Editing Ulama (section)

===Philosophy and ethics===
{{main|Islamic philosophy}}
The [[early Muslim conquests]] brought about [[Arabs|Arab]] Muslim rule over large parts of the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic world]]. During the time of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]], at latest, the scholars of the emerging Islamic society had become familiar with the classical philosophical and scientific traditions of the world they had conquered. The collection of classical works and their translation into the Arabian language<ref name="Sezgin 1970_P3_4">{{cite book| last=Sezgin | first=Fuat | title=Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums Bd. III: Medizin – Pharmazie – Zoologie – Tierheilkunde = History of the Arabic literature Vol. III: Medicine – Pharmacology – Veterinary Medicine| date=1970| publisher=E. J. Brill| location=Leiden| pages=3–4|author-link = Fuat Sezgin}}</ref> initiated a period which is known today as the [[Islamic Golden Age]]. According to Hourani (1991), the works of the classical scholars of antiquity were met with considerable intellectual curiosity by Islamic scholars. Hourani quotes [[al-Kindi]] (c. 801–873 AD), "the father of Islamic philosophy",<ref>{{cite book|last=Abboud|first=Tony|title=Al-Kindi : the father of Arab philosophy|date=2006|publisher=Rosen Pub. Group|isbn=978-1-4042-0511-6}}</ref> as follows:

<blockquote>
We should not be ashamed to acknowledge truth from whatever source it comes to us, even if it is brought to us by former generations and foreign peoples. For him who seeks the truth there is nothing of higher value than truth itself.<ref>{{cite book| last1=Hourani| first1=Albert| title=A history of the Arab peoples| date=2012| publisher=Faber| location=London| isbn=978-0-571-28801-4| page=76| edition=New}}</ref>
</blockquote>

The works of [[Aristotle]], in particular his ''[[Nicomachean Ethics]]'', had a profound influence on the Islamic scholars of the Golden Age like [[Al-Farabi]] (870–950 AD), [[Abu al-Hassan al-Amiri]] (d. 992 AD) and [[Avicenna|Ibn Sina]] (ca. 980–1037 AD). In general, the Islamic philosophers saw no contradiction between philosophy and the religion of Islam. However, according to Hourani, al-Farabi also wrote that philosophy in its pure form was reserved for an intellectual elite, and that ordinary people should rely for guidance on the ''sharia''. The distinction between a scholarly elite and the less educated masses "was to become a commonplace of Islamic thought".<ref name="Hourani_HAP_P78">{{cite book| last1=Hourani| first1=Albert| title=A history of the Arab peoples| date=2012| publisher=Faber| location=London| isbn=978-0-571-28801-4| page=78| edition=New}}</ref> As exemplified by the works of [[Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi|al-Razi]] ({{circa}} 865–925 AD), during later times, philosophy "was carried on as a private activity, largely by medical men, pursued with discretion, and often met with suspicion".<ref name="Hourani_HAP_P78"/>

The founder of Islamic philosophical ethics is [[Miskawayh|Ibn Miskawayh]] (932–1030 AD)<ref name=EI>{{Cite encyclopedia| edition=New| publisher=E.J. Brill| isbn=978-90-04-15610-4| volume=7| pages=143a–144b|editor1=H. A. R. Gibb| last=Arkoun| first=M.| title=Miskawayh| encyclopedia=The Encyclopaedia of Islam| location=Leiden| year=1993}}</ref> He combined Aristotelian and Islamic ethics, explicitly mentioning the Nicomachean Ethics and its interpretation by [[Porphyry of Gaza]] as the foundation of his philosophical thoughts.<ref>Ibn Miskawayh: ''Refinement of Morals and Cleansing of Ethics''. ʿAbdel-ʿAlim Salih (Ed.), Cairo 1326 (1908 AD), p. 10, cited after {{cite book| last1=Elschazlī| first1=Abū-Ḥamid Muḥammad al-Ghazālī. Aus dem Arab. übers., mit einer Einl., mit Anm. und Indices hrsg. von ʻAbd-Elṣamad ʻAbd-Elḥamīd| title=Das Kriterium des Handelns : Criterion of Action| date=2006| publisher=Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft| location=Darmstadt| isbn=978-3-534-19039-3| page=52| language=de}}</ref>

In the 12th century, the early Islamic [[Neoplatonism]] which had developed out of [[Hellenistic philosophy]] was effectively criticised by [[al-Ghazali]],<ref>{{cite book| last=Watt| first=W. Montgomery| title=The Faith and Practice of Al-Ghazali| year=1953| publisher=George Allen and Unwin Ltd| location=London| url=http://www.ghazali.org/works/watt3.htm}}</ref> one of the most influential scholars of Islam.<ref>{{cite book| last1=Janin| first1=Hunt| title=The pursuit of learning in the Islamic world, 610–2003| date=2007| publisher=McFarland| location=Jefferson, NC [etc.]| isbn=978-0-7864-2904-2| page=83| edition=repr.}}</ref> In his works ''[[The Incoherence of the Philosophers|Tahāfut al-Falāsifa]]'' (The Incoherence of the Philosophers), ''Mizan al-'amal'' (Criterion of Action) and ''[[Kimiya-yi sa'ādat]]'' (The Alchemy of Happiness), he refuted the [[Avicennism|Philosophy of Ibn Sīnā]], and demonstrated that the Aristotelian ethics is incompatible with Islamic ethics: The latter is based on the belief in God and in life after death, which together provide the foundation of action in the pursuit of [[Kimiya-yi sa'ādat#Sa'āda|''sa'āda'']] (Happiness).<ref>{{cite book| last1=Elschazlī| first1=Abū-Ḥamid Muḥammad al-Ghazālī. Aus dem Arab. übers., mit einer Einl., mit Anm. und Indices hrsg. von ʻAbd-Elṣamad ʻAbd-Elḥamīd| title=Das Kriterium des Handelns : Criterion of Action| date=2006| publisher=Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft| location=Darmstadt| isbn=978-3-534-19039-3| page=56| language=de}}</ref>