Muslim Neoplatonists: An Introduction to the Thought of the Brethren of Purity (Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ)

Muslim Neoplatonists: An Introduction to the Thought of the Brethren of Purity (Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ)

Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ
Islamic philosophy

The tenth or eleventh century group of the Brethren of Purity (Ikhwan al Safa) are as well known in the Arab world as Darwin, Marx and Freud in the west. Designed as an introduction to their ideas, this book concentrates on the Brethren's writings, analyzing the impact on them of thinkers such as Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle and the Neoplatonists. Ian Netton traces the influences of Judaism and Christianity, and controversially this book argues that the Brethren of Purity did not belong to the Ismaili branch of Islam as is generally believed.

Ian Richard Netton

London ; Boston : G. Allen & Unwin

Cover; Half Title; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Table of Contents; PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; PREFACE TO THIS EDITION; Chapter One The Ikhwān al-Safā' and their Rasā'il; Chapter Two The Legacy of Greece 1; Pythagoras; Plato; Aristotle; Chapter Three The Legacy of Greece 2 Neoplatonism; Chapter Four The Christian and Judaic Substrate; Christianity and the Rasā'il; Judaism and the Rasā'il; Chapter Five Uses of Literature; The Cloak of the Qur'ān; Indian Literature; Chapter Six The Ikhwān al-Safā' and the Ismā'īlīs; Conclusion The Ship of Salvation; ABBREVIATIONS; NOTES

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