A Guide for a Perplexed Ibn Khaldun’s Approach to Muslim Instruction of Philosophy

• Main Author: Machouche, Salah
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English; English; English; English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: BPL Islamic education; BPL27 Aims and objectives of education. Sustainable education
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/92519/1/92519_A%20Guide%20for%20a%20Perplexed%20Ibn%20Khaldun%E2%80%99s%20Approach.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/92519/2/92519_A%20Guide%20for%20a%20Perplexed%20Ibn%20Khaldun%E2%80%99s%20Approach_invitation%20letter.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/92519/3/92519_A%20Guide%20for%20a%20Perplexed%20Ibn%20Khaldun%E2%80%99s%20Approach_poster.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/92519/4/92519_A%20Guide%20for%20a%20Perplexed%20Ibn%20Khaldun%E2%80%99s%20Approach_brochure.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/92519/
• Institution: Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia

Teaching philosophy continues to represent a hot issue of debate among Muslim scholars. Many leading Muslim scholars have contributed enormously to this debate including al-Ghazali (d. 1111) and Ibn Rushd (d. 1138). Ibn Khaldun, another noteworthy scholar, adopted al-Ghazali’s criticism of the advocates of the transmission of Greek philosophy. Ibn Khaldun did not produce any independent work on philosophy, however, he devoted an entire chapter to its rebuttal “The refutation of Philosophy and the Corruption of its learners (Ibṭal al-Falsafah wa Fasād Muntaḥilīhā). Still, the Muqaddimah provides a rich source for the building of relevant and well-developed instruction of Muslim philosophy. This study seeks to discuss Ibn Khaldun’s broad educational guidelines on teaching philosophy for Muslim students and draw some comparisons with other Muslim scholars. This research showed that Ibn Khaldun’s criticism of philosophy is constructive and yet remains open for discussion. It welcomes reasonable justification for the teaching of philosophy for Muslim students. Ibn Khaldun’s work though indirectly provides instrumental educational guidelines necessary for the filtration of Muslim philosophy from unwanted elements grounded in Greek metaphysics, epistemology, and worldviews.