This study of the Sicilian Questions of the philosopher and mystic Ibn Sabٴ īn of Murcia (ca. 1217-1270) reads the text, allegedly composed as an answer to questions sent by Frederick II as a reflection of intellectual life in the late Almohad Arab West.
The first part of the book is dedicated to the author, his political and intellectual context and his impact. The second part analyses the structure and method of the text and relates it to Islamic and Jewish philosophical and mystical traditions in the Arab West. Furthermore, its literary category, context of composition and readership are discussed. The third part deals with the sources of the Sicilian Questions and their position in the Arab West.
The appendix consists of a German translation of the Sicilian Questions including detailed philological and philosophical notes as well as a revised edition of the Arabic text.
Anna A. Akasoy, Ph.D. (2005) in Oriental Studies, University of Frankfurt, is a research assistant at the Warburg Institute. She has published on the history of Islamic science and philosophy and co-edited the Arabic translation of the Nicomachean Ethics.
"...her contribution is invaluable. [...] Thanks to Anna Akasoy's thorough investigation, we are now better able to appreciate the precise worth of this unique compilation." - Jules Janssens, in: Bulletin de Philosophie Médiévale, 2007
All those interested in the history of Muslim Spain, Islamic philosophy and mysticism, and in intercultural relations in the Middle Ages.