Long Commentary on the Metaphysics of Aristotle (Tafsir Ma Ba'd al-Tabi'a)

Ibn Rushd's Long Commentary on the Metaphysics of Aristotle represents one of the most significant medieval philosophical engagements with the question of God's existence and nature. Written in 1190, this extensive work synthesizes Aristotelian metaphysics with Islamic philosophical traditions while defending rational inquiry into divine matters against theological critics. Ibn Rushd, known in the Latin West as Averroes, produces not merely an exegesis of Aristotle but a sophisticated philosophical argument for understanding God through demonstrative reasoning.

The commentary advances a distinctive position on divine existence by interpreting Aristotle's Prime Mover through the lens of necessary existence. Ibn Rushd argues that metaphysical demonstration can establish God's existence as the First Cause and Pure Actuality, whose thinking constitutes the highest form of being. He develops Aristotle's arguments from motion and causation while addressing critiques from Islamic theologians who questioned whether human reason could comprehend divine attributes. Against the Ash'arite school's emphasis on divine voluntarism and occasionalism, Ibn Rushd maintains that God acts through wisdom and necessity rather than arbitrary will.

The work's philosophical method combines careful textual analysis with systematic argumentation. Ibn Rushd distinguishes between different levels of discourse about God appropriate to different audiences: demonstrative proofs for philosophers, dialectical arguments for theologians, and rhetorical persuasion for the masses. This tripartite schema allows him to defend philosophy's legitimacy while acknowledging the social utility of religious discourse. He particularly opposes Al-Ghazali's attack on philosophers in The Incoherence of the Philosophers, arguing that properly understood, philosophical theology complements rather than contradicts revealed truth.

The commentary's treatment of divine knowledge proves especially influential. Ibn Rushd argues that God knows particulars through knowing universals, thereby preserving both divine simplicity and providence. This solution attempts to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy with Islamic doctrines of divine omniscience. His analysis of the relationship between God's essence and existence would later influence Thomas Aquinas and other scholastic thinkers, making this work a crucial bridge between Islamic and Christian philosophical theology. The text demonstrates how medieval thinkers could pursue natural theology within monotheistic frameworks, establishing reason's capacity to investigate divine matters while respecting revelation's distinct domain.