Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Ibn al-Rawandi" in English language version.
Early in his life, Ibn al-Rawandi was a Mutazilite scholar, who, like all Mutazilite scholars sought to apply Greek philosophy to explicate Islamic theology. After rejecting Mutazilism, he turned for a while to Shi'ism. At some point, however, and for reasons that are apparently unknown, al-Rawandi became a free thinker and repudiated Islam and revealed religion.
He became estranged from his former colleagues, perhaps due to his association with his mentor, the Manichaean Abu 'Isa al-Warraq. From that point on Ibn al-Rawandi is depicted by most (though not all) of our sources as a heretic who maliciously scoffs at all religions, particularly Islam...He spared no religion, but his most severe criticism was directed against Islam.
Although one can see this image as a distorted picture composed by his opponents (as suggested by Josef van Ess), the accumulated information provided by the texts suggests that the image had a firm base in reality, and that Ibn al-Rawandi had indeed out-stepped the boundaries of Islam.
Ibn al-Rawandi was indeed a heretic who denied the possibility of prophecy, and the K. al-Zumurrud was written in order to expound his heretical views
Ibn al-Rawandi was indeed a heretic who denied the possibility of prophecy, and the K. al-Zumurrud was written in order to expound his heretical views
A highly enigmatic and controversial figure in the history of Islamic thought, Ibn ar-Rawandi wavered between a number of Islamic sects and then abandoned all of them in favour of atheism. As an atheist, he used reason to destroy religious beliefs, especially those of Islam. He compared prophets to unnecessary magicians, God to a human being in terms of knowledge and emotion, and the Qur'an to an ordinary book. Contrary to Islamic belief, he advocated that the world is without a beginning and that heaven is nothing special.
Abū al-Ḥusayn Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā Ibn al-Rāwandī(815–860 or 910), perhaps one of the most controversial figures in early Islamic history, is frequently called the "arch-heretic"...both Muslims and non-Muslims (especially Jews) wrote polemics against Ibn al-Rāwandī in which they acknowledged the serious threat his work posed not only to Islam, but also to Judaism and all Abrahamic religions.
