Editing Jewish philosophy (section)

== Jewish philosophy before Maimonides ==

=== "Hiwi the Heretic" ===
According to Sa'adya Gaon, the Jewish community of [[Balkh]] (Afghanistan) was divided into two groups: "Jews" and "people that are called Jews"; [[Hiwi al-Balkhi]] was a member of the latter.  Hiwi is generally considered to be the very first "Jewish" philosopher to subject the Pentateuch to critical analysis.<ref>Fleischer, Ezra. "A Fragment from Hivi Al-Balkhi's Criticism of the Bible." ''[[Tarbiẕ]]'' 51, no. 1 (1981): 49-57.</ref>  Hiwi is viewed by some scholars as an intellectually conflicted man torn between Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Gnostic Christianity, and Manichaean thought.<ref>"The Messiah in Isaiah 53: The Commentaries of Sa'adya Gaon, Salmon Ben Yeruham, and Yefet Ben Eli 52:13-53:12", Trade paperback (1998)   by Sa'adia, Joseph Alobaidi</ref><ref>Rosenthal, J. "Hiwi Al-Balkhi: A Comparative Study." ''[[Jewish Quarterly Review]]'' 38; 39 (1947-48; 1948-49): 317-42, 419-30; 79-94.</ref>

Hiwi espoused the belief that miraculous acts, described in the Pentateuch, are simply examples of people using their skills of reasoning to undertake, and perform, seemingly miraculous acts.<ref>Gil, Moshe. Hivi Ha-Balkhi Ha-Kofer Me-Horasan, Ketavim. Merhaviah: Sifriyyat Po'alim, 1965</ref>  As examples of this position, he argued that the parting of the Red Sea was a natural phenomenon, and that Moses' claim to greatness lay merely in his ability to calculate the right moment for the crossing.  He also emphasized that the Egyptian magicians were able to reproduce several of Moses' "miracles," proving that they could not have been so unique.  According to scholars, Hiwi's gravest mistake was having the Pentateuch redacted to reflect his own views - then had those redacted texts, which became popular,  distributed to children.<ref>Davidson, Israel, ed. Sa'adya's Polemic against Hiwi Al-Balkhi: A Fragment Edited from a Genizah Ms, Texts and Studies of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1915.</ref>  Since his views contradicted the views of both Rabbanite and Karaite scholars, Hiwi was declared a heretic.  In this context, however, we can also regard Hiwi, while flawed, as the very first critical biblical commentator; zealous rationalistic views of Hiwi parallel those of [[Ibn al-Rawandi]].

Saʿadya Gaon dedicated an entire treatise, written in rhyming Hebrew, to a refutation of Ḥīwī's arguments, two fragments of which, preserved in the [[Cairo Geniza]], have been published (Davidson, 1915; Schirmann, 1965).<ref>{{cite web|author=Marzena Zawanowska|title=" Ḥīwī al-Balkhī." Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman|publisher=Brillonline.com|year=2012<!--|reference=Jim Harlow-->|access-date=3 July 2012|url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/hiwi-al-balkhi-SIM_0009940}}</ref> Ḥīwī's criticisms are also noted in Abraham ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch.  Sa'adya Gaon denounced Hiwi as an extreme rationalist, a "Mulhidun", or atheist/deviator.  Abraham Ibn Daud described HIwi as a sectarian who "denied the Torah, yet used it to formulate a new Torah of his liking".<ref>Malter, Henry. Sa'adya Gaon: His Life and Works, Morris Loeb Series. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1921.</ref>

=== Sa'adya Gaon ===
"[[Saadia Gaon]], son of a [[proselyte]], is considered the greatest early Jewish philosopher after Solomon. During his early years in [[Tulunids|Tulunid]] Egypt, the [[Fatimid Caliphate]] ruled Egypt; the leaders of the [[Tulunids]] were Ismaili Imams.  Their influence upon the Jewish academies of Egypt resonate in the works of Sa'adya.  Sa'adya's ''[[Emunoth ve-Deoth]]'' ("Beliefs and Opinions") was originally called ''Kitab al-Amanat wal-l'tikadat'' ("Book of the Articles of Faith and Doctrines of Dogma"); it was the first systematic presentation and philosophic foundation of the dogmas of Judaism, completed at Sura Academy in 933 CE."

Little known is that Saadia traveled to [[Tiberias]] in 915CE to study with Abū 'l-Kathīr Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyāʾ, "a Jewish theologian and Bible translator. He is not mentioned in any Jewish source, and apart from the Andalusian heresiographer and polemicist [[Ibn Hazm]], who mentions him as a Jewish mutakallim (rational theologian), our main source of information is the ''Kitāb al-Tanbīh'' by the Muslim historian [[Al-Masudi|al-Masʿūdī]] (d. 956). In his brief survey of Arabic translations of the Bible, al-Masʿūdī states that the Israelites rely for exegesis and translation of the Hebrew books—i.e., the Torah, Prophets, and Psalms, twenty-four books in all, he says—on a number of Israelites whom they praise highly, almost all of whom he has met in person. He mentions Abū ʾl-Kathīr as one of them, and also Saadia ("Saʿīd ibn Yaʿqūb al-Fayyūmī").  Regardless of what we do not know, Saadia traveled to Tiberias (home of the learned scribes and exegetes) to learn and he chose Abū 'l-Kathīr Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Katib al-Tabariya. The extent of Abū ʾl-Kathīr's influence on Saadia's thought cannot be established, however."<ref>{{cite web|author=[[Camilla Adang]]|title=" Abū 'l-Kathīr Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyāʾ." Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman|date=October 2010 |publisher=Brillonline.com|url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/abu-l-kathir-yahya-ibn-zakariyya-COM_0000600|access-date=2012-10-22}}</ref>

Abū ʾl-Kathīr's profession is also unclear. al-Masʿūdī calls him a ''kātib'', which has been variously interpreted as secretary, government official, (biblical) scribe, Masorete, and book copyist. For lack of further information, some scholars have tried to identify Abū ʾl-Kathīr with the Hebrew grammarian Abū ʿAlī Judah ben ʿAllān, likewise of Tiberias, who seems to have been a Karaite Jew. However, al-Masūdī unequivocally describes Abu ʾl-Kathīr (as well as his student Saadia) as an ashmaʿthī (Rabbanite).

In "Book of the Articles of Faith and Doctrines of Dogma" Saadia declares the rationality of the Jewish religion with the caveat that reason must capitulate wherever it contradicts tradition. Dogma takes precedence over reason. Saadia closely followed the rules of the [[Kalam|Muʿtazila]] school of Abu Ali al-Jubba'i in composing his works.<ref>s.v. al-Djubba'i, {{Cite book | edition = New | publisher = E. J. Brill | isbn = 90-04-07026-5 | volume = 2 | title = The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. 2: C–G | location = Leiden | year = 1965}}</ref><ref>W. Montgomery Watt, Free will and predestination in early Islam, London 1948, 83-7, 136-7.</ref>  It was Saadia who laid foundations for Jewish rationalist theology which built upon the work of the Muʿtazila, thereby shifting Rabbinic Judaism from mythical explanations of the rabbis to reasoned explanations of the intellect.  Saadia advanced the criticisms of Muʿtazila by [[Ibn al-Rawandi]].<ref>A'asam, Abdul-Amîr al-Ibn al-Rawandi's Kitab Fahijat al-Mu'tazila: Analytical Study of Ibn al-Riwandi's Method in his Criticism of the Rational Foundation of Polemics in Islam. Beirut-Paris: Editions Oueidat, 1975–1977</ref>

=== David ibn Merwan al-Mukkamas ===
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[[David ibn Merwan al-Mukkamas]] was author of the earliest known Jewish philosophical work of the [[Middle Ages]], a commentary on the ''[[Sefer Yetzirah]]''; he is regarded as the father of Jewish medieval philosophy. Al-Mukkamas was first to introduce the ''methods'' of [[Kalam]] into Judaism and the first Jew to mention Aristotle in his writings.  He was a [[proselyte]] of Rabbinic Judaism (not [[Karaite Judaism]], as some argue); al-Mukkamas was a student of physician, and renowned Christian philosopher, Hana.  His close interaction with Hana, and his familial affiliation with Islam gave al-Mukkamas a unique view of religious belief and theology.

In 1898 [[Abraham Harkavy]] discovered, in Imperial Library of St. Petersburg, fifteen of the twenty chapters of David's philosophical work entitled ''Ishrun Maḳalat'' (Twenty Chapters) of which 15 survive.  One of the oldest surviving witnesses to early Kalām, it begins with epistemological investigations, turns to proofs of the creation of the world and the subsequent existence of a Creator, discusses the unity of the Creator (including the divine attributes), and concludes with theodicy (humanity and revelation) and a refutation of other religions (mostly lost).

In 915 CE, Sa'adya Gaon left for Palestine, where, according to al-Masʿūdī (Tanbīh, 113), he perfected his education at the feet of Abū 'l-Kathīr Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Katib al-Tabari (d. 320/932). The latter is also mentioned by Ibn Ḥazm in his K. al-Fiṣlal wa 'l-niḥal, iii, 171, as being, together with Dāwūd ibn Marwān al-Muqammiṣ and Sa'adya himself, one of the mutakallimūn of the Jews.<ref>{{cite web|title=" Saʿadyā Ben Yōsēf." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|publisher=Brillonline.com|year=2012<!--|reference=Jim Harlow-->|access-date=2012-10-22|url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/saadya-ben-yosef-COM_0949}}</ref>

Since al-Muqammiṣ made few references to specifically Jewish issues and very little of his work was translated from Arabic into Hebrew, he was largely forgotten by  Jewish tradition. Nonetheless, he had a significant impact on subsequent Jewish philosophical followers of the Kalām, such as Saʿadya Gaon.<ref>{{cite web|author=Daniel J. Lasker|title=" Muqammiṣ, David Ibn Marwān al-." Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman|publisher=Brillonline.com|year=2012<!--|reference=Jim Harlow-->|access-date=3 July 2012|url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/muqammis-david-ibn-marwan-al-SIM_0016080}}</ref>

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=== Samuel ibn Naghrillah ===
[[Samuel ibn Naghrillah]], born in [[Mérida, Spain]], lived in [[Córdoba, Andalusia|Córdoba]] and was a child prodigy and student of Hanoch ben Moshe. Samuel ibn Naghrillah, [[Hasdai ibn Shaprut]], and Moshe ben Hanoch founded the Lucena Yeshiva that produced such brilliant scholars as [[Isaac ibn Ghiyyat]] and Maimon ben Yosef, the father of [[Maimonides]]. Ibn Naghrillah's son, Yosef, provided refuge for two sons of [[Hezekiah Gaon]]; Daud Ibn Chizkiya Gaon Ha-Nasi and Yitzhak Ibn Chizkiya Gaon Ha-Nasi.  Though not a philosopher, he did build the infrastructure to allow philosophers to thrive.  In 1070 the gaon Isaac ben Moses ibn Sakri of Denia, Spain traveled to the East and acted as ''rosh yeshivah'' of the Baghdad Academy.

=== Solomon ibn Gabirol ===
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[[Solomon ibn Gabirol]] was born in [[Málaga]] then moved to [[Valencia]].  Ibn Gabirol was one of the first teachers of [[Neoplatonism]] in Europe. His role has been compared to that of Philo. Ibn Gabirol occidentalized Greco-Arabic philosophy and restored it to Europe.  The philosophical teachings of Philo and ibn Gabirol were largely ignored by fellow Jews; the parallel may be extended by adding that Philo and ibn Gabirol both exercised considerable influence in secular circles; Philo upon early Christianity and Ibn Gabirol upon the scholars of medieval Christianity. Christian scholars, including [[Albertus Magnus]] and  [[Thomas Aquinas]], defer to him frequently.

=== Abraham bar-Hiyya Ha-Nasi ===
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[[Abraham bar Hiyya]], of [[Barcelona]] and later [[Arles]]-[[Provence]], was a student of his father [[Hiyya al-Daudi]] and one of the most important figures in the scientific movement which made the Jews of Provence, Spain and Italy the intermediaries between [[Averroism]], Muʿtazila and Christian Europe. He aided this scientific movement by original works, translations and as interpreter for another translator, [[Plato Tiburtinus]]. Bar-Hiyya's best student was [[v]].{{clarify|date=April 2020}}  His philosophical works are "Meditation of the Soul", an ethical work written from a rationalistic religious viewpoint, and an apologetic epistle addressed to [[Judah ben Barzillai]].

=== Hibat Allah ===
Originally known by his Hebrew name Nethanel Baruch ben Melech al-Balad,<ref>"Jews in Islamic countries in the Middle Ages Volume 28 of Études sur le judaïsme médiéval" by Moshe Gil and David Strassler, {{ISBN|90-04-13882-X}}, 9789004138827</ref> [[Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī]], known as ''Hibat Allah'', was a Jewish philosopher and physicist and father-in-law of Maimonides who converted to Islam in his twilight years - once head of the Baghdad Yeshiva and considered the leading philosopher of Iraq.

Historians differ over the motive for his conversion to Islam. Some suggest it was a reaction to a social slight inflicted upon him because he was a Jew, while others suggest he was forcibly converted at the edge of a sword (which prompted Maimonides to comment upon [[Anusim]]). Despite his conversion to Islam, his works continued to be studied at the Jewish Baghdad Academy, a well-known academy, into the thirteenth century. He was a follower of Avicenna's teaching, who proposed an explanation of the acceleration of falling bodies by the accumulation of successive increments of power with successive increments of velocity.

His writings include ''Kitāb al-Muʿtabar'' ("The Book of What Has Been Established by Personal Reflection"); a philosophical commentary on the Kohelet, written in Arabic using Hebrew aleph bet; and the treatise "On the Reason Why the Stars Are Visible at Night and Hidden in Daytime." According to Hibat Allah, ''Kitāb al-Muʿtabar'' consists in the main of critical remarks jotted down by him over the years while reading philosophical text, and published at the insistence of his friends, in the form of a philosophical work.

=== Nethan'el al-Fayyumi ===
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[[Natan'el al-Fayyumi]]<ref>A history of Jewish philosophy in the Middle Ages By [[Colette Sirat]]</ref> of Yemen, was the twelfth-century author of ''Bustan al-Uqul'' ("Garden of Intellects"), a Jewish version of [[Isma'ilism|Ismaili]] [[Shia Islam|Shi'i]] doctrines. Like the Ismailis, Natan'el al-Fayyumi argued that God sent different prophets to various nations of the world, containing legislations suited to the particular temperament of each individual nation.  Ismaili doctrine holds that a single universal religious truth lies at the root of the different religions. Some Jews accepted this model of religious pluralism, leading them to view [[Muhammad]] as a legitimate prophet, though not Jewish, sent to preach to the [[Arabs]], just as the Hebrew prophets had been sent to deliver their messages to Israel; others{{who?|date=November 2022}} refused this notion in entirety.

=== Bahya ben Joseph ibn Paquda ===
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[[Bahya ibn Paquda|Bahye ben Yosef Ibn Paquda]], of Zaragoza, was author of the first Jewish system of ethics ''Al Hidayah ila Faraid al-hulub'', ("Guide to the Duties of the Heart").  Bahya often followed the method of the Arabian encyclopedists known as "the [[Brethren of Purity]]" but adopts some of Sufi tenets rather than Ismaili.  According to Bahya, the Torah appeals to reason and knowledge as proofs of God's existence.  It is therefore a duty incumbent upon every one to make God an object of speculative reason and knowledge, in order to arrive at true faith.  Baḥya borrows from [[Sufism]] and [[Jewish Kalam]] integrating them into Neoplatonism.  Proof that Bahya borrowed from Sufism is underscored by the fact that the title of his eighth gate, ''Muḥasabat al-Nafs'' ("Self-Examination"), is reminiscent of the Sufi  ''Abu Abd Allah Ḥarith Ibn-Asad'', who has been surnamed ''El Muḥasib'' ("the self-examiner"), because—say his biographers—"he was always immersed in introspection"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=134&letter=B&search=Bahya#ixzz0Tx3CqjNq |title=Bahya Ben Joseph Ibn Paḳuda |publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com |access-date=2012-10-22}}</ref>

=== Yehuda Ha-Levi and the Kuzari ===
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[[Judah Halevi]] of [[Toledo, Spain]] defended Rabbinic Judaism against Islam, Christianity and Karaite Judaism. He was a student of [[Moses ibn Ezra]] whose education came from [[Isaac ibn Ghiyyat]]; trained as a Rationalist, he shed it in favor of Neoplatonism.  Like [[al-Ghazali]], Judah Halevi attempted to liberate religion from the bondage of philosophical systems.  In particular, in a work written in [[Arabic]] ''Kitab al-Ḥujjah wal-Dalil fi Nuṣr al-Din al-Dhalil'', translated by [[Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon]], by the title ''[[Kuzari]]'' he elaborates upon his views of Judaism relative to other religions of the time.
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=== Abraham ibn Daud ===
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}}[[Abraham ibn Daud]] was a student of Rabbi Baruch ben Yitzhak Ibn Albalia, his maternal uncle.  Ibn Daud's philosophical work written in Arabic, ''Al-'akidah al-Rafiyah'' ("The Sublime Faith"), has been preserved in Hebrew by the title ''Emunah Ramah''.  Ibn Daud did not introduce a new philosophy, but he was the first to introduce a more thorough systematic form derived from [[Aristotle]].  Accordingly, [[Hasdai Crescas]] mentions Ibn Daud as the only Jewish philosopher among the predecessors of Maimonides.<ref>''Or Adonai'', ch. i.</ref>  Overshadowed by Maimonides, ibn Daud's ''Emunah Ramah'', a work to which Maimonides was indebted, received little notice from later philosophers.  "True philosophy", according to Ibn Daud, "does not entice us from religion; it tends rather to strengthen and solidify it. Moreover, it is the duty of every thinking Jew to become acquainted with the harmony existing between the fundamental doctrines of Judaism and those of philosophy, and, wherever they seem to contradict one another, to seek a mode of reconciling them".
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=== Other notable Jewish philosophers pre-Maimonides ===
* [[Abraham ibn Ezra]]
* [[Isaac ibn Ghiyyat]]
* [[Moses ibn Ezra]]
* [[Yehuda Alharizi]]
* [[Joseph ibn Tzaddik]]
* [[Samuel ibn Tibbon]]