The Resurrection in Avicenna's Philosophy

Resurrection in Avicenna's philosophy has received a great deal of attention, which can be discerned from the great number of his writings on this topic. What remains controversial about him, however, is his viewpoint on physical resurrection. Resurrection in Avicenna's philosophy is suspended between negation and affirmation. In Avicenna's works, there are two major viewpoints on physical resurrection, which will be discussed in this paper. Avicenna, in his treatise Adhaviyyeh, expresses his belief that physical resurrection is philosophically and logically impossible; therefore, when it cannot be justified though reason, we need to interpret Quranic verses and consider them as intelligible to sensible analogy. He brings up spiritual resurrection and considers resurrection joys and sufferings mentioned in Quran and Sunna allegorical and figurative, which are easier for common people to understand. In his al-Shifa, al-Najat, al-Mabda' wa l-Maad, and many of his other works on resurrection, Avicenna states that the only way to prove physical resurrection is through revelation, not reason, and thus when one believes in the Prophet Muhammad and Quran, he can believe in physical resurrection through the text of Quran and hadiths.