''Fasl al-Maqal fi ma bayn al-Hikma wa al-Shariah min Ittisal'' (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: ''فصل المقال في ما بين الحكمة و الشريعة من إتصال'' often translated as ''On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy'' or ''The Decisive Treatise, Determining the Nature of the Connection between Religion and Philosophy'', with the latter often shortened to ''The Decisive Treatise'') is an Islamic philosophical treatise written by Andalusian

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

and philosopher

Ibn Rushd Ibn Rushd ( ar, ; full name in ; 14 April 112611 December 1198), often Latinized as Averroes ( ), was an Andalusian polymath and jurist who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, medicine, astronomy, physics, psychology, ...

(Averroes) (1126–1198), in which the author "critically examine the alleged tension between philosophy and religion" and concludes that philosophy (in particular,

Aristotelian philosophy Aristotelianism ( ) is a philosophical tradition inspired by the work of Aristotle, usually characterized by deductive logic and an analytic inductive method in the study of natural philosophy and metaphysics. It covers the treatment of the soci ...

) is not in opposition toand in fact, works in tandem with

Islamic thought Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—falsafa (literally: "philosophy"), which refers to philosophy as well as log ...

. In the work, Averroes argues that some Muslims have an obligation to study philosophy, and that the subject should be considered an Islamic science. The work also contains several other unique ideas, including Averroes' assertion that the

Qur’an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sin ...

should sometimes be read in a non-literal way. According to William Theodore De Bary and Ainslie Embree, ''On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy'' represents a "classic attempt to reconcile religion and philosophy."

References

External links

Full text available
— muslimphilosophy.com {{Islamic philosophy Islamic philosophical texts Works by Averroes Philosophy of religion literature Treatises