Description

The Ikhwan Al- Safa' or Brethren of Purity were a highly secretive group of tenth-century Shi'ite thinkers, their identities remaining unclear even today. Renowned for creating the legendary Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa, an encyclopedia of philosophical sciences, they proposed a coherent intellectual system that sought to reconcile human reasoning with prophetic revelation.

This fascinating survey provides a clear, objective and innovative introduction to the Brethren of Purity and their encyclopedic project, showing its critical place in the history of Arabic science, philosophy and literature.

About the author(s)

Author Godefroid de Callatay is Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Louvain.

Reviews

"Its style is eloquent and lucid, and its arguments are coherent and delicately articulated.The text is informative and its reading enjoyable as well as engaging."

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