The Vital Roots of European Enlightenment is a collection of essays which deal with the influence of Ibn Tufayl, a 12th-century Arab philosopher from Spain, on major European thinkers. His philosophical novel, Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, could be considered one of the most important books that heralded the Scientific Revolution. Its thoughts are found in different variations and to different degrees in the books of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Isaac Newton, and Kant. But if Ibn Tufayl's fundamental values, such as equality, freedom and toleration, which the thinkers of the European Enlightenment had adopted as theirs, paved the way to the French Revolution, they certainly marked the end of the age of reason in southern Spain and the rest of the Islamic world. Ibn Tufayl's philosophy was appropriated, subverted, or reinvented for many centuries. But the memory of the man who wrote such an influential book was buried in the dust of history. The Vital Roots of European Enlightenment reexamines Ibn Tufayl's momentous book and its continued influence over contemporary philosophy. This intriguing book will appeal to those interested in comparative literature and religion.

In this innovative work, Salman H. Bashier challenges traditional views of Islamic philosophy. While Islamic thought from the crucial medieval period is often depicted as a rationalistic elaboration on Aristotelian philosophy and an attempt to reconcile it with the Muslim religion, Bashier puts equal emphasis on the influence of Plato's philosophical mysticism. This shift encourages a new reading of Islamic intellectual tradition, one in which boundaries between philosophy, religion, mysticism, and myth are relaxed. Bashier shows the manner in which medieval Islamic philosophers reflected on the relation between philosophy and religion as a problem that is intrinsic to philosophy and shows how their deliberations had the effect of redefining the very limits of their philosophical thought. The problems of the origin of human beings, human language, and the world in Islamic philosophy are discussed. Bashier highlights the importance of Ibn Ṭufayl's Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān, a landmark work often overlooked by scholars, and the thought of the great Sufi mystic Ibn al-ʿArabī to the mainstream of Islamic philosophy.

The latest in the acclaimed Makers of the Muslim World series (Series Editor: Patricia Crone). Makers of the Muslim World is the first series devoted to the men and women throughout history who have made a significant contribution to the political, intellectual and religious landscape of the Muslim world. Each title combines first-rate scholarship with a strong emphasis on readability, and will serve as a perfect introduction for academic and lay readers alike. Ibn Tufayl (1105-1185) was an Andalusian courtier, philosopher, Sufi master and royal physician to the Almohad Caliphs. He inspired the twelfth-century Andalusian revolt against Ptolemaic astronomy and through his sponsorship he was also responsible for the career of the most renowned Aristotelian of medieval times, Abu al-Walid Ibn Rushd (the Latin Averroes). In Ibn Tufayl, we see an exemplar of the kind of versatile and pious scholar early Almohad culture wanted to cultivate. Ibn Tufayl’s own intellectual outlook is preserved for us in Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, a philosophical romance that is one of the most beloved and best read pieces in all Arabic literature. A popular and often-copied work in early modern Europe, Hayy has for many come to represent what is distinctive of high classical Arabic philosophy. Ibn Tufayl sets one of the most famous Arabic philosophical works of all time in its historical and philosophical context: it paints a vivid portrait of the world as Ibn Tufayl saw it and as he wished for it to be seen.

First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

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