Abd al-Rahmān al-Bistāmī’s Classification of the Sciences
Abstract
Abd al-Rahman al-Bistami (1380-1454) is a scholar who was active in the 15. century Ottoman milieu. His engagement with occult sciences such as the science of letters (ilm al-huruf) provoked discussions among Ottoman scholars and statesmen as well. Confronted with his writings, the Ottoman ulama who were educated and well-versed in classical orthodox sciences such as Kalam and Usul al-Fiqh faced with a new dimension in the structure of Islamic sciences. Although al-Bistami harshly criticized the Hurufi teachings of Fadl Allah al-Astarabadi and his followers, he took to the science of letters seriously. Al-Bistami wrote al-Fawayih al-Miskiyya, an encyclopedia of sciences, and in that book which characterizes the Greco-Arabic literature, he is mainly under the influence of the philosophy of the Brethren of Purity (Ikhwan al-Safa). Not only al-Bistami follows the framework of the Brethren in the classification of sciences, but he maintains their philosophical project so much so that he builds a syncretic system which combines different religious and philosophical tendencies. The “Ikhwanism” of al-Bistami is not restricted to the allusion that comes by the phrase “ikhwan al-safa”, which is repeated many times throughout his work. Al-Bistami’s project is a revision of the syncretic philosophy of the Brethren, with a special touch from the occult science of the letters.
Keywords
References
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Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Religious Studies
Journal Section
Research Article
Authors
Veysel Kaya
This is me
İSTANBUL ÜNİVERSİTESİ, İLAHİYAT FAKÜLTESİ
Türkiye
Publication Date
December 31, 2016
Submission Date
July 26, 2017
Acceptance Date
-
Published in Issue
Year 2016 Number: 35