In his Decisive Treatise, Averroes argues that philosophy and its methods are necessary to acquire knowledge about the world, and that this requires the study of the books of non-Muslim authors (=ancient Greek philosophers; see especially pp. 125-7). He also maintains that such methods (“demonstration”) are necessary to interpret the non-literal, inner meaning of the Qur’an (esp. pp. 128-9). He acknowledges that errors of interpretations are possible and that some are inexcusable, but claims that those incurred by expert scholars are excusable (esp. pp. 132-5). Analyze and explain Averroes’ arguments, discussing how and why they could be criticized by religious traditionalists. Did you read anything in the Qur’an which can be interpreted as supporting Averroes’ opinions (see for ex. sura 3, v. 7)? Do you think his ideas can be seen as an early example of the vindication of the rights of free discussion and debate on religious matters (see esp. paragraphs 15 pp. 129-30, 34-35 p. 134)? Why or why not? Above is the topic of the essay. I attached 2 files: one is the guideline (SUPER-IMPORTANT) and the other is the assigned reading. You can figure out as you read the guideline, I just want to make sure to let you know that there is no specific number of citations required, but you may use the quotation from the text (recommended) or also bring outside sources (but the citation is absolutely required). I want to emphasize that reading the instruction (guideline) is super-important because the instructor said so. A basic summary of it is to write a summary of it (the specific part, not in general) half and then analyze (important) it which “should include some personal reflections, as well as any elements (similarities, textual echoes) you may think of which connect the piece(s) you’re writing about to other readings (and class lectures), including those from other classes or personal interest.” Please let me know if you have any questions or are confused about the instruction. By the way, I just put 4 sources required on the citation style, but you may ignore it and change it depending on the need and your evaluation. In addition, the word limit is “1500” words. It also appears on the guideline page.