I just want to illustrate what I was talking about. When I say these people were Aristotle superfans trying to mix Islam with Aristotle, I am not making this up:
"1. Interpretation of Islamic teachings so as to be in harmony with Aristotelian philosophy
Perhaps looking at the brief biography of Ibn Rushd referred to above will be sufficient to highlight this inclination in the thought of Ibn Rushd. He was infatuated with the thought of Aristotle to the extent that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said of him: He is one of the most adherent of people to the views of Aristotle. End quote from Bayaan Talbees al-Jahamiyyah (1/120). Ibn Rushd tried hard to explain Aristotelian thought and present it to the people in a new Arabic style. Whilst doing that, when he saw a contradiction between Aristotelian thought and the fundamentals of Islam, he would try to find a far-fetched interpretation that could lead to undermining and destroying Islam. It was as if Aristotelian philosophy was the counterpart of the teachings of Islam which came from the Lord of the Worlds and are embodied in the texts of the Qurâan and Sunnah. It was on this basis that he wrote his famous book Fasl al-Maqaal fi Taqreer ma bayna ash-Shareeâah waâl-Hikmah min al-Ittisaal (The Decisive Treatise, Determining the Nature of the Connection between Religion and Philosophy). "
Do you really want Islam to be interpreted on the basis of Aristotle?
I don't always agree with islamqa btw but they are telling the truth. if you think I'm lying and they're lying- read the book he wrote in response to Incoherence of the Philosophers by Al-Ghazali, TahÄfut al-TahÄfut. I've read both- the one from Al-Ghazali and the one from Ibn Rushd. The one from Ibn Rushd- well I tried to read it. It was terrible. I'm not lying- have you ever seen a "Muslim feminist" type who really follows Islam and doesn't put feminist ideology above Islam at times? Ibn Rushd would do the same kind of thing but with Aristotle. If you read his book I mentioned, you'll see. The book is full of that.
the fatwa also makes another really good point:
"he is celebrated by many of those who are part of the liberal secular trends today, to the point that they think of the philosopher Ibn Rushd as a pioneer of enlightenment, even though they know that much of the knowledge in his books is regarded as extinct and wrong by modern standards of knowledge. But their aim is to glorify all liberal thoughts and ideas"
This doesn't just apply to Ibn Rushd. You have a bunch of liberal types who push this "closing of the Muslim mind" thesis.
it goes like this "Al-Ghazali when he refuted the philosophers in Incoherence of the Philosophers- little did he know he was leading to the downfall of Muslim civilization! you see, by rejecting this wonderful Western philosophy stuff, he made Muslims dumbed down and unintellectual (because blending Islam with Aristotle is "intellectualism")." and so all the scholars who refuted the "Muslim philosophers" were supposedly barbarians. and so supposedly what Muslims need to do is- what? become open to Western philosophy- which is the basis of liberalism, feminism, etc. It's a liberal propaganda narrative aimed at making Muslims westernized. if you read Closing of the Muslim Mind, they are pushing that narrative to try to make Muslims accept liberalism and democracy. you follow their narrative, you open the door to liberalism, secularism, democracy, feminism, etc. go back and study the debate between Al-Ghazali and Ibn Rushd if you don't believe me. read what they said in those books. Ibn Rushd and those people were trying to mix Islam with Greek philosophy. this idea of elevating "Reason" and philosophy above revelation- this was the basis of the "Enlightenment" movement that secularized the West. they are trying to import the same thing into the Muslim world.
there's a book by Ayaan Hirsi Ali titled "Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now".
this is part of the agenda of the "reformation" that Ayaan Hirsi Ali is referring to. it isn't just her. a lot of Western elites/intellectuals have made reference to this idea that Islam needs a "reformation". they want to secularize Muslims and make Muslims water down their religion like what happened with Westerners. this is about Westernizing Muslims. it's the same agenda.
I forget who it was- I think it was Ibn Sina- one of these "Muslim philosophers" people actually claimed that philosophers are above prophets. the Muslim scholars were absolutely right to refute these people.
