Some voices have called for the introduction of philosophy in our universities. The subject would be taught beside other sciences. The people advocating the idea should first understand the nature of philosophy and what it really is.
As a branch of science, philosophy advocates the kind of freedom of thought that is not bound by any restrictions, including religious ones. People are free to expound and disseminate views and opinions regardless of whether these contradict or negate religious beliefs, social customs and traditions. No authority is allowed to interfere, resist or suppress such thought.
A so-called science of this type represents the most dangerous weapon ever used to fight religion. The methods used in arguing and convincing in the guise of understanding, interpretation, explanation and the use of figurative expressions, will only lead to further confusion. The ultimate result is the distortion of the text, making it difficult to arrive at a clear definition of the author’s original words.
Philosophy is built on principles that clearly contradict Islamic teachings, especially regarding the existence of God, the revelation of divine messages to prophets, the existence of angels, the hereafter, paradise and hell. It is the kind of science that grants philosophers a status higher than prophets and gives preference to human words over the unimpeachable divine text.
It is because of philosophy that differences and clashes continue to mar Muslim life. This has been the case ever since the translation of Greek books into Arabic during the time of the Abbasid caliphs. This led to many Muslim scholars opposing philosophy as they saw in it real causes of division and conflict.
Early Muslim scholars opposed philosophy and adopted a hostile attitude toward it, not because they were unaware of its essence or ignorant of its true nature or because they saw in it an alien terminology they were unfamiliar with. Those scholars understood philosophy thoroughly and discovered how dangerous were the false ideas and convictions it contained; all of those were in stark contrast to the teachings of the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah.
It was obvious to those scholars that the damages that might result from philosophy far outweighed its benefits and that Muslims had no need of this kind of science because they have all they need in the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah.
It is thus not surprising to find that many early Muslim scholars who at one stage developed a love for philosophy and became obsessed with what it represents later renounced philosophical beliefs. They were aware of the harm that philosophy could bring to people’s spiritual and temporal affairs.
