A Study of the Reason for the Unpopularity of Philosophy during the Umayyad Period in Andalusia

Under the reign of the Umayyad Dynasty, Andalusia managed to take the philosophical lead in Europe during a time when Europe was suffering from Medieval stasis. Moreover, it could compete with Baghdad over the leadership of the world of Islam, the peak of which was in the fourth century (AH). However, in spite of the scientific progress of Muslims and the favorable cultural atmosphere of this period, philosophy did not receive much attention and even had to deal with severe challenges. Accordingly, the authors of this paper decided to focus on this lack of attention to philosophy, which was not in conformity with the flourishing of Islamic civilization in Andalusia at that time, through analyzing the related historical resources and documents. Their findings indicate that, after conquering Andalusia, Muslims stepped into a land where the church had harshly suppressed rationalism. The same was also the case with the neighboring countries there. Nevertheless, the most important reason for the lack of interest in philosophy in Andalusia was the establishment of Maliki school of thought, which, following a Zahirite approach, did not allow rationalism to flourish there.