Who would be some of the great phillosophical and theological thinkers in Islam?

Question

In Judaism there are many such as Memmomedes and
In Christianity there are many such as Aquinas, Augustine, CS Lewis, Jonathan Edwards, Calvin
But who would be the great thinkers in philosophy in Islam

Answer 1

I am not a muslim, but I have read great work done by Muslims
Like all major religions, Islam have many prestigious Theologians and Philosophers, with the main issues:
1- Faith and works.
2- Predestination and free will.
3- Revelation and reason.
4- The implications of unity of God, the eternity of the Koran, and weather or not the Koran must be taken literally.
5- Interpretation of the Koran and Hadith

Theologians:

1- The "Kharijites", "seceders", since they withdrew from the party of Ali. They emphasize the importance of works over faith, and the predestination over human responsibility.

2- The "Murji'ites", "postponers" or "those who hope", who emphasize the opposite.

3- The "Hanbalites", traditionalists-literalists, with the literal interpretation of the Koran, and its eternity.

4 - The "Mu'tazilites", "separatists", or rationalists, who give equal weight to revelation and reason; they deny the eternity of the Koran, and its literal interpretation.

5- "Al-Ash'ari", makes a synthesis between the last two, accepted as Sunny orthodoxy

Answer 2

Averroes, Avicenna, al-Ghazali, Ibn-Bajjah etc...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_philosophy

Answer 3

There are several Muslim Sufi mystics..... Kabir.....Jalauddin Rumi.....Omar Khayyam.....Abu Sa'id Al-Kharbaz.....Abd Al-Kader.....Ahmad Lbn Ata' Allah.....Lbn Arabi.....Katib-Ilahi.....Mahmud Shabistari.....Uwais El- Qarni.....
Bayazid Al-Bistami.....Hafiz.....Attar.....Sufyan Ath-Thawri.....Lbn Jalali.....Sa'di.....Hakim Jami.....Mu'In'Ud-Din Christi.....Ziaudin.....Hujwiri.....Rabi' A.....Dhu' L- Nun.....Hamadani.....and Al- Hallaj (who was crucified by Islamic fundamentalists) There you have it.....I am quite sure there is more.....Even though I am not Muslim, I have a great deal of respect for Muslim mystics.

Answer 4

To name a few............

".....two of these philosophers who greatly influenced Europian thought, are known as ' Avicenna and Averrose. Avicenna is a Latin corruption of Arabic 'Ibn Sinna'.This man showed the greatness of his soul when he renounced the honoured post of the 'Vazir'in order to devout his time to philosophy and his name is celebrated in several Turkish tales.He wrote on logic, on psychology, on physics and meta-physics and ethics."--[ The Spirit and Struggle of Islam, by Prof. T.L.Vaswani, Ganesh & co., Madras-1921, ]


" Another muslim philosopher who influenced the thought of middle ages was 'Averroes'- a corruption of Arabic name 'Ibn- Rashid'. He speaks of the 'evolution'of matters in a way which reminds us of the idea developed in Spencers' Synthetic philosophy, he speaks of a soul diffused in the heavens and the earth- an idea which reminds us of what today is called 'pan-psychism', he interprets 'soul' in terms of 'energy', he recognises the unity of philosophy and religion. His commentaries on Aristotle and Plato have been translated into some of the European languages and at one time influenced Christian and Jews thought and some of the non-muslim centres of European culture."--[Ibid]


“Khalif (Caliph) Al-Ma'mun's period of rule (813 - 833 C.E.) may be considered the 'golden age' of science and learning. He had always been devoted to books and to learned pursuits. His brilliant mind was interested in every form of intellectual activity. Not only poetry but also philosophy, theology, astronomy, medicine and law all occupied his time...By Mamun's time medical schools were extremely active in Baghdad. The first free public hospital was opened in Baghdad during the Caliphate of Haroon-ar-Rashid. As the system developed, physicians and surgeons were appointed who gave lectures to medical students and issued diplomas to those who were considered qualified to practice. The first hospital in Egypt was opened in 872 AD and thereafter public hospitals sprang up all over the empire from Spain and the Maghrib to Persia.”--(Sir John Bagot Glubb )


"It will suffice here to evoke a few glorious names without contemporary equivalents in the West: Jabir ibn Haiyan, al-Kindi, al-Khwarizmi, al-Fargani, al-Razi, Thabit ibn Qurra, al-Battani, Hunain ibn Ishaq, al-Farabi, Ibrahim ibn Sinan, al-Masudi, al-Tabari, Abul Wafa, 'Ali ibn Abbas, Abul Qasim, Ibn al-Jazzar, al-Biruni, Ibn Sina, Ibn Yunus, al-Kashi, Ibn al-Haitham, 'Ali Ibn 'Isa al-Ghazali, al-zarqab, Omar Khayyam. A
magnificent array of names which it would not be difficult to extend. If anyone tells you that the Middle Ages were scientifically sterile, just quote these men to him, all of
whom flourished within a short period, 750 to 1100 A.D."--"Introduction to the History of Science," I by George Sarton


The list goes on......


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Answer 5

Mevlana Rumi for one, he was beyond brilliant.
http://www.mevlana.net

Look here for many others:

Muslim Scholars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Muslim_scholars

Answer 6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_philosophy

Answer 7

LOL