Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi: A Renowned Muslim Scholar, Polymath, Theologian and Philosopher

 

Ibn Hazm was born in Cordoba in 994 to the Arabized Hispanic Bani Hazm family. His great-grandfather left the farm outside Huelva to join the Umayyad court in Cordoba, at the height of its splendor. Ahmad, Ibn Hazm's father, was a learned man who excelled at managing the political matters of Caliph Hisham II, and he advanced to the position of vizier.

Ibn Hazm was the founder of an institution of interpretation that relied on the outward meaning of scriptural concepts rather than their hidden meaning to interpret religious texts. According to him, reason can be used to interpret the Bible, but it must be done so in the light of revelation and its applicability is severely constrained. His method is predicated on the notion that religious writings' language and context are adequate for their readers to comprehend them, denying the necessity for ideas like analogy.

He is well renowned for his legal writings, as well as for the endearing Tawq al-hamama (The Dove's Neck Ring), a delightful work that explores the idea of love. In it, he analyses the idea and draws a distinction between affection and divine love, placing the latter at the highest level. He views love as the joining of two otherwise incomplete entities, greatly inspired by Plato's Phaedrus and Symposium. Deep love happens when the lover detects something that reveals an idea of his own character underneath the surface of the sight and feels deeply drawn to it. When a conscious experience of affection is confined to the appearance's shape and not anything deeper than that, weaker types of affection are the outcome.

Ibn Hazm was the most renowned devotee of the Zahirite school of thought. This school emphasises on the obvious (zahir) reading of religious scriptures in accordance with grammatical principles, hadith (traditions) of the Prophet, and community consensus (ijma'). The main opponents of this approach are Muslims who argue for esoteric meaning - such as the Isma'ilis - because they believe one must dig beneath the surface of the text to discover what it truly means, and philosophers who seek to impose that reason is a fundamental way to comprehend the meaning of scripture. This argument is about how texts should be interpreted, so it is more than merely a legal issue. Ibn Hazm criticizes the Mu'tazilites for using analogies to interpret a scripture and God's nature. The latter contend that we can comprehend God's sifat, or names or characteristics, through analogy with our own.

Ibn Hazm, on the other hand, believes that God is a unique being whose qualities cannot be defined intellectually and must instead be accepted through faith. God is not required to agree with any objective measure of fairness. The Zahirite uses reason to comprehend the relevant texts and hermeneutical material, then abandons it. Hafiz Ibn Katheer mentions Ibn Hazm in his writings. ‘He used to criticize the scholars a great deal, verbally and in writing, which led to the generation of resentment, in the hearts of his contemporaries.’

Yaqut and Al-Qifti, two of the most important Muslim biographers, estimate that Ibn Hazm produced approximately to 400 works. This amounts to around 80,000 pages in all. Below is a comprehensive list of his existing literature:

1. Al-Akhlâq wa’l-Siyar (Morals and Behaviour)
2. Al-fasl fil al-Milal wal-Nihal (on Sects)
3. Al Kitab al-Muhallā bi'l Athār (The Book Ornamented with traditions), the only book of his Legal rulings existent to date.
4. Ihkam Al Ahkam fi Usul al Ahkam His work on jurisprudential principles or Usul Al Fiqh.
5. Tawq al­-hamamah (The Dove's Necklace) or (Ring of the Dove)
6. Mukhtasar al-Muhalla li Ibn Hazm, an abridgment of Ibn Hazm's fiqh manual

Before his death, Ibn Hazm had established the Zahiri School of interpretation, which adhered to his own method of hermeneutics and was yet firmly rooted in the Asha'rite and Sunni heritage. Al-Ghazali was the most notable adherent of this school of thinking and was undoubtedly greatly inspired by Ibn Hazm.

 

References

Scheindlin, R.P. (1998) ‘Ibn Hazm (384–456/994–1064)’, in Meisami, J.S. and Starkey, P. (Eds.): Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, p.333, Routledge, London.

Pulcini, Theodore, and Gary Laderman. 1998. Exegesis as polemical discourse: Ibn Hazm on Jewish and Christian Scriptures. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press.

Hourani, G. (1985) 'Reason and Revelation in Ibn Hazm's Ethical Thought', in G. Hourani (ed.) Reason and Tradition in Islamic Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 167-89. (Detailed exposition of the philosophical basis of Ibn Hazm's ethics.)