Struggling with the philosopher

Muhammad b. Abd al-Karim al-Shahrastani was one of the most learned and enigmatic scholars of medieval Islam.

In his work, `Kitab al-Musara`a` (`Struggling with the Philosopher`), which is published here in English translation (together with its original Arabic text) for the first time, al-Shahrastani gives a detailed critique of the metaphysics of the great Persian philosopher Avicenna.

The greater part of his `intellectual wrestling match` (`musara`a`) is devoted to refuting Avicenna`s interpretation of the `Necessary Being` which, he argues, compromises the absolute transcendence of God.

For al-Shahrastani, God is beyond human comprehension and above all opposites such as existence and non-existence, unity and multiplicity, good and evil, or truth and falsehood.

This work is a strong indication of the rich diversity and eclecticism that characterised intellectual discourse in medieval Islam. `Struggling with the Philosopher` is an important document of Islamic intellectual history.

As such, it is essential reading and a reference text for students of Islamic studies and scholars interested in the medieval Islamic world.