God and logic in Islam the caliphate of reason

• Main Author: Walbridge, John (Author)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: New York Cambridge University Press 2011
• Subjects: Reason; Islamic philosophy; Logic; Faith and reason > Islam
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.
• Physical Description: xvi, 211 pages illustrations 24 cm
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-202) and index
• ISBN: 9780521195348; 0521195349

This book investigates the central role of reason in Islamic intellectual life. Despite widespread characterization of Islam as a system of belief based only on revelation, John Walbridge argues that rational methods, not fundamentalism, have characterized Islamic law, philosophy and education since the medieval period. His research demonstrates that this medieval Islamic rational tradition was opposed by both modernists and fundamentalists, resulting in a general collapse of traditional Islamic intellectual life and its replacement by more modern but far shallower forms of thought. However, the resources of this Islamic scholarly tradition remain an integral part of the Islamic intellectual tradition and will prove vital to its revival. The future of Islam, Walbridge argues, will be marked by a return to rationalism