On modernistic reception of Falsafa’s interpretation of creation

Abstract

This publication is a part of a cycle dedicated to revealing the reform potential of Falsafa, the hellenizing school of Philosophical Theology in classical Islam, the greatest representatives of which were al-Farabi (d. 950), Ibn Sina (Avicenna; d. 1037) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes; d. 1198). A notable number of concepts characteristic of this school (including those traditionally qualified as heterodox) turned out to be in demand by modernists of the 19th–20th centuries, who advocated an inclusive-intellectualist reconstruction of theological discourse.The article highlights the reformist appeal to the Falsafa’s thesis about the eternity of creation, as well as relevant issues related to the demonstration of the existence of God as an Necessary Being and the interpretation of His fundamental attributes (knowledge, power and will). Mostly this intention is analyzed the theological legacy of two main founders of Islamic modernism – J. al-Afghani (1838/1839–1897) and his disciple and closest associate M. Abduh (1849–1905; Egypt). The wide scope of this intention is illustrated by the works of their prominent contemporaries, such as Sh. al-Numani (India) and Sh. al-Marjani (Russia).