Imām Ibn Rushd [(520 – 595 AH / 1126 – 1198 CE)]

Imām Ibn Rushd al-Ḥafīd al-Qurṭubī (520 – 595 AH / 1126 – 1198 CE)

The Philosopher-Jurist of al-Andalus and the Harmonizer of Reason and Revelation

Early Life and Background

His full name was Abū al-Walīd Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Rushd al-Qurṭubī
[أبو الوليد محمد بن أحمد بن محمد بن رشد القرطبي].
He was born in Córdoba – قرطبة in 520 AH / 1126 CE, into a lineage of scholars.
His grandfather, Ibn Rushd al-Jadd, was Chief Judge of Córdoba and one of the greatest Mālikī jurists of his age.^1

The Banū Rushd – بنو رشد family represented the ideal of Andalusian scholarship — blending fiqh, kalām, and Arabic eloquence with intellectual independence.
From childhood, Ibn Rushd was immersed in study, memorizing the Qurʾān, learning Arabic grammar, and mastering Mālikī law under his father and other teachers in Seville and Córdoba.

He also studied medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and logic — disciplines highly cultivated in the cosmopolitan culture of 12th-century al-Andalus.

Education and Teachers

Among his prominent teachers were:

Abū Jaʿfar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Qurṭubī (أبو جعفر بن عبد العزيز القرطبي) — Mālikī jurist and mentor in fiqh.
Ibn Bājja (Avempace – ابن باجة) — philosopher and physician of Zaragoza, whose works introduced him to Aristotelian logic.
Abū Marwān ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar – أبو مروان بن زهر) — renowned physician, under whom Ibn Rushd studied medicine.^2

By his early thirties, Ibn Rushd was already recognized as a jurist, physician, and philosopher — a true ʿālim ʿālamī – عالم عالمي (universal scholar).

Career and Public Service

Under the Almohad Caliphate (al-Muwaḥḥidūn – الموحدون), which had replaced the Almoravids, Ibn Rushd rose to prominence as Qāḍī of Seville, and later Chief Judge (Qāḍī al-Jamāʿah – قاضي الجماعة) of Córdoba.^3

He was appointed court physician and philosophical adviser to Caliph Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf (أبو يعقوب يوسف) and later to al-Manṣūr (المنصور).
The Caliph admired his intellect and commissioned him to write commentaries on Aristotle (Arisṭūṭālis – أرسطوطاليس) to clarify philosophical thought in light of Islamic theology.

However, his independent mind and critical reasoning later aroused opposition from literalist clerics, leading to brief exile and censorship before being restored to honor near the end of his life.^4

Scholarly Orientation

Ibn Rushd al-Ḥafīd’s writings can be divided into three core domains:

Field	Focus
Fiqh (فقه)	Deep engagement with Mālikī jurisprudence; commentary on al-Muwaṭṭaʾ and numerous fatāwā on legal ethics.
Philosophy (فلسفة)	Rational analysis of metaphysics, cosmology, and ethics through an Islamic lens.
Medicine & Science (طب وعلوم)	Author of Kulliyyāt fī al-Ṭibb – الكليات في الطب, a medical compendium used for centuries in Europe and the Islamic world.

Major Works

Work	Arabic Title	Subject	Notes
Bidāyat al-Mujtahid wa Nihāyat al-Muqtaṣid	بداية المجتهد ونهاية المقتصد	Mālikī jurisprudence	His magnum opus in fiqh; a comparative manual analyzing evidences, disagreements, and reasoning among jurists. Still used in legal institutes worldwide.^5
Kulliyyāt fī al-Ṭibb	الكليات في الطب	Medicine	A systematic encyclopedia of general medical principles, complementing Ibn Zuhr’s Taysīr. Translated into Latin as Colliget and used in European universities.
Faṣl al-Maqāl fīmā bayna al-Ḥikmah wa al-Sharīʿah min al-Ittiṣāl	فصل المقال فيما بين الحكمة والشريعة من الاتصال	Philosophy & theology	Treatise on reconciling philosophy and revelation — “The Decisive Treatise.” A landmark in Islamic rational thought.
Tahāfut al-Tahāfut	تهافت التهافت	Refutation of al-Ghazālī’s Tahāfut al-Falāsifah	Defends philosophy as a legitimate means of understanding God’s creation, arguing al-Ghazālī misunderstood the philosophers’ intent.
Talkhīṣ Kitāb al-Nafs	تلخيص كتاب النفس	Psychology	Commentary on Aristotle’s De Anima, adapted for Islamic thought.

🜂 Synthesis of Greek Rationalism with Islamic Theology

“Truth does not contradict truth; revelation and reason are two lights from one source.” — Ibn Rushd, Faṣl al-Maqāl

This is the hallmark of Ibn Rushd’s thought — his effort to synthesize Greek rational philosophy with Qurʾānic revelation while remaining within Islamic orthodoxy.

**1. Reason (ʿAql – عقل) as a Divine Gift**

He viewed reason not as an adversary to faith but as a tool to understand the divine order (niẓām al-ʿālam – نظام العالم).
The ʿaql was for him a form of worship — the mind’s reflection of God’s wisdom in creation.

He argued that the Qurʾān itself commands reflection:

“Do they not reflect upon themselves?” (Q 30:8)
“Will they not ponder the Qurʾān?” (Q 4:82)

Thus, philosophical inquiry is an act of taʿabbud ʿaqlī – تعبّد عقلي, rational devotion.

**2. Reinterpretation (Taʾwīl – تأويل) and the Three Levels of Understanding**

In Faṣl al-Maqāl, he explains that scriptural texts have different layers of meaning, accessible according to intellect:

Khiṭābiyyūn (خطابيون) – the common believers, who follow the apparent meaning (ẓāhir – ظاهر).
Jadalīyūn (جدليون) – theologians, who debate using rational proofs.
Burhāniyyūn (برهانيون) – philosophers, who seek demonstrative truth (burhān – برهان) through logical certainty.

All three are valid paths, but the burhānī method (demonstrative reasoning) is the highest form of understanding, provided it does not contradict revelation.

He thus established a hierarchy of interpretation, ensuring intellectual freedom while preserving religious unity.

3. Refutation of al-Ghazālī

In Tahāfut al-Tahāfut, Ibn Rushd responds to Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī’s (أبو حامد الغزالي) accusation that philosophers undermine religion.
He argued that philosophy, when rightly practiced, strengthens rather than weakens faith.

He accused al-Ghazālī of misrepresenting Aristotle and stated:

“Whoever believes that demonstration leads to something contrary to revelation has misunderstood both reason and religion.”

This work restored the legitimacy of rational thought in the Muslim West and influenced centuries of later theology.

4. Impact on Islamic and Western Thought

In the Islamic world, his influence endured in Mālikī and Ashʿarī circles, especially in the Maghrib.
In Europe, Latin translations of his works (by Michael Scot and others) made “Averroes” a cornerstone of scholastic philosophy.
Thinkers like Thomas Aquinas, Albertus Magnus, and Dante engaged with his commentaries.
His principle “Double truth does not exist” (لا تعارض بين الحكمة والشريعة) became foundational to the harmony of faith and reason in both civilizations.

Philosophy and Jurisprudence Combined

Even in law, Ibn Rushd applied his philosophical method.
In Bidāyat al-Mujtahid, he compares legal opinions by uncovering the rational causes (ʿilal – علل) behind juristic disagreement.
He distinguished between ʿibādāt (عبادات – devotional acts), which must follow revelation strictly, and muʿāmalāt (معاملات – social transactions), where reason and maslaḥah (public welfare – مصلحة) may guide rulings.

Thus, his fiqh mirrored his philosophy — disciplined, reasoned, and rooted in revelation.

Death and Legacy

Ibn Rushd died in Marrakesh – مراكش in 595 AH / 1198 CE, after a brief exile.
His body was later transported to Córdoba — symbolically uniting the two great capitals of Andalusian intellect.
At his funeral, a poet reportedly recited:

“Between East and West his coffin was borne,
and with him went the reason of the age.”

His influence transcended civilizations — shaping Islamic law, medieval scholasticism, and even the Renaissance.
Muslims revered him as Imām al-ʿAql wa al-Sharʿ – إمام العقل والشرع (the Imam of Reason and Law).

Legacy

Field	Contribution
Islamic Law (Fiqh)	Authored Bidāyat al-Mujtahid, among the most analytical works of Mālikī jurisprudence.
Philosophy	Reconciled Aristotelian rationalism with Qurʾānic revelation.
Theology (Kalām)	Redefined harmony between ʿaql and naql.
Science & Medicine	Kulliyyāt fī al-Ṭibb became a standard reference across Europe.
Cross-Civilizational Thought	His Latin works inspired Christian scholastics and paved the way for rational theology in the West.

“We study creation not to rival God, but to know His wisdom in the order He made.” — Ibn Rushd

References

Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Ibn Rushd al-Ḥafīd.”
Maribel Fierro, Ibn Rushd: His Life and Works (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 22–25.
al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, Tartīb al-Madārik, vol. 4 (Rabat: Wizārat al-Awqāf, 1983), 332.
al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, vol. 21 (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risālah, 1986), 310–312.
Ibn Rushd, Bidāyat al-Mujtahid wa Nihāyat al-Muqtaṣid, ed. ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Muʿawwaḍ (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1995).
Ibn Rushd, Faṣl al-Maqāl, ed. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Badawī (Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif, 1959).
Charles Butterworth, Averroes’ Three Short Commentaries on Aristotle’s Topics, Rhetoric, and Poetics (Albany: SUNY Press, 1977).