MUSCAT -- As part of the programme of his current visit to the Sultanate, Prof Urlich Rudolph, Director of Oriental Department, Zurich University, gave a lecture at the Institute of Sharia Sciences here yesterday. Prof Urlich said that his lecture, entitled "Features of the History of Philosophy in the Islamic World" was at the core of a project he is undertaking at Zurich. The project also explores ancient Greek philosophy.
The three-volume encyclopedia will cover the history of Islamic philosophy from the first Hijra century till today and it will study the works of Muslim, Greek and Jewish philosophers, said Prof Urlich. About Muslim philosophers, the project will look into the works of Al Kindi and Al Farabi in the east of the Arab world and writings of Maghreb philosophers such as Ibn Bahja and Ibn Rushd. The first volume, covering the 2, 3rd and 4th Hijri centuries, will study the impact of Greek, Indian and Iranian philosophies on the Islamic philosophy. The study will also cover Christian philosophy in Syria and Egypt.
The second volume, a 600-page book, will elaborate on the philosophy of Ibn Sina (Avicenne) and his students, as well as Al Imam al Ghazali. In the east of the Arab world, the study will cover philosophers such as Ibn Baja, Ibn Tufail and Ibn Rushd. The third volume, a 100-page book, will give a full account of Islamic logic and the views of Islamic scholars since the third century AH. Reference will also be made to the relationship between Philosophy and Sophism.
By Saif al Kharoosi
Oman Daily Observer 2008
