Survey on some problems of Islamic philosophy

Abstract

The philosophical tradition in Islam starts after the 2nd century H./8th century A.D. This intellectual commitment has it's origin in Koran, Hadith and the post-Prophetical period by being reflected initially in the translation of the works belonging to exact sciences as well as of medicine, astronomical ones. Than, this went on with the translation of philosophical works and a very few ones from literature, history and tradition of Greece, Egypt, Assyria, Persia etc. all of this was followed by the original activities of the Muslim scholars. Among the first renowned Muslim there is El-Kindi. Even though with a decreased intensity, other philosophers continued this activity, up to our days.
During this activity we meet some crucial problems: Which is the result of the philosophical activity of Muslims during the 12 past centuries? Perhaps Muslims just repeated what the former philosophers stated before? Does the role of Muslims in the history of philosophy consist of only a positioning between the classic Greek philosophy and new European one? Has the Islamic philosophy ended with Ibn Sina, El-Gazali, Ibn Rushdi etc, meaning that no one has introduced any original thought after them?
Philosophy, even though according to certain Muslim circles, is considered as a foreign body, in the Islamic history it is presented as an integral part of the Islamic sciences, which started to develop among Muslims, or are acquired by non-Muslims, and have continued to develop and cultivate in an original way. Muslim philosophers are the best example that the Muslim scholars not only have acquired and integrated, but also they have created and produced.
From all the Islamic cultural sciences, philosophy has experienced an unfavorable approach: there have been forged prejudices and flashed a number of untruths against it. But, if we agree that philosophy is a polysemic term and nowadays no educational system can exist without any kind of philosophical lesson, than it is clear that disregard of philosophical; study will have consequences. Also, felsefe is not only an authentic philosophy, but also, it exists in many other Islamic sciences such as tewsir, hadith, kelam, usuli-fikh and tesawufi, and of course, in natural and mathematical sciences, all rooted in Koran, a source of wisdom.
Through this there are not defended the extreme stands that have nothing in common with the Islamic philosophy and Islam itself, but the philosophy as such, because it is not guilty and holds no responsibility for the destructive activity of philosophers, as it is not to be blamed Koran for the abusive stands of philosophers towards it.
It is obvious that the majority of the western philosophy is delineated by disbelief, but its forbiddance will not bring positive affects. For this reason, what is needed is not the forbiddance but a new definition of the western philosophy from the Islamic aspect and its study should be carried out in the context of the integral Islamic intellectual tradition.
Muslims took many philosophical issues from the classic ones, however, from that original form there has remained only the name; the content has deeply changed.
It is a general opinion that the questions of the mutual influence between the antic Greek philosophy and the Islamic one, borrowing, originality, are not duly clarified, investigations keep being carried out either by individuals or in a unsystematic way, they are still charged by the past, and unfortunately by the "harsh" actuality in the beginning of the third millennium. However, there is room for hope because some individuals and institutions offer time after time impressionable results.