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Mohammed Abed Al-Jabri (Arabic: محمد عابد الجابري‎; December 27, 1936 – May 3, 2010)[1] was a contemporary Moroccan critic and professor of philosophy and Islamic thought in Mohammed V University in Rabat. He is also an expert in Arabic and Arabic literature. He is considered to have been one of the major intellectual figures in the contemporary Arab world.[2] He is also known for his academic project “The critique of the Arab Mind”. He published several influential books on the Arab philosophical tradition. He was born in Figuig, Morocco.

Contents
1 Thoughts
1.1 Modern Averroism
2 Career
3 Criticism
4 Books
4.1 New books in English
5 Bibliography
6 References
7 External links
 

  Thoughts
Al-Jabri’s approach consists of the exploration of the conflict between modernity and tradition in the Muslim and Arab world. In his writings, Al-Jabri focused on the rationalism of the medieval Muslim philosophers such as Avicenna (980-1037), Averroes (1126–1198), and Ibn Khaldoun (1332–1406). He rejected what he called the current polarization of Arab thought between an imported modernism that disregards Arab tradition and a fundamentalism that would reconstruct the present in the image of an idealized past.

According to al-Jabri, the Maghreb (the western Arab world) has a rationalist intellectual tradition based on the Greek philosophy. An example was the case of Averroes in the Zaherite school of thought. This is put in contrast with Mashreq (the eastern Arab world) where Muslim philosophers wrote works on Gnosticism, hermetism, and sufism which Al-Jabri consider it irrationalist and aestheticist. Now, affirming that the modern Arab world needs an empowerment of its reason to survive in the contemporary world. Al-Jabri called then for a “new averroism”.

  Modern Averroism
Main article: Averroism
Al-Jabri considered Averroism to be the way for the survival of the Arabo-Islamic tradition. Initially Averroism had broken with the thoughts of Avicenna and Sunni-sufi Eastern Arab philosophy. Later, Averroes also broke the way between the theoretical thought and philosophical one. Before, science and the philosophy existed to explain conception of religion. Averroes finishes with separating religion from science and philosophy. Averroes thought that the understanding of philosophy must have exclusivity and the same principles of philosophy as the basis, and it should not be based on other fields like religion.

  Career
Al-Jabri started his academic career in 1958 at Damascus University in Syria. He obtained a postgraduate degree in philosophy in 1967 obtained a doctorate in the same field from Mohammed V University in 1970. At the time of his passing he occupied the position of professor of philosophy and Islamic thought in the same university.

In July 1963, Al-Jabri was jailed along with other militants of UNFP. He authored more than 30 books and multiple essays and papers on contemporary Arabo-Islamic thought. His works have been translated into several languages.

In 1988, Al-Jabri was awarded the “Baghdad prize for Arab culture” from UNESCO and the “prize for the Moroccan culture” in Tunisia in 1999. Al-Jabri was one of the most important Moroccan intellectuals and left a clear imprint in contemporary Arabic literature.

Al-Jabri was a Board member of the Arab Democracy Foundation.

  Criticism
The American-Palestinian philosopher Ibrahim Abu-Rabbi criticizes the approach and thought of Al-Jabri connecting the Arab rationalism with the possibility of a scientific revolution in the Arab world. According to Abu-Rabbi, the thought of Al-Jabri that embraces the theoretical position of modernity, could create a controversy in the Arab and Islamic world against modern imperialism.

Another scholar who has written extensively against Al-Jaberi’s thought is George Tarabishi who accuses Al-Jaberi of manipulating concepts in Islamic thought to suit his own ideas and thoughts.

But the accusations of George Tarabishi have no importance because the critical methodology of Mohammed Abed al-Jabri is strong, and has an objective relevance in the history of Arab-islamic philosophy.

  Books
Arab-Islamic Philosophy: A Contemporary Critique. Center for Middle Eastern Studies. January 1999. pp. 152 pages. ISBN 0-292-70480-1. 
Critique de la Raison Arabe – 3 volumes, Beyrouth, 1982.
Nous et Notre Passé (Al-Marqaz al-taqafi al-arabi). Lecture contemporaine de notre patrimoine philosophique, 1980.
La Pensée de Ibn Khaldoun: la Assabiya et l’État. Grandes lignes d’une théorie Khaldounienne de l’histoire musulmane. Paris: Édima, 1971.
Pour une Vision Progressiste de nos Difficultés Intellectuelles et Éducatives. Paris: Édima, 1977.