Chosen Saints of God and the Bigoted Mullas — Page 24
(3) HAZRAT ALLAMA IBN-I-RUSHD (born 520, died 595. Hijra). Allama Ibn-i-Rushd could easily be likened to a Sun on the horizon of learning and knowledge. He was a master of Philosophy, Religious learnings, Medicine and the art of healing. He was a renowned mathematician. He has written more than 40 books on diverse subjects which have been translated into Latin, Hebrew and other languages. The modern philosophy of Europe is, to a great extent, based on his writings. He is considered to be next to the great philosopher Aristotle. . The zeal for turning pious men into renegades worked also in his case and the bigoted Mullas declared this illustrious star of knowledge and wisdom to be heretic and a renegade. . Writing about the heresy of the said venerable sage, Maulvi. Abdus Salaam of Nadwa wrote, "The allegations which the enemies of Ibn-i-Rushd (Aviros) brought against him became, at that time a burning question for the whole nation-it really did become a national matter. The Mosque at Cordova became the scene of a very large congregation where gathered all the noted scholars and philosophers of the time. The main object of the gathering was to acquaint the general public with the back-sliding and apostasy of the most renowned scholar Ibn-i-Rushd. In this gathering was also called Qazi Abu Abdullah Bin Ibrahimul-Usooli because of some of his utterances which were alleged to be tainted with apostasy". "The proceedings started with the speech of Qazi Abu. Abdullah Bin Marwan who said that most things had two aspects namely of benefit and harm. Where the benefits over-weigh the harm advantage must be sought from such things. Otherwise these should be left alone”. "When the Qazi sat down, Abu Ali Bin Hujjaj, the Khateeb or the priest of the mosque, stood up and completing his harangue, at the end of which he pronounced his verdict declaring the above-mentioned sages to be heretics and apostates. They were given the punishment of banishment and Ibn-i-Rushd (Aviros) was also placed under house arrest in Buseena-the. Jewish quarters near Cordova. This was because some people 24