Islamic Philosophy
Islamic philosophy (ÇáÝáÓÝÉ ÇáÅÓáÇãíÉ) is a part of the Islamic studies, and is a longstanding attempt to create harmony between faith, reason or philosophy, and the religious teachings of Islam. A Muslim engaged in this field is called a Muslim philosopher.
Definition
The attempt to fuse religion and philosophy is difficult because there are no clear preconditions. On the other hand, classical religious believers have a set of religious principles that they hold to be fact. Indeed, due to these divergent goals and views, some hold[citation needed] that one cannot simultaneously be a philosopher and a true adherent of Islam, which is believed to be a revealed religion by its adherents. In this view, all attempts at synthesis ultimately fail.
However, others believe that a synthesis between Islam and philosophy is possible. One way to find a synthesis is to use philosophical arguments to prove that one's preset religious principles are true. This is a common technique found in the writings of many religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but this is not generally accepted as true philosophy by philosophers. Another way to find a synthesis is to abstain from holding as true any religious principles of one's faith at all, unless one independently comes to those conclusions from a philosophical analysis. However, this is not generally accepted as being faithful to one's religion by adherents of that religion. A third, rarer and more difficult path is to apply analytical philosophy to one's own religion. In this case a religious person would also be a philosopher, by asking questions such as:
What is the nature of God? How do we know that God exists?
What is the nature of revelation? How do we know ...