Saturday, February 26, 2011

Abul ʿAla Al-Maʿarri: A 10th century rationalist

An interesting personality during the Islamic Golden Age. He rejected religion in general and didn't accept that Islam was any way special.

The following quote (courtesy wikipedia) well expresses his feeling: "The inhabitants of the earth are of two sorts: those with brains, but no religion, and those with religion, but no brains."

The fact that he could express such thoughts and still live in a largely Muslim society also speaks about the tolerance during the Islamic Golden Age.

Wikipedia article on Abul ʿAla Al-Maʿarri 

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