Book Review: The Flying Man: Aristotle and the Philosophers of the Golden Age of Islam: Their Relevance Today
By C. Naseer Ahmad
Washington, DC
Through his illuminating series of books, Professor Akbar Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies American University, has been taking his students on many intellectual journeys.
“Journey Into America” educates about Islam in America and the challenges faced both by its adherents and the society at large. “Journey Into Europe” provides a historical perspective about Islam in the continent in the context of recent immigrants, their lives and the challenges they face as well as the progress they have made. Each book written by this soft spoken friendly author also conveys his strength as an anthropologist.
In the age of invectives, demonization and division, Professor Akbar Ahmed emphasizes the commonality among faiths and honors eminent scholars from different faiths who appreciate the contributions of the other. Some of these scholars were contemporaries while others lived only decades apart. No one can doubt that these scholars left their marks in history through their laudable work, their contributions to science or their philosophic pursuits.
Unlike Professor Akbar Ahmed’s other books, “The Flying Man” is a short book, a little over 100 pages. You can consider it a well thought out essay. The book title is inspired by “Avicenna, the Persian philosopher who lived in the tenth and eleventh centuries, in his ‘thought-experiment’ which has come to be known as the Flying Man or Floating Man.” This inspiration leads the reader onto an intellectual journey through the period known as the “Golden Age of Islam.”
Readers will appreciate Professor Akbar Ahmed’s fair and balanced writing when they come upon the text: “The Golden Age is also the time when some outstanding kings ruled Muslim and non-Muslim lands. If there was a Harun-al-Rashid, the Abbasid Caliph, Abdur Rahman of Andalusia, and Sultan Salahuddin of Egypt, among Muslims, there were also Christian rulers like Alfonso X of Spain, Roger II of Sicily, and Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor.” For the scholars, whose work he discusses quite eloquently, to succeed someone had to create a hospitable environment. So naming outstanding rulers is justified in this context.
Each chapter of the book will enrich the understanding of the readers about the “Golden Age of Islam.” The contributions of Ibn-Arabi and Al-Farabi are nicely put – explained in easy to follow language and in the historical context as well. The discussion then introduces the readers to Avicenna, Al-Ghazali. Readers will then read about Averroes – Ibn Rushd, Al-Biruni and other scholars like Maimonides and Saint Thomas Aquinas. The narrative is likely to expand the understanding of the readers, who might be inclined to dig deeper in their quest for knowledge.
Serious students generally have the want: “teach me something that I did not know.” So in this regard, Professor Akbar Ahmed makes a valuable contribution to education when he states that the following verses are said to be those of Avicenna although they are incorrectly attributed to Omar Khayyam (E.G. Browne, Islamic Medicine, 2002, pp. 60-61).
“From the depth of the black earth up to Saturn’s apogee,
All the problems of the universe have been solved by me.
I have escaped from the coils of snares and deceits;
I have unraveled all knots except the knot of Death.”
In the chapter “The Philosophers of the Golden Age,” Professor Akbar Ahmed informs the readers that the “Golden Age of Islam” is assumed to have begun in Baghdad and it also ended in Baghdad when the Mongol hordes pulverized the grandeur of that society. In “The Abrahamic Elements of an Ideal Society,” he explains why the Mongols could easily smash Baghdad. And, he also tells the readers that the Mongols were not invincible because the Mamluks in Egypt beat them in Ain Jalut in 1260. “The Mamluks had won one of the most decisive battles of history,” he adds.
For those who are open to challenges, the chapter “A Thought Experiment of the Abrahamic Faiths” is worth paying attention to. Because Professor Akbar Ahmed lists some statements from scholars from different Abrahamic faiths listed in the book, and asks you to identify them. In a beautiful way then he identifies the scholars himself and enlightens the readers about the common thread among the Abrahamic faiths.
Readers may agree or disagree with Professor Akbar Ahmed’s conclusion and the relevance of the scholars to modern times. But it will be hard to stop thinking about the colossal contributions of these scholars. Take for instance the maps apps on the modern mobile phones, which use some geographic information about the earth. One of the fundamental metrics about the earth is the radius the discovery of which is attributed to Al-Biruni in Nandana Fort, near Pind Dadan Khan, Pakistan.
This book will validate the understanding of those who have read about these scholars elsewhere. It might shine some light for the curious readers who did not know these scholars and their contributions. Of course, the closed minds might not accept any of the information in this interesting book.
There is, however, a tragedy though. The people who could really benefit and be inspired by this work and the scholars cited in this book are the young ones in a country like Pakistan. Unfortunately, it will be beyond their reach for both economic as well as cultural reasons because of the majority of the youth in Pakistan are impoverished, lacking the means for decent education as well as nutrition. Plus, the culture is so corrosive now that if the security structure and the media want to target the author of this book or any other book they can twist a sentence or two and make it into a blasphemy case. Tragically due to this social disease, the scholars of the “Golden Age of Islam” are irrelevant when they should be an inspiration.
