Vexhi Buharaja on Islamic and Jewish Medieval Philosophy: Some Critical Notes

This study focuses on the analysis of the unfinished manuscript of the Orientalist Vexhi Buharaja in relation to Islamic and Jewish Philosophical Thought. Its aim is not only to highlight the ideological importance of this manuscript but also to examine, clarify, supplement, highlight and criticize its substantive nature in the light of new academic sources, facts and references. The method used for this paper is the hermeneutic one which deconstructs the text and offers an interpretation of it on the basis of the internal evidence and proofs it contains. For this purpose, a comparative approach between the text itself and new bibliographical sources is more than necessary. The article is conceived in 3 parts. It offers a brief introduction to the author's translation activity from oriental languages ​​and his specific interest in Mysticism and Islamic philosophical thought. This section highlights his translation contribution from Eastern languages ​​such as Persian, Ottoman, Modern Turkish and Arabic, with the arrival in Albanian of masterpieces such as: Firdaus' "Shahnameh", Sa'adi Shirazi' s "Bustan and Gulistan", Naim Frashëri' s "Tahayyülat" & "Fusuli erbea", Hasan Tahsini' s "Psikoloji yâhûd İlm-i Rûh" (Psychology or the Science of the Spirit) but also of polyhedral figures such as Riza Tefik Bylykbashi, Muḥammad Farīd Wajdī, Taha Hussein, etc. The second section proposes a possible hypothesis regarding the time of writing of the manuscript in question. In my judgment, this manuscript was likely written during the period 1940-1944, when Buharaja was working at the editorial office of the Albanian Muslim Community magazine "The Islamic Culture". The form, the writing style, its apologetic nature (most likely forged as a writing in the heat of controversy in the Time Press with the Italian Jesuit Missionaries) but also the youthful vigor and pathos are a clear and supportive indicator of the aforementioned hypothesis. Also, by analyzing the historical context and facts from the Buharaja' s life, the reasons why this manuscript remained unfinished are given. While in the last part, the content of this manuscript is analyzed, which begins with the birth of Islamic Civilization, continues with translation activity and the birth of Islamic Philosophical Thought, culminates with the biographies of its two first thinkers, Al Kindi and Al Farabi, and ends with the great Jewish thinker Moses Maimonides, also part of the Golden Age of Islamic Civilization. The original text of Buharaja, its interpretation and commentary are merged as a single body within this study, the values ​​of the manuscript are judged in relation to the time of writing, while at its conclusion, some recommendations are offered and the relevant conclusions are given.