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3 - Revealed Law and Egalitarianism

Shifting Emphases in the Conception and Use of Fiṭra in Ibn Rushd’s Thought

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2025

Raissa A. von Doetinchem de Rande
Affiliation:
University of Chicago Divinity School
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Summary

The final chapter addresses humanity’s relation to the divinely revealed will (sharʿ). Turning to the works of Ibn Rushd, the author argues first that a conception of fiṭra as a natural division of intellectual aptitude clarified Ibn Rushd’s arguments regarding the proper approach to revelation: it is to be twofold, one appropriate for the elites and one for the general populace. As a result, his understanding and use of the term shares much with his predecessors: it assumes and perpetuates a vision of humanity as divided by natural endowments and one that has implications for the shape of the ideal society as hierarchical. However, beyond this continuity with previous philosophical thought, Ibn Rushd’s understanding and use of fiṭra also point to a transition. In contrast with his predecessors, Ibn Rushd claims explicitly that all humans can access basic religious truths through their fiṭra. Such a reading of fiṭra appears to connect with the more levelling and religious thought of the scriptural interpreters as well as later, prominent theologians who continue to exert an influence over the widespread understanding of fiṭra today. Connecting to but also developing the work of his predecessors and successors, Ibn Rushd illustrates most clearly the kind of interplay of both continuity and change that characterizes the philosophers’ approach to fiṭra.

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The Politics of Islamic Ethics
Hierarchy and Human Nature in the Philosophical Tradition
, pp. 179 - 255
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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