Maimonides, Maimuni

Traditional Portrait of Moses ben Maimon, with Autograph.

Talmudist, philosopher, astronomer, and physician; born at Cordova March 30, 1135; died at Cairo Dec. 13, 1204; known in Arabic literature as Abu 'Imran Musa ben Maimun ibn 'Abd Allah. The history of the "second Moses," as Maimonides came to be called, is overlaid with fable. According to some of his biographers, he evinced in boyhood a marked disinclination for study. This, however, is highly improbable, for the works produced by him in his early manhood show that their author had not passed his youth in idleness. Moses ben Maimon, or Maimonides, received his rabbinical instruction at the hands of his father, see see Maimon, himself a scholar of high merit, and was placed at an early age under the guidance of the most distinguished Arabic masters, who initiated him in all the branches of the learning of that time. Moses was only thirteen years old when Cordova fell into the hands of the fanatical Almohades, and Maimon and all his coreligionists there were compelled to choose between Islam and exile. Maimon and his family chose the latter course, and for twelve years led a nomadic life, wandering hither and thither in Spain. In 1160 they settled at Fez, where, unknown to the authorities, they hoped to pass as Moslems. This dual life, however, became increasingly dangerous. Maimonides' reputation was steadily growing, and the authorities began to inquire into the religious disposition of this highlygifted young man. He was even charged by an informer with the crime of having relapsed from Islam, and, but for the intercession of a Moslem friend, the poet and theologian Abu al-'Arab alMu'ishah, he would have shared the fate of his friend Judah ibn Shoshan, who had shortly before been executed on a similar charge. These circumstances caused the members of Maimonides' family to leave Fez. In 1165 they embarked, went to Acre, to Jerusalem, and then to Fostat (Cairo), where they settled.

In Egypt.

During the first years of his residence in Egypt Maimonides experienced many misfortunes. After the death of Maimon, Moses' brother David supported the family by trading in precious stones. David perished at sea, and with him was lost not only his own fortune, but large sums that had been entrusted to him by other traders. These events affected Maimonides' health, and he went through a long sickness. Compelled now to work for a living, and considering it a sin to earn a livelihood from religion, he adopted the medical profession. After several years of practise Maimonides' authority in medical matters was firmly established, and he was appointed private physician to Saladin's vizier Al-Ḳaḍi al-Faḍil al-Baisami, who recommended him to the royal family and bestowed upon him many distinctions. According to the Arabic historian Al-Ḳiṭti, Maimonides declined a similar position offered to him by "the King of the Franks in Ascalon" (Richard I. of England). The method adopted by Maimonides in his professional practise was to begin with a simple treatment, endeavoring to cure by a prescribed diet before administering drugs. Speaking of his medical career in a letter addressed to his pupil Joseph ibn 'Aḳnin, Maimonides says: "You know how difficult this profession is for one who is conscientious and exact, and who states only that which he can support by argument or authority." In another letter, addressed to Samuel ibn Tibbon, he describes his arduous professional duties, which occupy him the whole day and very often a great part of the night. Nevertheless, Maimonides' powerful genius and indefatigable industry enabled him, amid his numerous occupations, to produce monumental works, answer hundreds of questions on various subjects addressed to him from various parts of the world, and administer the affairs of the community of Cairo, in which, soon after his arrival, he took a leading part, apparently becoming its recognized official head by 1177.

Philosophical Works.

Between the years 1158 and 1190 Maimonides produced, besides several minor writings (see the list of works below), a commentary on the Mishnah entitled "Kitab al-Siraj," a book on the precepts, "Kitab al-Fara'iḍ," the code Mishneh Torah (called by Maimonides' admirers "Yad ha-Ḥazaḳah"), and the philosophical work "Dalalat al-Ḥa'irin" ("Moreh Nebukim"). The first three works are the chief concern of the supplementary article following, while here is outlined the philosophical system expounded in the introductions to the Mishnah of Pirḳe Abot and of Ḥeleḳ, in the first book of the "Yad ha-Ḥazaḳah," entitled "Sefer ha-Madda'," and especially in the "Dalalat al-Ḥa'irin," which became of extraordinary importance, not only for the rational development of Judaism, but for the history of philosophy in the Middle Ages. The object of the work last mentioned is explained by Maimonides in the following terms:

Philosophy and Religion.

According to Maimonides, there is no contradiction between the truths which God has revealed and the truths which the human mind, a power derived from God, has discovered. In fact, with few exceptions, all the principles of metaphysics (and these are, for him, those of Aristotle as propounded by the Arabic Peripatetics Al-Farabi and Ibn Sina) are embodied in Bible and Talmud. He is firmly convinced that, besides the written revelation, the great prophets received orally revelations of a philosophical character, which were transmitted by tradition to posterity, but which were lost in consequence of the long periods of suffering and persecution the Jews experienced. The supposed conflict between religion and philosophy originated in a misinterpretation of the anthropomorphisms and in the superficial readings of Scripture, which are to the inner or allegorical interpretations what silver is to gold. Maimonides' predecessors, Saadia, Baḥya, and Judah ha-Levi, in treating of anthropomorphism, contented themselves with the statement that any term under consideration must be regarded as a metaphor. Maimonides, however, set up the incorporeality of God as a dogma, and placed any person who denied this doctrine upon a level with an idolater; he devoted much of the first part of the "Moreh Nebukim" to the interpretation of the Biblical anthropomorphisms, endeavoring to define the meaning of each and to identify it with some transcendental metaphysical expression. Some of them are explained by him as perfect homonyms, denoting two or more absolutely distinct things; others, as imperfect homonyms, employed in some instances figuratively and in others homonymously.

The Divine Attributes.

From the anthropomorphisms Maimonides passes to the much-discussed question of the divine attributes. As in the case of the anthropomorphisms, it was, according to him, the misinterpretation of certain Biblical passages that caused some to admit divine attributes. Against this admission Moses argues (1) that an attribute expresses some quality or property which is not inherent in the object described, in this case being an "accident," or (2) that it denotes a property consistent with the essence of the object described; in the latter case the fact of the coexistence of such an attribute would, if applied to God, denote a plurality in the divine essence.