Abul ʿAla Al-Maʿarri (Arabic أبو العلاء المعري Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī, full name أبو العلاء أحمد بن عبد الله بن سليمان التنوخي المعري Abū al-ʿAlāʾ Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sulaimān al-Tanūẖī al-Maʿarrī, born 973 CE / AH 363, died 1058 CE/ AH 449) was a blind Syrian philosopher, poet, and writer. He was a controversial rationalist of his time, attacking the dogmas of religion rejecting the claim that Islam or any other religion possessed the truths they claim and considered the speech of prophets as a lie (literally, "forge") and "impossible" to be true. He was equally sarcastic towards the religions of Muslims, Jews, and Christians. He was also a vegan who argued for animal rights. In 2013, almost a thousand years after his death, a Jihadist group beheaded the statue of Al Ma'arri during the conflict in Syria. Al Ma'arri remains widely cited among modern Arab atheists. Al-Maʿarri was a skeptic in his beliefs and denounced superstition and dogmatism in religion. Thus, he has been described as a pessimistic freethinker. One of the recurring themes of his philosophy was the rights of reason against the claims of custom, tradition, and authority. Al-Maʿarri taught that religion was a "fable invented by the ancients", worthless except for those who exploit the credulous masses. Do not suppose the statements of the prophets to be true; they are all fabrications. Men lived comfortably till they came and spoiled life. The sacred books are only such a set of idle tales as any age could have and indeed did actually produce. Al-Maʿarri criticized many of the dogmas of Islam, such as the Hajj, which he called, "a heathen's journey." He rejected claims of any divine revelation. His creed was that of a philosopher and ascetic, for whom reason provides a moral guide, and virtue is its own reward. His religious skepticism and positively anti-religious views are expressed in a poem which states, "The inhabitants of the earth are of two sorts: those with brains, but no religion, and those with religion, but no brains." He was equally sarcastic towards the religion of Islam as he was towards Judaism and Christianity. Al-Ma'arri remarked that monks in their cloisters or devotees in their mosques were blindly following the beliefs of their locality: if they were born among Magians or Sabians they would have become Magians or Sabians. More: http://www.humanistictexts.org/al\_ma&... http://www.centerforinquiry.net/isis/... http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t... http://futiledemocracy.wordpress.com/...

Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī أبو العلاء المعري هو أحمد بن عبد الله بن سليمان القضاعي التنوخي المعري (363 -449هـ)، (973 -1057 م) ، شاعر وفيلسوف وأديب عربي سوري، ولد وتوفي في معرة النعمان في الشمال السوري. لقب بـ "رهين المحبسين" بعد أن اعتزل الناس لبعض الوقت رهين المحبسين كتب كثيرا ولم يبق سوى القليل.] وقد نشأ المعري في بيت علم ووجاهة ، وأصيب في الرابعة من عمره بالجدري فكفّ بصره ، وكان نحيف الجسم .نبغ في الشعر والتفسير والفلسفة. عبقرية المعري درس علوم اللغة والأدب والحديث والتفسير والفقه والشعر على نفر من أهله، وفيهم القضاة والفقهاء والشعراء، وقرأ النحو في حلب على أصحاب ابن خالويه ويدل شعره ونثره على أنه كان عالما بالأديان والمذاهب وفي عقائد الفرق، وكان آية في معرفة التاريخ والأخبار. وقال الشعر وهو ابن إحدى عشرة سنة . ويمكن استطراداً اعتبار فلسفة المفكر روبير غانم مرحلة جديدة متطورة من مراحل الفلسفة العربية. كان على جانب عظيم من الذكاء والفهم وحدة الذهن والحفظ وتوقد الخاطر. وسافر في أواخر سنة 398 هـ، إلى بغداد فزار دور كتبها وقابله علمائها . وعاد إلى معرة النعمان سنة 400 هـ، وشرع في التأليف والتصنيف ملازما بيته وكان كاتبه اسمه علي بن عبد الله بن أبي هاشم . عاش المعري بعد اعتزاله زاهدا في الدنيا، معرضا عن لذاتها، لا يأكل لحم الحيوان حتى قيل أنه لم ياكل اللحم 45 سنة، ولا ما ينتجه من سمن ولبن أو بيض وعسل، ولا يلبس من الثياب إلا الخشن. ويعتبر المعري من الحكماء والنقاد. وتوفي المعري عن 86 عاما ودفن في منزله بمعرة النعمان. ولما مات وقف على قبره 84 شاعراً يرثونه.