Thomas Aquinas, Political Thought
Thomas Aquinas (1224/1225–1274) is considered to be one of the greatest thinkers in the history of philosophy, and is most famous for his attempts to interpret and expound Aristotelian philosophy within a Christian framework. His political philosophy thor
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act ‘Alı¯ b. Muh: ammad b. al-‘Abba¯s al-Tawh: ¯ıdı¯ (Abu¯ Hayya¯n), ˙ an essayist and a stylist, was one of the main witnesses of the intellectual activity of eleventh-century Baghdad and Rayy during the Buyid period. He was one of the most talented prose-writers in the history of Arabic literature and worked as an erudite courtier and a copyist in the main intellectual circles of his time (Abu¯ al-Fadl ibn al˙ ‘Amı¯d, Ibn ‘Abba¯d, Ibn Sa‘da¯n). He was close to the philosopher Abu¯ Sulayma¯n al-Sijista¯nı¯. There is no agreement on the birthplace of al-Tawh: ¯ıdı¯, and nowhere is an exact date given for his birth. From a remark he makes on his being close to 90 years old in his Epistle to the Qa¯d¯ı Abu¯ Sahl, written in 400/1008, it has ˙ been determined that he was born between 310/922 and 320/932, but according to al-Sha¯lijı¯ (introduction to al-Tawh: ¯ıdı¯, al-Risa¯la al-Bag˙da¯diyya [The Baghdad Epistle]), the phrase ‘‘ninety and so’’ should be corrected into ‘‘seventy and so’’ and his birthdate should be put around 320–330/932–941. Although the biographers do not show any agreement on his birthplace (given as Wasit, Shiraz, or Nishapur), he seems to have been raised in Baghdad, if we are to follow the Risa¯la al-Bag˙da¯diyya, where he demonstrates his perfect intimacy with the most colloquial vocabulary of this city. The Risa¯la al-Bag˙da¯diyya has been neglected by contemporary researchers though it is expressly attributed to al-Tawh: ¯ıdı¯ by Ya¯qu¯t, as noted by Muh: yı¯ al-Dı¯n (1949). The Risa¯la has been recently reedited by ‘Abbu¯d al-Sha¯lijı¯, who brings several parallels between the text and other works of al-Tawh: ¯ıdı¯, confirming his authorship (see al-Tawh: idı¯, al-Risa¯la alBag˙da¯diyya, introd. pp 9–10).
Some classical writers like Ya¯qu¯t would like to see in alTawh: ¯ıdı¯ a Persian, but this should be excluded as Tawh: ¯ıdı¯ himself claims that he could not understand Persian, when it was used once in a majlı¯s (learned meeting) by Ibn ‘Abba¯d (see Berge´ 1990:115–116, quoting Akhla¯q, 306 and Imta¯‘, I, 77). Neverthless, it seems he died in the Iranian city of Shiraz, which was famous for its Sufi congregations and shrines and where he seems to have spent the last part of his life, maybe in the entourage of the vizier in Shiraz of Sams:a¯m al-Dawla, Abu¯ l-Qa¯sim al-Mudlijı¯ ˙ (vizier in 382–383/992–993), for whom he composed the lost Muh: adara¯t wa-l-muna¯zara¯t (Lessons and Disputes) ˙ ˙ (extracts in Ya¯qu¯t, listed by S. M. Stern, EI2, p. 127a). Abu¯ Hayya¯n al-Tawh: ¯ıdı¯ received a traditional educa˙ tion in the classical fields of grammar, theology, and Islamic jurisprudence. He studied theology with the Shafı¯‘ı¯ scholars Abu¯ Ha¯mid al-Marwarrudhı¯ (m. 362/ ˙ 972) and Abu¯ Bakr al-Sha¯shı¯ (d. 365/975), and grammar and logics with the Muʿtazilite grammarian Abu¯ Sa‘ı¯d al-S¯ıra¯fı¯ ibn al-Marzuba¯n (d. 367/977), a disciple of ˙ al-Jubba¯’ı¯, and ‘Alı¯ ibn ‘I¯sa¯ al-Rumma¯nı¯ (d. 384/994), who was also a well-versed mutakallim. In Sufism, al-Tawh: ¯ıdı¯ was a disciple of the Baghd
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