PLACE in Islamic culture, and received the attention of a good number of writers over the centuries.2 However, no sooner had logic developed fully than it became the object of heated controversy within the general context of the sciences. As a result, it had both ardent supporters and uncompromising opponents. To its advocates, logic is a noble science and an indispensable tool (Jlah) for all the sciences. To its opponents, it is not only useless, but detrimental to religious belief in that it leads to doubt and diminution of faith.3 This dichotomy of views which had its locus in eastern Islam reached al-Andalus with all the attending consequences. Due to the ultra conservative posture of Andalusians toward issues affecting religious belief and practice, logic appears to have been condemned at the outset by pietists, who were for a long time the guardians of an unadulterated orthodoxy. This notwithstanding, the free circulation of books from the East and the frequent travel of scholars from al-Andalus to the East and vice-versa were important factors in making logic and other unpopular disciplines known to the curious student. Under the circumstances, logic was pursued in a clandestine manner in al-Andalus, and had its early supporters prior to the time of Ibn Hazm in the eleventh century. Ibn Hazm received a broad education in both the religious and secular sciences, and may be considered one of the most erudite scholars of al-Andalus. He was an enthusiastic defender of the sciences of the Ancients ('ulum al-awd'il), which comprised logic, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and other sciences. He considered these not only noble and useful, but attempted to reconcile them within the framework of the religious sciences.4 He also emphasized the value of logic within the context of both the religious and secular sciences, and was its staunch defender throughout his career, even when he became devoted almost wholly to the study of the religious disciplines. His work on logic, Facilitating the Understanding of the Rules of Logic and Introduction Thereto (al-TaqrTb li-hudid al-mantiq wa-madkhaluh), was written early in his career, between 1025 and 1029.5 The work is not only an apologia for logic, but a lucid treatment of the subject with the declared intention of simplifying it by using a new vocabulary and examples derived from the religious law and every day experience. He hoped, thereby, to make the discipline readily comprehensible to a large audience.6 It was this new approach, perhaps, that led some of his Andalusian contemporaries to criticize Ibn Hazm and accuse him of deviating from Aristotelian logic and of dabbling in things beyond his capability.7 This assessment was followed uncritically by Eastern biographers,8 who appear to have failed to consult Ibn Hazm's TaqrTb in order to