What is Islamic Philosophy?

Roy Jackson
Routledge 2014. 201 pp.
Roy Rockson, Jackson is a reader and teacher of philosophy of religion at Gloucestershire
University. He has a lot of experience in lecturing philosophy of religion at many colleges and is
an author of couple of books including The God of Philosophy (2011).
In What is Islamic Philosophy Jackson explains in the preface that he aims by the book to give
information to a beginner in Islamic philosophy. The book brings together the philosophy of Islam
from inception, through to the medieval Islam and authors up to the core some issues in Islamic
philosophy. In his self-styled arrangement of chapters, he discusses issues and groups as well as
personalities in the history of Islamic philosophy. The book entails a distinctive feature not like
other introductory offerings on the topic. It also discusses developments in the 20th century Islamic
thought fairly lengthily, and it tries to tackle possible replies from an Islamic point of view to a
wider range of moral and political issues like cloning, just war, homosexuality, and the treatment
of women.
The 1st chapter puts together words to explain what Islamic philosophy is, Jackson spares some
space to talk about the usage of Bismillahi Rahman Rahim in Immanuel kants doctoral thesis
and explains that the words contains the true essence of the Quran. Jackson tries to define Islam
and excavate some historical background of the religion and mentions the prophet of Islam,
Mohammed as the founder of the religion. He then quickly brings in the definition of philosophy
as it was seen throughout its development from the Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato,
Aristotles etc. To marry the two fields, the author brings into discussion the Islamic sciences,
from kalam, hadith, jurisprudence to exegesis. Having achieved that, he then asks the question
what is Islamic philosophy? Thinking he was going to answer that question, he rather did not but
explained the following chapters he prepares are meant answer it. (P. 1-6)

Jackson dedicates almost half of his book to philosophers and subjects from earlier periods of
Islamic philosophy. He explains there is no evidence that Al-Kindi engaged translators by using
his own wealth, rather he harmonised their works and aided as a link with the patrons who
sponsored the exercise. He disagrees that the invasion of the Mongol caused the loss of most of
Al-Kindi's corpus, since Al-Kindi and his corpus were no given much attention for many centuries
before the advent and invasion of the Mongols. (P. 34)
Jackson opines and sees role of mysticism in Islamic philosophy as ardently disputed, but seems
humorous to call Al-Farabi a Sufi and that the Farabian corpus that aided Avicennas
understanding of Metaphysics was not a "commentary". The Samanid people were not an Ismaili
dynasty and that for Suhrawardi and other scholars of his time and afar, the word Peripatetic was
not really another word for a Neoplatonist but was a reserve to Avicenna philosophy due to his
mastery and defence of the Aristotelian traditions. Al-kindi, Al-Farabi and Avicenna were also
discussed with issues pertaining to their sources of Greek literature and their ways of interpreting

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them to suit their own views of philosophy that would match up with the Islamic understanding.
The impact made by the early Islamic philosophers on the latter ones with examples of
philosophical topics. He disputes Abu Bakr al-Razi and Suhrawardi did not have the same teacher,
since they lived several centuries apart. (P, 42-65)
In 4th and 5th chapters Jackson tackles issues in philosophy of religion. Jackson presents his
research historically and delves into individual thinkers. The 4th discusses the existence of God,
the issue of the soul, and the qiyamet by focusing principally on Al-Farabi, Ibn sina, and Ibn
Rushd. The 5th chapter clarifies the correlation between reason and faith in Islamic religion, and
at this very point Jackson skips the medieval Muslim thinkers, such as Suhrawardi and his theory
of illumination and Mulla Sadra (Shirazi) to the 20th century intellectuals like Soroush (1945) and,
and then back again to Ibnal Arabi (12th to 13th centuries), along with many others like
Mohammed Iqbal (18731938) and Abu Ala Mawdudi under the topic Islam and the State (1903-
79). (P. 67)
The main question the book is set to answer is, what is Islamic Philosophy, its tie with Islamic
ethics and political philosophy are spread in chapter 6 through the 9th chapter. With issues
regarding the Islamic ethics he explains that there is obviously a very strong ethical tradition in
Islam. Jackson uses that tradition and cleverly applies it to contemporary ethical issues, like
abortion, cloning, and issues on the end of life, homosexuality, rights of women, and the rights of
non-Muslims (Dhimmis). Jackson brings out the diversity of responses to the issues within Islam
and the misunderstandings of Islam that is prevalent in Western civilization that could lead many
to think that Islam has an integrated and often objectionable policy, concerning at least some of
these issues.
Jackson cleverly remarks that the word Insha Allah as widely used words among Muslims in
Islamic countries have philosophical and moral implications in term of their actions and
responsibility to themselves and to others. For both moral and evil, he means, what humans inflict
upon other humans or to other creature for instance torture, murder, stealing, bullying (physical or
mental) and physical or natural evils which include tsunamis, plagues, earthquakes, disease and
the like have causes and connotations. The moral evil, explains the fact that a person feels guilt
and remorse as a result of their actions and it demonstrates Gods moral code acting upon human
conscience whiles natural evil jogs human memory that human beings are weak creatures, subject
to the resolve of an omnipotent God whose actions remain mysterious.
Abortions to Jackson have a long history in the Islamic world and that its essence is to reveal the
right of the woman on her own body. He reveals the need for recognition of ones manhood and
womanhood with bearing of children in the Islamic states. It is in that regards that he concentrates
on family planning an condemning abortion according to the Quranic revelations in (17:31).
Stressing that the verse may exegesis wise refer to infanticides of especially female children,
nonetheless he indicated that Islamic traditions there is no granted permission for abortion of
foetus. With the issue of cloning he quotes Yusuf al Qaradawis as written by Sachedina that
cloning does not mean interference in the creation of Allah. To him what Allah wills is
accomplished and what he doesnt will will never be accomplished. He endorses the rights given
by Islam to women and the non-Muslims in Islamic states and condemns with good philosophical
arguments why Islam prohibits ending of life and homosexuality. On the Dhimmis, due to the
inability of many people to pay the jizya because it wasnt affordable to them they had to choose

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between conversion to Islam or the withdrawal of Muslim protection. He sees it as a forced
conversion. (P. 110-129)

Chapter 8 focuses more on Islam and the state, and at this juncture the diversity of views seem
striking. He furthered on to the 8th chapter to discuss the theory of just war and the Islamic view
of jihad, bringing forward the diversity within Islam. Jackson introduces the theory of just war
from historical background to the three basic rules proposed by Cicero on just wars. In his
explanation of Jus in bello and jus ad bello Jackson brings in the al Qaeda attack of world trade
center in September 2001 and how they apply to apply just cause principle. He took the issue back
to back in times of bombings that did not discriminate like that Coventry Blitz and the bombing of
German city of Dresden between 13 and 15 February 1945 which tolled perished lives to 25,000.
And he confirms the popular Islamic scholars view Bassam Tibi that the Western distinction
between just and unjust wars linked to specific grounds for war in unknown in Islam. (P. 132-149).
Chapter 9 then discusses whether there can be shared moral values between Muslims and non-
Muslims, and the possibility of universal morality. Discussing human rights, Jackson puts forward
that the very idea of an elaboration of Islamic human rights is a relatively recent one, and must be
seen within the context of a backlash against Western colonialism, which may be imposed Western
forms of human rights upon Islamic states. There is the need for Muslims to determine an Islamic
identity in Islamic states rather than adopting western standard of human rights. In this
understanding Jackson brings forth his divisions of Muslims with regards to human rights into
Liberal and conservative Muslims. He concludes the chapter by identifying some difficulties in
modern interpretations of the Quran which aids him to introduce the hermeneutics which describes
the attempt to span the gap between the past and present. Jackson contends that Moral relativism
was used as a weapon by Islamic governments to argue that to abide by UN moral law would be
against Islamic moral law. It simply means, what is moral is relative and that which is moral
according to UN moral law, may be immoral in Islamic law. (P. 150-167)

The book gives a good linkage between all the sciences that are compatible with philosophy and
also explains the sciences to suit the very meaning philosophy connotes. Roy Jackson didnt stop
on the medieval Islamic philosophers like many writers do, he furthers it to the contemporal or the
20th century Islamic thinkers citing their understanding on contemporal issues which were not
faced by the neither the first philosophers nor the medieval ones. Issues such as the cloning, mercy
killing, women rights and the rights of the Dhimmis as discussed in the book are very vital. I was
expecting he would add some issues pertaining to mortgage, lottery, surrogate motherhood and
euthanasia which are equally contemporal in the Islamic jurisprudence and philosophical debates.
And with the issues of women right some scholars like the late Tantawi cannot be left out. His
popular statement against niqab which favoured the ban put by the former president of France,
Nicholas Sakozie. The book which is supposed to discuss Islamic philosophy unfortunately
discussed more on theology than philosophy. Islamic philosophy is definitely not concerned about
the basic Islamic laws among others like Jackson needlessly mentioned. Though they explained
Islam but they dont count as topics in discussing the tenets Islamic philosophy.

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 Mohammed Hashiru
Mphil Student of Philosophy of Religion,
Sakarya University