Scholarship and Learning
Highly Valued in Islamic Culture
Acceptance of the Arabic language
Schools, Collage, and Libraries
How did Muslim philosophers follow the example of Greek scholars?
Among the texts studied were the works of ancient Greek thinkers, such as the philosophers Plato (PLAY–toh) and Aristotle. Following the example of the Greeks, Muslim philosophers used reason and logic to try to prove important truths.
Like thinkers in Europe, thinkers in the Islamic world sometimes wondered how to make reason and logical proof agree with their faith. Al–Kindi, a 9th–century Arab philosopher, tried to resolve this issue. Humans, he said, had two sources of knowledge: reason and revelation by God. People could use reason to better understand the teachings of faith. Some truths, however, could be known only through God’s word. For example, no one could prove that there would be a resurrection, or rising from the dead, on the day of judgment.