Keywords
gospel scholarship, Abū al-Walīd, Abū Ḥāmid
Abstract
The theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Ghazālī (d. AD 1111 in his Persian hometown of Tūs, after spending much of his career in Baghdad) has sometimes been characterized as the single most influential Muslim besides the Prophet Muḥammad himself. The Andalusian philosopher and jurist Abū al-Walīd Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Rushd (d. AD 1198 in Marrakesh, modern-day Morocco, but ultimately buried in his family tomb in Córdoba, Spain) is generally considered to be the greatest medieval commentator—whether Jewish, Christian, or Muslim—on the works of Aristotle. Often known as Averroës, a corruption of his Arabic name, Ibn Rushd was respected even by medieval Christians. For example, Dante Alighieri, in his immortal Inferno, placed him only on the rim of Hell—in the relatively benign Limbo of unbaptized infants—and not among the torturous punishments of Hell’s lower levels.1
Recommended Citation
Peterson, Daniel C.
(2013)
"Reflecting on Gospel Scholarship with Abū al-Walīd and Abū Ḥāmid,"
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: Vol. 3, Article 3.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/interpreter/vol3/iss1/3
