Introduction 1

1 The transmission of ancient philosophy and science 7

2 Early religious and political conflicts 13

3 The dawn of systematic philosophy and free thought in the ninth century 26

4 Neoplatonism and Neopythagoreanism in the tenth and eleventh centuries 47

5 Interactions of philosophy and dogma 78

6 Philosophy and mysticism 91

7 The resurgence of Peripatetic philosophy in al-Andalus 105

8 The progress of anti-rationalism and the onset of decline 125

9 Illuminationism (Ishraq) and the reconciliation of Neoplatonism and Sufism 140

10 Modern and contemporary trends 152

Conclusion 172

Appendix 1 The chief philosophical translations 177

Appendix 2 Leading Mu'tazilite scholars 180

Notes 182

Select bibliography 188

Index 195