Mustafa Polat | 7th Graduate Conference

Bodily Resurrection in Islam: Avicenna’s influence and His Critics

Abstract

This paper examines the idea of bodily resurrection in Islamic and Christian theology in a comparative manner. To set the question and the historical framework, first, I will present Avicenna’s (Ibn Sina) views on the idea of bodily resurrection, with a special focus on his Risala al-Adhawiyya. His ideas have spread in the East and in the West and even found its way into Christian theology. He had many supporters and critics in the Muslim and the Christian worlds alike. Views and criticisms developed in response to Avicenna are best exemplified in the works of two crucial theologians: Ghazali in Islam and Thomas Aquinas in Christanity (Summa Theologia).
Ghazali’s Qur’anic approach and Aquinas’ Christian take on the question of bodily resurrection will allow us to pursue a genealogy of the idea. How was it conceived then, how did it find echo in Islamic and Christian traditions, and finally what contemporary critics (like Said Nursi) say about Avicenna’s approach.

Full Paper;
http://iikv.org/academy/index.php/coonferencee/article/view/1892/3636