Rejecting literalist Koranic exegesis did not make Avicenna reject Islam

Evidence

Peter himself undertook the task of refuting Islam, writing his Contra sectam siue haeresim Saracenorum (Against the sect or heresy of the Saracens) probably in 1155–56. The work as it survives is composed of a long prologue and two books; it may be that Peter wrote more that was subsequently lost or that he left it incomplete at his death on Christmas day, 1156. Both the structure and the strategy of the Contra sectam siue haeresim Saracenorum are quite different from those of the Summa. In the Summa he lambasted Muhammad from a Christian perspective; in the Contra sectam (after a prologue in which he justifies his polemics to Christian readers) he (in book 1) enjoins his Muslim readers to listen impartially to his arguments and tries to convince them that according to the Koran they should accept Christian scripture. In book 2 he tries to prove that Muhammad is not a prophet, by contrasting his life with those of Old Testament prophets. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 849 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Bacon was right that Avicenna rejected the more literalist interpretations of the sensual pleasures the Koran ascribes to paradise; he is wrong in thinking that this led Avicenna and other “Saracen” philosophers to reject Islam and seek a better law, any more than Bacon’s embrace of science (which was subsequently to put him in prison) entailed a rejection of Christianity. It is tempting to think that, as he sat in his Franciscan prison cell, Bacon felt a certain solidarity with Avicenna (as he imagined him): both rejecting the certainties of their contemporaries in search of higher truths, both misunderstood and persecuted by an ignorant cadre of clerical purists. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1157 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Rejecting literal readings of scripture did not entail rejecting religion in medieval thought — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1157; Internal criticism of tradition does not prove rejection of that tradition; Medieval polemicists claimed Avicenna plagiarized his medical works from Saint Isidore (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Rejecting literal readings of scripture did not entail rejecting religion in medieval thought #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1157
• Internal criticism of tradition does not prove rejection of that tradition #corroborates (1.00)
• Medieval polemicists claimed Avicenna plagiarized his medical works from Saint Isidore #qualifies (1.00)
• Peter the Venerable addressed his anti-Islamic polemic directly to Muslim readers using Koranic logic. #qualifies (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 849
• Mudejar doctrine divided Koranic language into three levels for different readers #expands (1.00)
• A mistranslation of one Koranic word made Muslims appear to worship a metal idol. #expands (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 683
• Arabic’s written-oral diglossia stems from deliberate preservation of the Koranic register #qualifies (1.00)
• Medieval Christian polemicists wielded Koranic citations to argue against Islam #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 388
• Clandestine Moriscos knew Koranic criticism despite owning few copies #complicates (0.80)
• Qiraa designates minor vocalization variants on a fixed Koranic consonant text. #complicates (0.80) — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 684