Although Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali lived a relatively short life (1058-1111), he established himself as one of the most important thinkers in the history of Islam. "The Incoherence of the Philosophers," written after more than a decade of travel and ascetic contemplation, contends that while such Muslim philosophers as Avicenna boasted of unassailable arguments on matters of theology and metaphysics, they could not deliver on their claims; moreover, many of their assertions represented disguised heresy and unbelief. Despite its attempted refutation by the twelfth-century philosopher Ibn...

Averroes (1126-1198) was the first and last great Aristotelian of the classical Islamic world; his commentaries influenced Christian thinkers and earned him a mention in Dante's Divina Commedia. This text, his most important work, acts as a defence of the role of reason in a community of faith.