The Urgency of Being a Progressive Muslim : Averroes In Memoriam

The Urgency of Being a Progressive Muslim

Averroes In Memoriam

Published:

5/1/2004

By: Zuhairi Misrawi

Last December several cultural and philosophical institutions commemorated the death of an imminent Muslim philosopher, Averroes (Ibnu Rushd). The Goethe institute headquarter in Berlin-Germany also granted the Averroes award to Muhammad Arkoun who was observed to carry on Averroes’ thought in enlightening the Muslim world mainly through the historical reconstruction of religions (Alhayat, 11/12).

At the end of 1999, the Institute of Egyptian Philosophy led by Hassan Hanafi held a philosophical symposium titled, “Nine centuries commemorating Ibnu Rushd (Averroes); the pioneer of Arabic rationalism.” This symposium was visited by several thinkers from across the Arab world - Tunisia, Syria, Lebanon and Morocco. The writer who coincidentally became an active participant in that symposium caught the message that Averroes had come up from his grave!