The Philosopher Ibn al-Rawandi (298 AH/912 AD)

A Study of his Biography and Scientific Activity

Abstract

 The Abbasid era witnessed the emergence of many philosophers who played a role in intellectual life, including Ibn al-Rawandi, who is considered one of the philosophers whose fame spread during the Abbasid era, especially during the reign of al-Ma'mun. He demonstrated his proficiency in several sciences, such as theology, philosophy, dialectics, grammar, religion, politics, and logic. At first, he was of good character, very shy, and had a beautiful doctrine. However, he angered the Islamic sects at that time, especially the Mu'tazila, for two reasons: the first was his abandonment of the Mu'tazila doctrine after he had embraced it, and the second was his great knowledge and boldness in religious debate.

 In fact, the reviling sects at that time surrounded themselves with immunities against the one who converted from them, including hatred towards him, and harboring a grudge against him, if they did not declare him an infidel or an immoral person. Therefore, the hatred of the apostate from the sect is not determined by the apostate himself, because he is equal to the rebel religiously or sectarianly. What they do in their affairs and all their social relations, which lead to killing and excommunication, as they fought the Mu'tazila, leaving them in particular to try and successfully find another leader, and these apostates did not spare any effort or word except that they said it against the Mu'tazila.

 Ibn al-Rawandi wrote many books, including his book Against the Mu'tazila and their Doctrine, as he demonstrated their inability to investigate his views, or to refute and invalidate his writings, which led to their bias against him, and accusing him of lack of understanding and negligence, despite his great intelligence and vast knowledge.

Ibn al-Rawandi procrastination with the evidence of the opponents of the doctrine does not make him an infidel. The evidence for that is that al-Jahiz used to do that, since he was not accused of infidelity, atheism, or heresy. Then he did not mention his adherence to any of the sects that he mentioned in his writings and discussed their opinions and ideas, but he always mentions certain phrases when discussing beliefs, so he says the materialists said, the confirmers of the Messenger (PBUH) said, or the Brahmins said, and so on. It is likely that his opponents exploited his Persian origin to accuse him of atheism and heresy.