Ibn Rushd (14 April 1126 - 11 December 1198), known in Latin Europe as Averroes, was an Andalusian polymath who wrote on Islamic jurisprudence, theology, medicine, astronomy, and philosophy, and is best known for his commentaries on the works of Aristotle and for his defense of philosophical inquiry against critics within Islamic theology. He served as a judge (qadi) in Seville and Córdoba and later as court physician to the Almohad caliphs. His philosophical project centered on reconciling Aristotelian rationalism with Islamic revelation, a position that placed him in direct dialogue and dispute with al-Ghazali and in a broader tradition shared with Avicenna. Interpretations of how thoroughly he subordinated revelation to reason, and of how his work was received and transformed in the Latin West, remain contested; see ibn-rushd-viewpoint-rationalist-interpretation-viewpoint and ibn-rushd-viewpoint-traditionalist-interpretation-viewpoint.
Scholars broadly agree on the outline of Ibn Rushd's biography and the structure of his major works, including his three tiers of commentary on Aristotle (short epitomes, middle commentaries, and long commentaries) and his theological treatise *The Decisive Treatise* (Fasl al-Maqal), which argued that philosophy and revealed law are not in conflict when both are properly understood. His *Incoherence of the Incoherence* (Tahafut al-Tahafut) was written as a point-by-point response to al-Ghazali's earlier critique of philosophers. The degree of his influence on later Islamic intellectual history, relative to his reception in medieval Europe where his commentaries shaped the school of thought known as Averroism, remains debated; see ibn-rushd-viewpoint-decline-narrative-viewpoint and ibn-rushd-viewpoint-continuity-viewpoint. For background on his life and the historical context of Almohad-era Córdoba, see ibn-rushd-history.