Demonstration and Burhan: A Logical Investigation

This book investigates the historical development of Aristotle’s perfect syllogism, or demonstration, into the Muslim world. It provides an accessible account to the modern reader, while at the same time bringing to the discussion the important issue of the specifically Muslim contribution to the field of logic. The author emphasizes the importance of axioms in establishing demonstration and the modern logic of dialetheia - Graham Priest’s idea of some true contradictions - in Islamic discourses. While Muslim philosophers have been claiming that demonstration is equal to burhan in mantiq or logic in Islamic education, this book presents the fact that burhan sets aside the necessity of axioms, making the former seem to be a deviation from Aristotle’s demonstration. The variety of Islamic philosophies has not been adequate enough to develop logic in Islamic education as progressive as its European counterparts. This book is an invitation to students and researchers to reconsider mantiq or logic in Islamic education based upon the Aristotelian logic and the modern logic of dialetheia, given that one cannot comprehend various Islamic discourses simply by exercising the Aristotelian principles of identity, non-contradiction, and excluded middle. In providing a useful overview of Aristotle before launching into a discussion on the various positions that Muslim scholars take regarding demonstration, the author presents a better framework for scholars and students in philosophy and religious studies to grasp several controversial and peculiar ideas in Islam.