Editing Islamic philosophy (section)

== Introduction ==
Islamic philosophy refers to philosophy produced in an Islamic society. As it is not necessarily concerned with religious issues, nor exclusively produced by [[Muslim]]s,<ref>Oliver Leaman, Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy.</ref> many scholars prefer the term "Arabic philosophy."<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/826146|jstor = 826146|title = The Study of Arabic Philosophy in the Twentieth Century: An Essay on the Historiography of Arabic Philosophy|last1 = Gutas|first1 = Dimitri|journal = British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies|year = 2002|volume = 29|issue = 1|pages = 5–25|doi = 10.1080/13530190220124043|s2cid = 143301609}}</ref>

Islamic philosophy is a generic term that can be defined and used in different ways. In its broadest sense it means the world view of Islam, as derived from the Islamic texts concerning the creation of the universe and the will of the Creator. In another sense it refers to any of the schools of thought that flourished under the Islamic empire or in the shadow of the Arab-Islamic culture and Islamic civilization. In its narrowest sense it is a translation of ''Falsafa'', meaning those particular schools of thought that most reflect the influence of Greek systems of philosophy such as [[Neoplatonism]] and [[Aristotelianism]].

Some schools of thought within Islam deny the usefulness or legitimacy of philosophical inquiry. Some argue that there is no indication that the limited knowledge and experience of humans can lead to truth. It is also important to observe that, while "reason" (''[['aql]]'') is sometimes recognised as a source of Islamic law, it has been claimed that this has a totally different meaning from "reason" in [[philosophy]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}
 
The historiography of Islamic philosophy is marked by disputes as to how the subject should be properly interpreted. Some of the key issues involve the comparative importance of eastern intellectuals such as Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and of western thinkers such as Ibn Rushd,<ref>See [[Henry Corbin]], ''History of Islamic Philosophy''</ref> and also whether Islamic philosophy can be read at face value or should be interpreted in an [[Western esotericism|esoteric]] fashion. Supporters of the latter thesis, like [[Leo Strauss]], maintain that Islamic philosophers wrote so as to conceal their true meaning in order to avoid [[religious persecution]], but scholars such as [[Oliver Leaman]] disagree.<ref>{{cite book|title=An Introduction to Classical Islamic Philosophy|pages=211–12|author=Oliver Leaman|edition=2|year=2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521793432|author-link=Oliver Leaman}}</ref>