minds of scholars and philosophers. The way the Quran deals with some of these issues, especially theological issues, encourages deeper and more profound reflection and leads to diverse intellectual perspectives.
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Third: While the Quran certainly encouraged philosophical thinking and served as a major source of inspiration for theologians of different beliefs and schools of thought, it also served as a barrier to another type of philosophical thinking.
Dr. Musa refers to this latter type of thinking as one that was based on or heavily influenced by Greek philosophy. This barrier was due to the Quran’s clear articulation of correct views and the provision of evidence for many issues that had puzzled thinkers and philosophers.
Fourth: Dr. Musa believes that without the Quran, the history of Islamic thought would not have known most of the schools of thought whose proponents derived their ideas from the Quran itself or justified their arguments. This is proven by the fact that the thinking of philosophers outside the field of theology, such as Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd, did not lead to the same schools of thought as the theologians. The reason for this is that these philosophers did not use the Quran in the formation and development of their teachings, even if they sometimes tried to find support for some of their conclusions in it.
Fifth: Although the Quran encouraged or guided Muslims to philosophize and inspired many philosophical views and schools, other factors also influenced the philosophical output of Muslims. These were external factors resulting from the Muslims’ contact with Greek philosophy through interaction with its bearers, such as the Syriacs, and later through its translation into Arabic.
This means that what initially encouraged Muslims to philosophize was the Quran, and then the knowledge and transmission of the Greek heritage. Each of these two factors had its own distinct influence.
Sixth: Refutation of the claim of the German orientalist, Tenmann (d. 1819), in his book (A Brief History of Philosophy), published in German in 1812, that some obstacles (including the Quran) prevented Muslims from making progress in philosophy, which he claimed contradicted the principles of free reason.
Dr. Musa believes that Tenmann is not entirely wrong; perhaps he meant the view of free thought that did not adhere to the limitations set by the Quran.
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Seventh: It should be noted that the Quran, as the last divine message for all humanity at all times and places, has not been studied from this perspective with the care that specialists should have. In fact, some scholars of Islamic theology have not known how to benefit from it fully. This requires a true knowledge of God, a knowledge that is accepted by both the heart and the mind; a knowledge that, in some respects, goes beyond philosophical knowledge that is based solely on reason.
These are the essential elements that constitute the perspective of Dr. Muhammad Yusuf Musa and his thesis on the relationship between the Quran and philosophy.
Today, we must revive and highlight this perspective in order to, on the one hand, revive concern and interest in philosophy, and, on the other hand, strengthen philosophical debate in the arena of contemporary Islamic thought, and, on the other hand, step from the narrow and marginal horizons in which we have limited ourselves to the broad and expansive horizons that philosophy offers us.
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