Guardians of Wisdom: The Medieval Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity, Part 1 of 2

To mark Climate Week 2024, in New York City, U.S.A, between the 19th and 23rd of September, the Earth Law Center (ELC) presented a dramatized version of “The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity,” one of Islam’s most popular fables. The “Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity” is regarded as one of the earliest and most complete works of medieval Islamic philosophy and encyclopedias of sciences in existence. Created in the 10th century by a secretive group known as the Brethren of Purity (Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ) in Basra, Iraq, this vast collection of 52 epistles spans an impressive array of subjects, from metaphysics, ethics, and theology to mathematics, astronomy, natural sciences, politics, religion, and magic.

The true identities and backgrounds of the Brethren remain largely unknown, as they operated anonymously. The Brethren referred to themselves as “sleepers in the cave,” symbolizing a hidden intellectual presence. Scholars generally believe that the group comprised of Muslim philosophers influenced by a blend of Greek, Persian, Indian, and Islamic thought, embodying the cosmopolitan spirit of the Islamic Golden Age.

“Realization of the dual nature of humankind as both soul and body allows those who thoroughly understand this connection to value as little as readily tolerable the demands and requirements of bodily existence.” Scholars have identified influences from Ismaili and Sufi traditions in the work’s religious themes and a Mu'tazilite endorsement of rational inquiry. “[To] shun no science, scorn any book, or to cling fanatically to no single creed. For [their] own creed encompasses all the others and comprehends all the sciences generally.”