Question

\my father moved to bukhara in central asia and was entrusted with governing one of the estates of a persian ruler. my father provided me with a teacher to study the quran and a teacher for literature. my father was influenced by shia propaganda, and he would appeal to me to accept it, but my soul would not. in my household, there was also talk of philosophy, geometry, and indian calculation, 1 and my father sent me to a vegetable seller who used indian calculation and so i studied with him. around that time my father hired an arab scholar to teach me philosophy. i learned about aristotle. i read the greek geometrician euclid and read the greek astronomical and mathematical treatise called the almagest. i devoted myself to studying the texts—the greek original and the muslim commentaries—in the natural sciences and metaphysics. next i sought to know medicine and so i read books on it. i excelled in a very short period of time so that distinguished physicians began to study the science of medicine under me.\ abu ali ibn sina, sunni intellectual and physician, autobiography, early eleventh century 1 muslim scholars frequently referred to algebra as indian calculation. 19. which of the following most likely explains why muslims such as ibn sina would have been interested in studying the philosophical ideas discussed in the second paragraph? (a) the adoption of greek ideas of republican and democratic governance shaped the early development of the islamic caliphate. (b) the use of observation and logic in studying the natural world was part of a muslim intellectual tradition. (c) muslim intellectuals were heavily influenced by polytheistic mystery religions. (d) greco-roman concepts of rigid social and ethnic hierarchies heavily influenced the early muslim community.

Explanation:

Ibn Sina's study of philosophical ideas (like those of Aristotle, Euclid, and the Almagest) can be related to the Muslim intellectual tradition. Islam has a long - standing tradition of using observation and logic in various fields of study, including natural sciences (as mentioned in the text where he studied natural sciences and metaphysics).

• Option A: Greek ideas of republican and democratic governance did not shape the early Islamic caliphate. The caliphate had its own distinct political and religious basis.
• Option C: Islam is a monotheistic religion, and Muslim intellectuals were not influenced by polytheistic mystery religions.
• Option D: Greco - Roman concepts of rigid social and ethnic hierarchies did not heavily influence the early Muslim community. Islam emphasized the equality of believers in many aspects.

Answer:

B. The use of observation and logic in studying the natural world was part of a Muslim intellectual tradition.