He was contemporary of Ibn Miskawayh & his friend, and lived in a half century between Al-Farabi & Ibn Sina.
He wanted to show the usefulness of philosophy in Islamic Theology & kalam, even they are complementary ways of reaching the truth.
His most famous book is al-a’alam be-manaqebe al-Islam (Expressing the benefits of Islam or بيان و عرضه ى مزاياى اسلام) being written in a clear & well-organized way for people. In this book he expressed that all different Isamic sciences such as kalam and Qanon(law) have the same equal value. Meanwhile he defended some non-religious sciences such as Mathematics & Geology and their benefits for human.
He can be seen as the last & best follower of Al-Kindi’s doctrine in the usefulness of Greek philosophy in Islamic sciences.
References
- History of Islamic Philosophy (Routledge History of World Philosophies) by Seyyed Hossein Nasr
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Last updated on Thursday July 05, 2007 at 19:36:27 PDT (GMT -0700)
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