Contents

Chapter IV

Intellectual Coexistence and Interaction

The Arabs rushed out from their peninsula, spreading Islam in all corners of the earth, conquering many lands, from Central India and the Chinese borders, through Afghanistan, Persia, Iraq, and Syria to Egypt and the Maghreb. They crossed the Straits at Gibraltar to Spain, and raised their banners on the edge of the Pyrenees mountains in Southern France. These were vast lands, inhabited since ancient times by peoples of diverse races, languages and cultures. The peoples of all these lands accepted the authority of the Arabs when they found that they were not interested in expropriating the land or taking possession of its goods, but were more keen to win hearts and minds to the True Religion. Many among these peoples became curious about this new religion, and then embraced it en masse, attracted by the simplicity and uncomplicated nature of its creed, and by the equality and brotherhood advocated by the Shari’a among all peoples, Arab and non-Arab. They were also attracted by the Islamic Shari’a favouring, as it did, the removal of all forms of class and social discrimination, and calling for the liberation of peoples from all forms of slavery and servitude. No enmity arose between Muslims and the protected groups, since Islam requires the Muslims -as mentioned before- to treat non-Muslims well and to protect them and their possessions and temples. In additon, the Muslims opened all opportunities for the minorities in all walks of life, including official posts as we have seen.

Islam thus created a strong bond between Muslims and other religious communities, leading the bulk of the peoples of the newly conquered lands to embrace Islam. Those who kept their original beliefs also felt a strong bond of noble brotherhood towards the Muslims and their rulers, evidenced by the fact that they responded enthusiastically to the request from their Muslim compatriots to share with them not only their knowledge of applied sciences such as town planning, architecture, and agricultural production, but also higher theoretical knowledge. The Hellenistic culture, a blend of Greek culture and various eastern cultures, was prevalent througout most of the conquered lands, particularly in Gondeshapur in Iran, and in Ruha, Harran, Qannasreen, Antoich, Alexandria, and some monasteries in Iraq, Egypt and Syria. When they settled in these new lands, the Arabs started, due to the fondness of knowledge implanted in them by Islam, to explore some aspects of this culture. A large section from among the bearers of this culture, including members of minority communities, have become Arabised and were integrated into the Arabic cultural milieu. This generated an exchange in which these groups gained extensive knowledge of the Arabic literary heritage, while imparting their Hellenistic culture to the Arabs. And thus commenced the intellectual coexistence and interaction between the convenanted communities and the Muslims.

In the second half of the first hijri century, Muslims requested some individuals from among the minorities who knew Arabic well to translate some of the books containing foreign knowledge, following an earlier precedent involving Khalid son of the second Umayyad Caliph, Yazid ibn Mu’awiya, who had some works translated for him in the year 85H. Al-Jahiz recounts in his al-Bayan wa’l-Tabyin about Khalid: “He was the first to have had books on astronomy, medicine and Alchemy translated for him.” Ibn Khallakan, author of Wafayat Al A’yan, says of him that “he had some elaborations on the sciences of Alchemy and medicine.” Khalid was said to have been an expert in these sciences and to have authored several treatises on them. He was said to have been taught Alchemy by a Byzantine monk named Marianos. Khalid and Marianos offer a telling symbol of coexistance between Muslims and others, a coexistence that quickly turned into co-operation, when Khalid received a prompt response to his request to have books on astronomy, medicine and Alchemy in the possession of some minority groups translated. Not only that, but Marianos even went on to teach Khalid what he knew, as the latter mentions in one of his epistles.

Since that time, the Arabised elements among the minorities embarked on translating books of science and learning into Arabic in response to Arab demand. This included the translation by Masarjawayh of a book on medicine during the reign of Omar ibn Abdul-Aziz (99-101H). During the reign of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (105-125H) some of Aristotle’s works were translated from Greek and some political tracts from Persian, including a book on the history of the Sassanians.

During the Abbasid era, this intellectual interaction intensified. Among the translators who stand out in this period was Abdullahi ibn al-Muqaffa’, who translated Aristotle’s Logic from Persian and also translated Kulaylah and Dimnah, a book of stories of Indian origin as well as a number of Persian history books. The Arabised elements among the Syrian Christians, who had already translated much of Greek philosophy and sciences into Syriac, actively engaged into translating these treasures into Arabic. Some of the books they translated during the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Mansour (136-158H) included Ptolemy’s work on astronomy, Almagest, Aristole’s Logic, Euclid’s treatise on geometry, and medical works of Hippocrates and Galen. Some Arabised Persians translated the books on astronomy and astrology which existed in their language, while Arabised Indians translated a well-known book on astronomy from their original language, which came to be known as Sind Hind.

This interaction with non-Muslims became more active during the reign of the Abbasid caliph Haroun al-Rashid and his Barmakid viziers. Al-Rashid set up a translation establishment which he called Dar al-Hikma (the House of Wisdom), where senior Syrian translators well-versed in Arabic, headed by Yuhanna ibn Masawayh, a Nestorian doctor, were employed. Ibn Masawayh was provided with a staff of skilled translators and supplied with Greek books of medicine brought from Ankara, Ammuriyyah and the Byzantine Empire, which he was asked to translate. Ibn Masawayh had himself written a number of books on medicine and pharmacology. Another prominent translator in this establishment was Jibril ibn Bakhtayshu’, Al-Rashid’s chief personal physician, who wrote several books on medicine. This meant that members of minority communities were active in translating and writing books for the benefit of their Arab brethren in all branches of learning.

Members of the Barmakid family, the renowned viziers of Al-Rashid, encouraged the translation of books of learning into Arabic from Latin, Greek, Persian and Indian. Yahya ibn Khalid Al-Barmaki asked the Patriarch of Alexandria to send to Baghdad a famous Latin book on agriculture (probably by the famous Phoenecian agriculturalist, Magon, which had been translated into Latin). The Barmakids -who were of Persian origin- took care to translate many works from the Persian heritage into Arabic. In their days, a number of books were translated, including Buzurjamhar, the will and testament of Ardashir I to his son Shapur I and Javedan Khard, a book on literature and ethics. Also translated was a book called Hazar Afsateh, a pecursoer of The One Thousand and One Nights. The Barmakids were also as keen to translate works of Indian heritage. Al-Jahiz writes that: “Yahya ibn Khalid al-Barmaki brought Indian doctors, such as Mankeh and Basiker who worked in the Main Hospital in Baghdad.” They quickly became Arabised and contributed with other Arabised Indians to translating works of Indian heritage, especially on medicine and drugs. They also translated the tales of Sindbad and other fairy-tales which enthralled the masses.

The climax of this drive to achieve coexistence and harmony between Muslims and the protected minorities was reached during the reign of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mamoun, son of Al-Rashid, who turned Dar al-Hikma into what resembled a great institution of learning, and attached to it a famous astronomical observatory. After the defeat of the Byzantine emperor in one of their battles, Al-Mamoun wrote to him requesting him to permit a delegation to come to Constantinople, select a number of the ancient Greek books kept in his country and bring them back to Baghdad. The emperor acceded to the demand after some initial reluctance, so a mission was sent which transported what Greek books it could, back to Baghdad. Translators -from among the protected minorities- embarked on translating these. When Al-Mamoun agreed a truce with the ruler of Cyprus, he asked him to send what Greek books he had, which he did. The books he sent were mainly philosophical works. Scores of translators busied themselves with translating these books into Arabic. Most prominent among these was Yahya ibn Al-Batriq, who was well versed in Latin and Greek. He translated Plato’s Timaus, a summary of Aristotle’s Psychology, his Book of Animals and his On the World. He also translated Galen’s Antidotes, and a book by Euclid on music was also translated at this time.

One rising star in this new atmosphere of fruitful intellectual cooperation among the Muslims and Syrian Christians during the reign of Al-Mamoun was Hunayn ibn Ishaq. He was renowned for the accuracy of his translations, and used to be paid the weight of every material he translated in gold. The caliph Al-Mutawakkil was so pleased with the beauty of his translated material that he presented him with three homes, together with all the exquisite item of furniture needed for them, including curtains and a large number of books. He also gave him a number of landed estates and paid him fifteen thousand dirhams a month. Hunayn was a Nestorian Christian who travelled to the Byzantine Empire where he learned Greek and became well-versed in it. He was also fluent in Syriac, Arabic and Persian. Al-Mutawakil appointed a number of translators under Hunayn, who would assign them translations tasks and later revise and check their work. He was fond of translating books of medicine, and translated tens of books by Galen. Hunayn and his disciples represent a distinct and important school of translation. Most prominent among his disciples was his son Ishaq and his nephew Hubaysh. Ishaq specialised in translating philosophical books, while Hubaysh, like his uncle, was keen on books of medicine. Another of Hunayn’s disciples was Istafan, who was the first to translate Dioscorides’ famous work on plants and Euripaseus’s work on unique drugs. Beside this prominant school of translation, there were countless other translators, among them was Thabit ibn Qurrah, who translated Euclid’s Elements, and Qosta ibn Luqa of Baalbek, who specialised in translating Greek philosphical works. The last great translator from Greek was Matta ibn Younus, a Greek in origin, who became famous for translating Aristotle’s Logic and some of his other works.

In this commendable intellectual cooperation, the covenanted minorities, Syrian and others, did not only offer their Muslim brothers their love and affection, but offered, on top of that, all their treasures of scientific learning and Greek philosophy, which they transmitted faithfully, without holding back, dissimulation, or any attempt to mislead. It is as if they saw in this an attempt to win the love of their brothers, so they performed this task with the utmost diligence and sincerity, whether in transmitting and translating, or in teaching and education. They persevered in this work of translating and teaching for three centuries, cementing the fruitful intellectual cooperation and friendship between the communities. The first generation of translators from among the protected minorities had at times made a literal translation of some of the books they worked on, and their work suffered from some ambiguity, confusion or stylistic lapses. This prompted later translators -especially from among the Syrians- from the time of the Barmakids onwards, to retranslate the most important works and make them more accessible to Muslims. Again they were prompted in this by the urge to win the love of their Muslim compatriots and cement the relation of amity they had developed with them.

The Muslims embarked eagerly on the study of the scientific heritage translated for them by members of the covenanted community, absorbing it and -very often- studying together with them the items of learning being transmitted. This was what had happened with Khalid ibn Yazid ibn Mu’awiya, for whom the monk Marianus had translated a book in Alchemy and then taught him the subject, as we have seen. Translators proceeded from the first hijri century onward to transmit their heritage into Arabic and teach it to those who required it from amongst their Muslim brethren. They taught them in particular how to philosophise. Their discussion circles filled with students of the sciences and students of philosophy, learning what was being offered. Among the most famous circles which emerged in the second hijri century was that of Yuhanna ibn Masawayh, the head of Dar al-Hikmah during the reign of Al-Rashid. It was said to have been “the most frequented circle in Baghdad for a doctor, philosopher or theologian. His students read with him Aristotle’s Logic and Galen’s books on medicine.” The circles of senior translators in the third and fourth centuries, such as Hunayn ibn Ishaq and Matta ibn Younus, were equally popular.

Muslims started to assimilate, with unprecedented eagerness, the translated cultural materials the minorities had brought to their attention from Persian, Indian, Syriac and, specially, Greek sources, and the learning materials they incorporated. Soon, scientists of international stature emerged from among them in every discipline, like the chemist Jabir ibn Hayyan in the second/eighth century, who authored more than a hundred treatises, many of which had later been translated into Latin. We also soon encounter -during the reign of Al-Mamoun- Al-Khawarzmi, who established the science of algebra and became the first link in a chain of international mathematicians. From the second/eighth to the eighth/fourteenth centuries, the Muslims launched a great scientific renaissance which continued to lead the world -on its own- in every field of learning for over six centuries. The West deferred to the leading figures of this renaissance, in particular in Sicily and Spain.

Due to the philosophical works, the Syrians translated and taught to Muslims, the latter succeeded in creating their own Islamic philosophy starting in the reign of Al-Mamoun. The first Muslim philosoher was Al-Kindi, who wrote tens, even hundreds of books and tracts discussing mathematics, astronomy, geometry, natural sciences, ethics, politics, logic, theology, disputation and medicine. He used to praise reason, and wrote that the soul was a light from God, arguing that it was attached to the body, but remains distinct from it in its essence. He was followed in the fourth hijri century by Al-Farabi, who tried to blend the spirituality of Islam with Greek philosophical theories. In the fifth/eleventh century Ibn Sina (Avicena), the greatest of Muslim philsosophers, rose to prominance. In his work, Greek philosophy was blended with oriental wisdom and Islamic spirituality. After him Andalusian philosophers appeared, the most famous among whom was Ibn Rushd (Averroes), the author of remarkable works in which he attempts to harmonise philosophy and the True Religion.

One aspect of this fruitful intellectual interaction was the rise of an intensive movement of debating between Muslims, covenanted communities and followers of different religions and schools. This demonstrates that the covenanted peoples were not only enjoying full freedom of worship as dictated by their religions, but also enjoyed the same right to publicly defend their beliefs which the Muslims had, including defending their beliefs against the dominant Islamic religion. These debates proliferated in Syria during the Umayyad era, and was joined by Muslim and Christian religious leaders. Among the most prominent participants in these debates was Yuhanna al-Dimashqi (John of Damascus) who, as we have mentioned previously, was the financial adviser to more than one Umayyad caliph. Yuhanna has written several books on theology, including one relating a dialogue with a Muslim on the divine nature of Christ, a guide to Christians on how to debate with Muslims and several polemics with Muslims on predestination and the freedom of man. Some of these debates actually took place at the courts of Umayyad caliphs.

This represents one of the bright sides of Islam’s universal dimension, since we find the Umayyad caliphs here not only permitting the covenanted communities full economic and social rights, but also put the control of the state finances in the hands of some of them and permitted them to debate freely with Muslims in matters of faith and theology. If we progress to the Abbasid era, then we find that intellectual interaction between Muslims and the covenanted communities in all areas of translation and teaching, had greatly intensified, reaching an unprecedented level. Debates and argumetns flared in matters of religious beliefs between Muslim theologians and the adherents of other religions. We have various reports confirming the intensification of these debates in Iraq during the second/eighth century, as the author of Al-Aghani writes (in volume iii) that: “There lived in Basrah six kalam (theology) adepts: Amr ibn Abid and Wasil ibn Ata’ (Mu’tazilites), Bashshar the Blind (a heretic), Salih ibn Abd Al-Quddus (a Manichean), Abd Al-Karim ibn Abi Al-’Awja’ (another heretic) and a man from the Azd tribe. The six used to meet in the home of the Azdi man and debate in his presence.” Wasil ibn Ata’, the head of the Mu’tazilites, and his friend and fellow-Mu’tazilite, Amr ibn Abid, tried in vain to convince the other three of the error of their ways.

Another important text appears in al-Nujum al-Zahira, referring to the same city: “There used to meet in Basra ten people in one circle the like of whom was never encountered: Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad, founder of prosody, a sunni; Al-Sayyind ibn Muhammad Al-Himyari, a shiite; Salih ibn Abd Al-Quddus, a Manichean; Sufyan ibn Mujashi’, a sufri [kharijite]; Bashshar ibn Burd, a dissolute poet; Hammad ‘Ajrad, a heretic; Ibn Ra’s Al-Jalut, a poet, a Jew; Ibn Nazir, a Christian, a theologian; Amr, nephew of Al-Mupith, a Magian and Ibn Sinan Al-Harrani, a poet, a Sabian.” This text enumerates all religious beliefs and denomination in Iraq at the time. Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad, who founded the science of prosody, was a sunni Muslim who approved of the caliphate of Abu Bakr and Omar, while Al-Sayyid Al-Himyari was a shiite who condemned the two first caliphs and other senior Companions of the Prophets. Salih ibn Abd Al-Quddus was a Manichean who believed in the dualism of light and darkness; Sufyan ibn Mujashi’ belonged to the Sufri sect of the Kharijites, who used to advocate refraining from launching holy war against the Umayyad rulers, but later changed their stance and rose against them; Bashshar ibn Burd was a dissolute, fun-loving poet; the author of al-Nujum al-Zahira ommitted to mention that he was also a heretic, like Hammad ‘Ajrad. Ibn Ra’as Al-Jalut was the Chief Rabbi and head of the Jewish community in Iraq, while Ibn Nazir was a Christian. Amr, nephew of Al-Mupith, was a Magian, and Ibn Sinan was a Sabian. It is obvious that each of these ten individuals represented a distinct faith in the early Abbasid era. Among them were Muslims: a sunni, a shiite and a kharijite; two were heretics; five belonged to separate religions: a Manichean, a Sabian, a Christian, a Jew and a Zoroastrian. They used to argue and discuss their beliefs, while the poets recited their poetry. It is impossible for a gathering like this to materialise in any other community. However, it did within the Muslim community at the zenith of its power and the peak of the authority of its state duirng the second/eighth century, because of the universality of its religion and the freedom it had guaranteed for people from other faiths.

Muslim theologians during the Abbasid era continued to open their circles and debating sessions to people from different faiths and views, debating with them on all matters of relgion. This is confirmed by the report given in Jadhwat al-Muqtabis by an Andalusian jurist and hadith expert named Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Saadi. He had visited Baghdad in the fourth/tenth century and arrived in al-Qayrawan in Tunisia, where he was asked by its Maliki jurists Ibn Abi-Zayd (d. 386H): “Have you attended the circles of the people of kalam (theologians)?” He answered: “I have attended two. The first one I attended brought together all sects: Muslims orthodox and heterodox, unbelievers, Magians and Materialists; heretics; Jews and Christians. Each had a leader who spoke for his faith and defended it. When the head of each sect arrived, the assembly would rise to receive him, and would only sit down when he had taken his seat. When the meeting place was full, and they had concluded that no one else was awaited, a speaker from among the unbelievers would say: ‘You have gathered for debate, and we can only debate on the basis or argumetns of reason, and with what reflection and analogy would permit.’ The rest would answer : ‘Yes, you are granted that.’” Ibn Saadi adds: “I was told that there was another circle of debate. I went to attend it and found it conducted in the same manner as the other one.”

It is clear from the report of the Andalusian jurist that the cricles of theological debates in the Abbasid era remained open to participants from various Islamic sects, even those regarded as heretical, as well from Magians, who worshipped fire, Manicheans who believed in the light-darkness duality, the Sabians who worshipped planets, atheists, materialists who did not bleieve in the hereafter, as well as Jews and Christians. These debates and discussions demonstrate a level of intellectual interaction and coexistence unprecedented in its harmonious nature, and which was only possible because of the universal character of Islam which encompassed in its lands all religions, heavenly and otherwise, treating them all as equals.

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