In the last two essays I mentioned the examples of Rambam, and Prophet Mohammed (pbuh), and how they pave the way for long-term peace. In this essay I’d like to introduce you to Rambam, and hopefully convey my admiration and reverence for him. While I originally wanted to title this essay as either “Revering Rambam” or “An Ode to Rambam”, I decided to call it “3rd essay” to make it a continuation of the previous two. In the same spirit, I shall handle this subject with sensitivity, and respect. If I inadvertently say something insensitive or disrespectful, I apologise from the beginning. The intention of this essay is to introduce you, the reader, to who I consider to be the most influential Judaeo-Arabic minds.
Let’s begin this essay with a thought experiment. I’d like you to close your eyes and imagine yourself standing in a park, or a cafe, or a meadow, or some place you consider beautiful. I’d like you to appreciate the beauty in its entirety, and then focus on the individual elements like the sights, the sounds, the smells, etc. that together make the scene beautiful. I posit that the beauty of Rambam’s thinking, like that of yours, is in the coalescence of individual elements. These are elements from his Jewish heritage, and those from his exposure to Islamic, and to some extent Christian, cultures.
Let us now look at Rambam’s life and works. I’ll start by attempting to piece together his life from whatever information I have. By the end of this essay, I hope to have conveyed what I suggested in the previous two, which is that Moshe and Moosa share a common thread of humanity through Rambam.
Moosa Ibn Maimoon al-Andalusi, also known as Moshe Ben Maimon ha-Sefaradi in Hebrew, known as Rambam, was born in the Arabic metropolis of Córdoba in 1135 or 1138. Descending from a long line of rabbanic scholars who preserved their genealogy, along with their titles, going back seven generations, he was one of two sons. He was quite fond of his younger brother, David, whom he educated and, as we will see later, trusted in affairs of business.[1]
Rambam was born towards the end of the golden age of Jewish culture in Spain, when the power of the governing dynasty of the Almovarids began to dwindle. They had granted Jews and Christians the dhimmi status. When we return to the Constitution of Medina, which Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) dictated, it states that any Muslim, even the weakest, is permitted to provide protection (dhimmah) to another person, and that it is binding on the rest of the Muslim Ummah. While the Constitution intends for it to be binding on Muslims living in Medina at the time, we can extrapolate that if the ruler of a nation grants dhimmi status to a group of people then it becomes binding on his subjects.
The Almohads rose to power, signaling the end of the golden age. Chroniclers describe the challenges of life as a Jew during the Almohad conquest, as well as persecution, when Abd al-Mu’min, the Almohad ruler, launched his conquest of North Africa and Andalusia.[2] Rambam’s family was forced to leave Cordoba, and eventualy moved to Fez, and then to Fustat.[3] During this period, Rambam was studying medicine, astronomy, rabbinic literature, and serving as an apprentice rabbinic judge.[4]
Rambam engaged in the precious stone trade in Fustat until the death of his brother David, who died in the Indian Ocean while doing business.[5] The Maimonides family had entrusted David with their savings in the hopes of growing their wealth. Rambam was deeply affected by his brother’s death, and in a letter found in the Cairo Geniza, a collection of Jewish manuscripts discovered in a storehouse (gheniza) of a synagogue in Fustat, Rambam laments how a tremendous sorrow had befallen him.[6]
The death of David led to financial hardship for the family of Rambam who had to take up the profession of the court-physician. Fustat, by now, was under the Ayyubid dynasty.[7] He confirms that he had studied both the theory and practice of medicine, and perhaps may have been preparing himself to become a physician. He did eventually gain renown for his profession, and even remarked that his attendance as a physician on Salah ad Deen’s courtesans was a fortunate turn in his life.[8] He even attendeed Salah ad Deen himself[9] and continued as a court-physician after his death.
He continued as a physician and passed away in 1204 in Fustat. His final resting place is in the city of Tiberias in Israel, and is one of the most important sites of pilgrimage.[10]
Take a moment to pause and reflect on the life of Rambam as that of, first and foremost, someone following the Jewish faith, and an intellectual living in the Mediterranean world. For a historian, however, the term “Mediterranean world” is problematic because the cultural boundaries are flexible; they can go from Italy in the West to Palestine in the East.[11] However, we can say that the Mediterranean world of the Islamic middle ages was one of economic relationships, exchange of books, science, and ideas, all of which contributed to the multifaceted universe in which Rambam lived.[12] We’ll take a quick look at only two of his sayings to demonstrate the brilliance of his ideas, beginning with another thought experiment; offering an overview of his work is beyond the scope of this essay.
The first saying, the thought experiment, serves as a guide for how we can think about Moshe and Moosa. In his book Dalalat al-Ha’irin, The Guide for the Perplexed, he states that when the process of thought is interrupted, “at first thought” (bi-awwal fikra), it is prone to create ideas that are incorrect, incomplete, or even dangerous.[13] Pause for a moment and reflect on your thoughts regarding Moshe and Moosa. I believe that, as Rambam stated, your first thought (fikra) was to see the other, depending on whose side you are on, in the most negative light. In the spirit of what has been mentioned in the Guide, we can take a minute to pause, reflect, and let the initial thought fade away to make place for the next.
Finally, I’d like to quote him from Commentary on the Mishnah. In that he writes that one should listen to the truth regardless of who says it; Isma’ al-haqq mi-man qalahu.[14] This is similar in structure to the advise of Ibn ‘Abbas, the cousin of Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) who said that one should take wisdom wherever it comes from, even if it comes from the non-wise. It is possible Rambam may have read this in Kindi’s Al Qutayba[15] since Jewish philosophers at his time read the work of their Muslim contemporaries. What matters less is whether he read it in the book, or if the idea was commonplace. What matters truly is the principle of reaching for knowledge and truth, whatever the source may be; this is the thread that ties Rambam with ‘Ibn Abbas.
This is me as I continue to look for peace in the land of the prophets.
Footnotes and References
[1] Page 4, Davidson HA. Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works. Oxford University Press, USA; 2010.
[2] Page 11, Davidson HA. Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works. Oxford University Press, USA; 2010.
[3] Page 8, Stroumsa S. Maimonides in his world: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker. Princeton University Press; 2011.
[4] Page 20, Davidson HA. Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works. Oxford University Press, USA; 2010.
[5] Page 9, Stroumsa S. Maimonides in his world: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker. Princeton University Press; 2011.
[6] Wikipedia contributors. Maimonides - Wikipedia [Internet]. 2024. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maimonides
[7] Page 9, Stroumsa S. Maimonides in his world: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker. Princeton University Press; 2011.
[8] Page 35, Davidson HA. Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works. Oxford University Press, USA; 2010.
[9] Page 36, Davidson HA. Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works. Oxford University Press, USA; 2010.
[10] Wikipedia contributors. Tomb of Maimonides [Internet]. Wikipedia. 2024. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Maimonides
[11] Page 9, Stroumsa S. Maimonides in his world: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker. Princeton University Press; 2011.
[12] Page 5, Stroumsa S. Maimonides in his world: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker. Princeton University Press; 2011.
[13] Preface, Stroumsa S. Maimonides in his world: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker. Princeton University Press; 2011.
[14] Page 11, Stroumsa S. Maimonides in his world: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker. Princeton University Press; 2011.
[15] Page 12, Stroumsa S. Maimonides in his world: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker. Princeton University Press; 2011.