The Validity of Ibn Rušd’s Idea for Contemporary Political Thought: Faith, Rationalism, Ethical Values

Abstract

The question of succession of governmental systems in the Arab-Islamic world was singled out by the Maghrebian scholar Muhammad ‘Ābid al-J ā bir ī as a cardinal one, regarding Ibn Rušd as the very philosopher, whose thought can resolve the problem (with Ibn Haldūn being the second). All other names in Arab-Islamic thought, who devoted their works to royal-sultanate advices had reduced the question of governance in the Arab- Islamic world to the acknowledgement of its the ideal nature at the times of Caliphate and the coup carried out by Mu’awiya – without describing what was the meaning of such a despotism, which covered the entire history of Islam. The paper is an attempt to sum up Ibn Rušd ’s political thought, which is based upon faith, rationalism and human values. It is – in my opinion – an elaborate answer to radical Islamic thought and the so-called fundamentalism. The research is carried out on the basis of sources, and attempts to sum up the attainments of academic works published within the framework of activities of the 800th anniversary, in 1998, of the philosophers death.