Avicenna’s Islamic reception

Abstract

Introduction: 'Abduh' and the Avicennian Tradition. In December 1882, the Egyptian theologian and educational reformer Mu?ammad ?Abduh (d. 1323 ah/1905 ce), of al-Azhar University in Cairo, was forced into exile following the failure of ?Urabi Pasha's revolt against the British forces then colonizing Egypt. After journeying to Lebanon and France, ?Abduh got a temporary teaching job back in Beirut, at the Sul?aniyya College, a much smaller and less venerable institution than al-Azhar. The notes from ?Abduh's lectures at the Sul?aniyya were eventually written up and published as his Essay on Monotheism (Risalat al-taw?id), a concise summa that came to be one of ?Abduh's most influential works. After surveying the topics covered by philosophical theology (kalam or ?ilm al-taw?id), ?Abduh then offered a compressed version of a famous distinction elaborated by Avicenna nine centuries before, in his Origin and Destination (Kitab al-mabda? wa-l-ma?ad): An object of knowledge is divisible into three categories: the inherently possible, the inherently necessary, and the inherently impossible. The impossible is defined as that which, in and of itself, possesses non-existence. The necessary is that which, in and of itself, possesses existence. The possible is that which, in and of itself, possesses neither existence or non-existence; instead, it exists only on account of whatever makes it exist, and it does not exist only on account of the non-existence of the cause of its existence, so necessity and impossibility may attach to it on account of something other than it.