Advice for Muslim epistemologists

Abstract

After accepting the invitation to speak on Muslim epistemology, it quickly occurred to me that I know nothing about Muslim epistemology. I know lots of Muslims and lots of epistemologists but next to nothing about their intersection. Moreover, I am keenly aware that, if I were to claim that ‘al-Ghazālī says p’ and ‘Ibn Sīnā says q’, much better-trained Islamic scholars will tell me that actually al-Ghazālī denies p and Ibn Sīnā rejects q; and that would be the end of that. I am quite sure that this would be true also of any claims I would make about Ibn ʿArabī, al-Kindī, Rumi and every other Muslim philosopher. Therefore, I decided: I would not discuss Muslim philosophers at all...