A Comparative Study of Maimonides and Avicenna's Views about Resurrection

Avicenna and Maimonides are philosophers of religion, who were concerned about rational affirmation of their religious beliefs. Based on his Islamic view, Avicenna accepts bodily and spiritual resurrection, but has two different approaches to their acceptance. He accepts bodily resurrection not by argument but because of his faith in the Word of God, and proves spiritual resurrection by argument. He provides spiritual exoteric interpretation of resurrection and all its characteristics and attributes, and believes that pleasure and pain is eternal, belonging to the soul. It is the soul that experiences happiness or unhappiness after separating from body. The ultimate pleasure is looking at the essence of God and angels. In the same vein, Maimonides provides arguments to prove spiritual resurrection and believes in punishment and reward, and hereafter spiritual pleasure and pain. He holds that the ultimate pleasure is seeing Our Sheikh, interpreted as knowledge. The present paper seeks to compare these two philosophical views, one based on Islam and the other on Judaism.