Introduction

This book is devoted to the study of the “decrees” of al-Ghazali and of Averroës regarding the question which is found at the heart of Islamic existence, which may well be defined as being the “religion of the book” par excellence. In his Decisive Treatise Distinguishing between Islam and the Hypocrites (1045-6), Ghazali explains how, by pretending to know what eludes believers endowed with common sense alone, philosophers do not consider the Qur’an as revealed Word, and by thus failing to engage with its interpreters, by their very existence they threaten to destroy the identity of the Muslim community. In his Book on the Decisive Criterion Whereby One Can Establish the Existing Connection between Revelation and Philosophy (1179-80), which purports to be a response to al-Ghazali, Averroës sets out to show how philosophy alone can fully appreciate revealed truth, so it alone can guide one in interpreting the Qur’an in such a way as to preserve the absolute coherence of the “inimitable book.”