Ebook: Ibn Hazm

Ibn Hazm (d. 1064) of Cordova was a humanist par excellence and one
of the intellectual giants in Islam. He was a belleletrist, poet, historian,
theologian, jurist, philosopher and polemecist who is reported to have written
four hundred volumes on various disciplines. As a prolific writer, he
had a great deal to say about the sciences: religious sciences, grammar and
lexicography, poetry, literary criticism, logic, astronomy, astrology,
medicine, alchemy, music and others. He recognized the interdependence of
the sciences and advocated a broad liberal education combining the secular
and the religious disciplines. Besides, he was a critic and an intellectual rebel
who raised his voice on the major issues of his time attacking fearlessly the
laxity and indifference of religious cholars, jurists and rulers. He was rationalist
and devout religious man, who combined a reigorous scientific
method with religious criteria clamoring for change and corrective measures
in the approach to religious matters and insisting on individual inquiry
(ijtihad) instead of the hitherto overreliance on old authorities. This fresh
approach did not endear him to the secular and religious authorities, which
subjected him to ostracism and persecution. In fact, the sale of his books
was forbidden and many of them were committed to the fire. Despite these
heavy restrictions many of his works survived and had a considerable impact
on succeeding generations.