Verily, in the creation of the heavens and of the earth, and the succession of night and day: and in the ships that speed through the sea with what is useful to man: and in the waters which God sends down from the sky, giving life thereby to the earth after it had been lifeless, and causing all manner of living creatures to multiply thereon: and in the change of the winds, and the clouds that run their appointed courses between sky and earth: [in all this] there are messages/signs indeed for people who use their reason.--- God (Quran, Surah 2 (The Cow), Verse 164)
Welcome to the homepage of the Averroes Foundation for Faith and Reason in Islam, where people believe that religion needs to make sense.
For a human being with awareness, life is full of questions. Why are we here? What do we know about God, the Praised and Most High? Does He exist, and does He care? What happens after we die? What does it mean to be successful in life?
Many say, the answers are found in faith, and therefore do not need to make complete sense. We do not accept that.
This is for those who think and care about the truth. God the Praised and Most High invites us to use our reason and believe in what makes sense. God does not want humans to believe blindly, or out of being overwhelmed by amazement, or out of loyalty to a certain community. Truth knows no loyalty other than loyalty to truth. God repeatedly tells us in the Qur'an that there are clear signs for people who use their reason. Every human being is invited to confirm or deny this.
Averroes Foundation has been founded by Muslims who use their reason and see clear signs and want to invite others to do the same. We want to be progressive and pious, rational and spiritual, faithful and critical. We believe in Islam, the oneness of God, doing good deeds and the Hereafter, not because we are told to do so, but because we believe it makes perfect sense.
We are inspired by the great Muslim scholar Abul-Walid Ibn Rushd, known in the West as Averroes, who did a great service to all of mankind, when he demonstrated in detail, that Islamic religious teachings and the philosophy of Aristotle are compatible. Averroes influenced not only Muslim thinkers, but also Christian scholars like Thomas Aquinas and Jewish scholars like Maimonides. Averroes caused a revolution which forever changed the way that Muslims, Christians and Jews view their religion
We believe this revolution is far from over, but has only just begun. As human reason has continued to progress in the age of science, technology and information, this has opened gates to a new understanding of our religion. We are eager to enter these gates and explore to find new treasures.
You can check out our mission to learn more about what we are doing.
We maintain Averroes Forum, a mailing list for everybody who is interested in discussing our approach, which you are welcome to check out.
To learn more about Islam from our perspective, check out our selection of articles.
We also have some book tips and a Muslim History Quiz.
You can also contact us through contact@averroes-foundation.org.
We are also in the process of translating this site to German.