التقليد والحيل في الفلسفة الإسلامية أسبابهما وانعكاساتهما على الفكر الإسلامي الحديث

This paper examines the phenomena of Imitation and Deception in Islamic philosophy, past and present. The issue of imitation in Islamic philosophy has been discussed by many Muslim scholars and Orientalists. They can be divided into three groups. The first group consists mostly of western orientalists. These believe that Muslim Philosophy is nothing more than ancient Greek philosophy translated into the Arabic Language. For this group, either Muslim philosophers were not able to produce genuine philosophy or their thoughts can be traced to Islamic theological doctrines. The second group believes that Muslim philosophers has made significant contributions to human thought by adapting ancient Greek philosophy and forming their own philosophical doctrines, such as the contributions of al-Kindi, Ibn Sina, al-Farabi, Ibn Rushd and many others. The third group argues that the so-called Muslim philosophers do not represent real Islamic Philosophy. For this group, Islamic philosophy is more appropriately represented by the schools of Islamic Theology, especially the theology of Ashariat, Maturidiat and Mu’tazilat. This paper compares the position of the three groups of scholars. In addition, it discusses the concept of imitation or “taqlid,” and its implication for modern Islamic thought in general and for Islamic philosophy in particular. The paper extends the discussion of concept of imitation to the phenomenon of deception in Islamic philosophy. On this point, the position of Asha’riat scholars such as al-Ghazali, Dr. Sulayman Dunia, Dr. Ali Sami al-Nashar from the traditional Islamic philosophy, together with a consideration of Ibn Rushd’s doctrine, are considered in detail. This paper rejects the claim of Asha’riat scholars that Muslim Philosophers in general, and Ibn Rushd in particular, used deception to mislead Muslims. The paper also present historical, comparative and analytical arguments to provide evidence that the phenomena of imitation in Islamic philosophy was not an objective in itself but rather a method of teaching develop by fuqahaa.