JOSEPH ELLUL OP, Engaging with Islamic Thought. The Paradigm of Thomas Aquinas

SUMMARY

Despite Mediaeval Christendom’s hostility toward Islam as a religion, Islamic culture as communicated through the sciences and philosophy was an essential element, perhaps even a fundamental one, underlying the development of the Scholastic movement throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The origins of this engagement with Islamic thought in Mediaeval Christendom began with the translation of the major works of Islamic thinkers from Arabic into Latin. It was through this process that the works of Ibn Sīnā and Ibn Rušd found their way into the principal universities of Europe. Thomas Aquinas’s contribution to the study, understanding, and dialogue with these two philosophers across the geographical and temporal divides is one of the greatest feats of the Scholastic period.