The Eternity and Createdness of the World According to Ibn Rushd (1126–1198)

Abstract:
The question of whether the world is eternal or created is one of the most intricate and challenging issues debated between theologians and philosophers. Al-Farabi and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) affirmed the eternity of the world, opposing the views of theologians such as the Mu’tazilites and Ash’arites, among others. Al-Ghazali criticized the philosophers in his famous book The Incoherence of the Philosophers because of their assertion of the world's eternity. Ibn Rushd came to defend philosophy, reasserting the theory of the eternity of the world, but he provided new proofs that differed from those of Al-Farabi and Ibn Sina. He reformulated the Aristotelian view of the world from an Islamic perspective, considering the relationship between the creation of the world and religion.

This controversy emerged as theologians and philosophers sought to understand existence, its origin, composition, and purpose — specifically, whether the world is eternal (timeless) or created, and if created, whether it was created from nothing. This philosophical question is central to the study.

This research explores Ibn Rushd’s philosophical position on the eternity and createdness of the world, how he adopted this idea, and how he handled and adapted it so that it does not conflict with Islamic faith.