Averroës (born 1126,Córdoba [Spain]—died 1198,Marrakech, Almohad empire [now in Morocco]) was an influentialIslamic religious philosopher whointegrated Islamic traditions with ancient Greek thought. At the request of theAlmohad caliph Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf, he produced a series of summaries and commentaries on most of Aristotle’s works (1169–95) and onPlato’sRepublic, which exerted considerable influence in both theIslamic world andEurope for centuries. He wrote theDecisive Treatise on the Agreement Between Religious Law and Philosophy (Faṣl al-Maqāl),Examination of the Methods of Proof Concerning the Doctrines of Religion (Kashf al-Manāhij), andThe Incoherence of the Incoherence (Tahāfut al-Tahāfut), all in defense of the philosophicalstudy of religion against the theologians (1179–80).

Early life

Averroës was born into a distinguished family of jurists at Córdoba and died at Marrakech, theNorth African capital of the Almohaddynasty. Thoroughly versed in the traditional Muslim sciences (especiallyexegesis of theQurʾān—Islamic scripture—andḤadīth, or Traditions, andfiqh, or Law), trained inmedicine, and accomplished inphilosophy, Averroës rose to be chiefqādī (judge) of Córdoba, an office also held by his grandfather (of the same name) under theAlmoravids. After the death of the philosopherIbn Ṭufayl, Averroës succeeded him as personal physician to the caliphs Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf in 1182 and his son Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb in 1184.

At some point between 1153 and 1169, Ibn Ṭufayl had introduced Averroës to Abū Yaʿqūb, who, himself a keen student of philosophy, frightened Averroës with a question concerning whether the heavens were created or not. The caliph answered the question himself, put Averroës at ease, and sent him away withprecious gifts after a long conversation that proved decisive for Averroës’ career. Soon afterward Averroës received the ruler’s request to provide a badly needed correct interpretation of the philosophy of the Greek philosopherAristotle, a task to which he devoted many years of his busy life as judge, beginning atSevilla (Seville) and continuing at Córdoba. The exact year of his appointment as chiefqādī of Córdoba, one of the key posts in the government (and not confined to the administration of justice), is not known.

Commentaries on Aristotle

Between 1169 and 1195 Averroës wrote a series of commentaries on most of Aristotle’s works (e.g.,The Organon,De anima,Physica,Metaphysica,De partibus animalium,Parva naturalia,Meteorologica,Rhetorica,Poetica, and theNicomachean Ethics). He wrote summaries, and middle and long commentaries—often two or all three kinds on the same work. Aristotle’sPolitica was inaccessible to Averroës; therefore he wrote a commentary on Plato’sRepublic (which is both a paraphrase and a middle commentary in form). All of Averroës’ commentaries are incorporated in the Latin version of Aristotle’s complete works. They areextant in the Arabic original or Hebrew translations or both, and some of these translations serve in place of the presumably lost Arabic originals; e.g., the important commentaries on Aristotle’sNicomachean Ethics and on Plato’sRepublic.

Averroës’ commentaries exerted considerable influence on Jews and Christians in the following centuries. His clear, penetrating mind enabled him to present competently Aristotle’s thought and to add considerably to its understanding. He ably and critically used the classical commentators Themistius and Alexander of Aphrodisias and thefalāsifah (Muslim philosophers)al-Fārābī,Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā), and his own countrymanAvempace (Ibn Bājjah). In commenting on Aristotle’streatises on the natural sciences, Averroës showed considerable power of observation.

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Averroës’ defense of philosophy

Averroës’ own first work isGeneral Medicine (Kulliyāt, LatinColliget), written between 1162 and 1169. Only a few of his legal writings and none of his theological writings are preserved. Undoubtedly his most important writings are three closely connected religious-philosophical polemical treatises, composed in the years 1179 and 1180: theFaṣl al-Maqāl with its appendix; theKashf al-Manāhij; and theTahāfut al-Tahāfut in defense of philosophy. In the two first named, Averroës stakes a bold claim: only the metaphysician employing certain proof (syllogism) is capable and competent (as well as obliged) to interpret the doctrines contained in the prophetically revealed law (Sharʿ orSharīʿah), and not the Muslimmutakallimūn (dialectic theologians), who rely ondialectical arguments. To establish the true, innermeaning of religious beliefs andconvictions is the aim of philosophy in its quest for truth. This inner meaning must not be divulged to the masses, who must accept the plain, external meaning of Scripture contained in stories,similes, andmetaphors. Averroës applied Aristotle’s three arguments (demonstrative, dialectical, and persuasive—i.e.,rhetorical and poetical) to the philosophers, the theologians, and the masses. The third work is devoted to a defense of philosophy against his predecessoral-Ghazālī’s telling attack directed against Avicenna and al-Fārābī in particular. Spirited and successful as Averroës’ defense was, it could not restore philosophy to its former position, quite apart from the fact that the atmosphere inMuslim Spain andNorth Africa was most unfavourable to the unhindered pursuit of speculation. As a result of the reforming activity ofIbn Tūmart (c. 1078–1130), aimed at restoring puremonotheism, power was wrested from the ruling Almoravids, and the new Berberdynasty of theAlmohads was founded, under whom Averroës served. Injurisprudence the emphasis then shifted from the practical application of Muslim law by appeal to previous authority to an equal stress on the study of its principles and the revival of independent legal decision on the basis of Ibn Tūmart’s teaching. Of perhaps even more far-reaching significance was Ibn Tūmart’s idea of instructing the heretofore ignorant masses in the plain meaning of the Sharīʿah so that practice would be informed with knowledge. These developments were accompanied by the encouragement of thefalāsifah—“those who,” according to Averroës’Faṣl, “follow the way ofspeculation and are eager for a knowledge of the truth”—to apply demonstrative arguments to the interpretation of the theoretical teaching of the Sharīʿah. But with the hands of both jurists and theologians thus strengthened, Averroës’ defense of philosophy continued to be conducted within an unfavourable atmosphere.

Averroës himself acknowledged the support of Abū Yaʿqūb, to whom he dedicated hisCommentary on Plato’s Republic. Yet Averroës pursued his philosophical quest in the face of strong opposition from themutakallimūn, who, together with the jurists, occupied a position of eminence and of great influence over the fanatical masses. This may explain why he suddenly fell from grace when Abū Yūsuf—on the occasion of ajihad (holy war) against Christian Spain—dismissed him from high office and banished him toLucena in 1195. To appease the theologians in this way at a time when the caliph needed the undivided loyalty and support of the people seems a more convincing reason than what the Arabic sources tell us (attacks on Averroës by the mob, probably at the instigation of jurists and theologians). But Averroës’ disgrace was only short-lived—though long enough to cause himacute suffering—since the caliph recalled Averroës to his presence after his return to Marrakech. After his death, Averroës was first buried at Marrakech, and later his body was transferred to the family tomb at Córdoba.

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It is not rare in the history ofIslam that the rulers’ private attachment to philosophy and their friendship with philosophers goes hand in hand with official disapproval of philosophy and persecution of its adherents, accompanied by the burning of their philosophical writings and the prohibition of the study ofsecular sciences other than those required for the observance of the religious law. Without caliphal encouragement Averroës could hardly have persisted all his life in his fight for philosophy against the theologians, as reflected in hisCommentary on Plato’s Republic, in such works as theFaṣl al-Maqāl andTahāfut al-Tahāfut, and in original philosophical treatises (e.g., about the union of the active intellect with the human intellect). It is likely that the gradual estrangement of his two masters and patrons from Ibn Tūmart’stheology and their preoccupation with Islamic law also helped him. That Averroës found it difficult to pursue his philosophical studies alongside theconscientious performance of his official duties he himself reveals in a few remarks scattered over his commentaries; e.g., in that on Aristotle’sDe partibus animalium.