Mohammed Abed Al-Jabri
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mohammed Abed Al-Jabri (b. Figuig, Oujda, Morocco / December 27, 1936 - present), is a contemporary Moroccan critic and professor of philosophy and Islamic thought in Mohammed V University in Rabat. He is also an expert in Arabic and Arabic literature. He is considered one of the major intellectual figures in the contemporary Arab world.[1] He is also known for his academic project "The critique of the Arab Mind". He has published several influential books on the Arab philosophical tradition.
Contents |
[edit] Thoughts
Al-Jabri approach consists of the exploration of the conflict between modernity and tradition in the Muslim and Arab world. In his writtings, Al-Jabri focuses on the rationalism of the medieval Muslim philosophers such as Avicenna (980-1037), Averroes (1126-1198) and Ibn Khaldoun (1332-1406). He rejects what he calls the current polarization of Arab thought between an imported modernism that disregards Arab tradition and a fundamentalism that would reconstruct the present in the image of an idealized past.
According to al-Jabri, the Maghreb (the western Arab world) has an rationalist intellectual tradition based on the Greek philosophy. An example was the case of Averroes in the Zaherite school of thought. This is put in contrast with Mashreq (the western Arab world) where Muslim philosophers wrote works on Gnosticism, hermetism and sufism which Al-Jabri consider it irrationalist and aestheticist. Now, affirming that the modern Arab world needs an empowerment of its reason to survive in the contemporary world. Al-Jabri calls then for a "new averroism".
[edit] Modern Averroism
Al-Jabri considers Averroism to be the way for the survival of the Arabo-Islamic tradition. Initially Averroism had broken with the thoughts of Avicenna and Sunni-sufi Eastern Arab philosophy. Later, Averroes also broke the way between the theoretical thought and philosophical one. Before, science and the philosophy existed to explain conception of religion. Averroes finishes with separating religion from science and philosophy. Averroes thought that the understanding of the philosophy must have exclusively the same principles of philosophy as bases, and it should not be based on others fields like religion.
[edit] Career
Al-Jabri started his academic career in 1958 at Damascus University in Syria. He obtained a postgraduate degree in philosophy in 1967 obtained a doctorate in the same field from Mohammed V University in 1970. He currently occupies the position of professor of philosophy and Islamic thought in the same university.
In July 1963, Al-Jabri was jailed along with other militants of UNFP. He authored more than 30 books and multiple essays and papers on contemporary Arabo-Islamic thought. His works have been translated into several languages.
In 1988 Al-Jabri was awarded the "Baghdad prize for Arab culture" from UNESCO and the "prize for the Moroccan culture" in Tunisia in 1999. Jaber of the most important Moroccan intellectuals who Turco clear imprint in contemporary Arabic literature.
[edit] Criticism
The American-Palestinian philosopher Ibrahim Abu-Rabbi criticizes the approach and thought of Al-Jabri connecting the Arab rationalism with the possibility of a scientific revolution in the Arab world. According to Abu-Rabbi, the thought of Al-Jabri that embraces the theoretical position of modernity, could create a controvery in the Arab and Islamic world against modern imperialism.
[edit] 2006 controversy
[edit] Projects
- An Islamic rational way of life - Netherlands School for Advanced Studies in Theology and Religion
[edit] Books
- (January 1999) Arab-Islamic Philosophy: A Contemporary Critique. Center for Middle Eastern Studies, 152 pages. ISBN 0-2927-0480-1.
- Critique de la Raison Arabe - 3 volumes, Beyrouth, 1982.
- Nous et Notre Passé (Al-Marqaz al-taqafi al-arabi). Lecture contemporaine de notre patrimoine philosophique, 1980.
- La Pensée de Ibn Khaldoun: la Assabiya et l'État. Grandes lignes d'une théorie Khaldounienne de l'histoire musulmane. Paris: Édima, 1971.
- Pour une Vision Progressiste de nos Difficultés Intellectuelles et Éducatives. Paris: Édima, 1977.
[edit] Bibliography
- Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi: Towards a Critical Arab Reason - the Contributions of Mohammed Abed al-Jabri
- Contemporary Arab Thought: Studies in Post-1967 Arab Intellectual History. London, Sterling, Virginia: Pluto Press, 2004. {ISBN 0-7453-2169-0} {ISBN 0-7453-2170-4} PP. 256-278.
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes and references
 |
This Moroccan biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
