Moving in Mystical Ways: The Dialectic of al-Ghazali and Ibn Rushd in islamic Epistemology

Epistemology, or the study of how knowledge is formed, played a foundational role in early Islamic intellectual life. Medieval Muslim scholars and theologians often took opposing stances in heated debates around epistemic questions concerning the nature of knowledge, rationality, and faith. Some of these scholars were inspired by classical Greek philosophers, while others wished to denounce the actions of all philosophers as unsuitable and impious. By holding contradictory positions, two Muslim scholars – namely al-Ghazālī and Ibn Rushd – established a dialectic structure that can be seen as a productive framework for philosophical advancement in the Islamic world and one which became influential on many philosophers to come.