Medieval Muslim Philosophers and Intercultural Communication by Wisam Kh. Abdul-Jabbar;

Author:Wisam Kh. Abdul-Jabbar;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Unlimited)
Published: 2023-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

Farabism: A Tripartite Model of the Dialogical Curriculum

Muslim scholars have historically been caught in a crisis of scholarship between ijtihad, a process of reasoning, and taqlid, or imitation. Many Medieval Islamic schools of thought, such as the Muʿtazilites, have championed logic3 as the intellectual path toward hikmah, or wisdom, popularizing logic and reason as fundamental sources for resolving theological debates and acquiring knowledge. Al-Fārābī subscribes to this school of thought to oppose the uncritical acceptance of authoritative sources. He believed that claims to knowledge are not the exclusive domain of traditional interpretations of scripture. And yet, his understanding of knowledge was not a departure from tradition so much as a pursuit of synergy that is dialogical in nature. For example, he saw the lawgiver as a metaphysician, the prophet as a philosopher-king, theology as dialectical, jurisprudence as political science, God as an Aristotelian manifestation of the transcendental divine mind, and revelation as the perfect manifestation of ittisal between the human mind and the Active Intellect. Such Farabian reconciliatory correlations are crucial today, given contemporary dogmatic views and extreme acts of violence, representing encroachments upon the Islamic tradition. Such isolated actions, marked by a break in ittisal, have tarnished the image of Islam and have made it easy for its detractors to dismiss its intellectual and philosophical contributions. Therefore, the desire for communal skills nourishes education in the Islamic world and saves it from such dogmatically motivated impoverishment. In pursuit of theorizing a relevant curriculum today, Farabism advocates for a tripartite model informed by dialogical skills and intercultural communication ethics: Ittisal, Fadhl, and Musammaha. Such approaches speak to a humanities curriculum4 that helps learners appreciate cultural contexts, exposes them to different frames of reference, and provides ethical guidance on what constitutes a dialogical education.

It is important to note here that Farabism subscribes to the humanities tradition, which provides a theoretical and curricular basis that is grounded first in a biographical heritage and second in the liberal arts tradition. The biographical aspect of al-Fārābī’s intellectual output is pivotal to a better understanding of its dialogical dimension: “Al-Fārābī’s life represented a striving for order against a background of instability and change. It was the product of a highly eclectic milieu” (Netton, 1992, p. 7) that was self-conscious and inclusive. Al-Fārābī sought to demonstrate what Averroes later perfected: how Aristotelian teachings and logical reasoning can be adapted to answer contemporary questions in an Islamic society in which dissidence loomed large and favorable and dynamic dialogue seemed on the decline. He saw in this encroaching chaos an opportunity for philosophy to reinvigorate itself within the Islamic intellectual heritage and offer a way to dispel unresolved issues. As a result, he was one of the prominent mapmakers for the integration of the humanities into an Islamic educational system, and with it the rise of an innovative biography of an ummah (nation). In his biographical narration of his intellectual and philosophical heritage, he acknowledges his teachers, recounting his experiences as the first Muslim to read Aristotle’s Posterior

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