Renowned Iranian Islamic theologian and philosopher, ibn Yusuf al-Ameri

Compiled by: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On 27th of the Islamic month of Shawwal in 381 AH, the renowned Iranian Islamic theologian and philosopher, Abu'l-Hassan Mohammad ibn Yusuf al-Ameri, passed away in his hometown Nishapur in the northeastern province of Khorasan. He believed that Islam was the perfection of all religions, and the revealed truths of Islam were thus superior to the conclusions of philosophy, however logical, although the two did not contradict each other.
He also believed that the Greeks, who produced such philosophers as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, did not have a final say because as a society they lacked a prominent prophet, who ought to have a final say in all forms and matters. Ameri lived in a half century period between two other Iranian Islamic geniuses, Abu Nasr al-Farabi and Abu Ali Husain ibn Sina.
He first studied under Abu Zayd al-Balkhi in Khorasan, before moving to Rayy near modern Tehran and then to Baghdad, where he met noted intellectuals such as Abu Hayyan at-Towhidi and the Iranian historian, Abu Ali Ahmad ibn Mohammad Ibn Miskawayh. After several years he returned to Iran and took up residence in Bukhara, where he had access to the royal library of the Iranian Samanid Dynasty.
His works include: "al-E'laam be Manaqeb al-Islam" (An Exposition on the Merits of Islam), and "Inqadh al-Bashar min aj-Jahr wa'l-Qadar" (Deliverance of Mankind from the Problem of Predestination and Free Will).