Ibn Kammuna

Ibn Kammuna, born Sa'd ibn Mansur (1215 to 1284), was a Jewish physician and philosopher of Baghdad who wrote extensive commentaries on Islamic philosophers, including Avicenna and Suhrawardi, his study of Suhrawardi's Talwihat ranking among the most thorough treatments of Illuminationist philosophy. He is best known for Tanqih al-Abhath li'l-Milal al-Thalath, the Examination of the Three Faiths, a comparative study of Christianity, Judaism and Islam that subjected Islamic doctrine to sustained critical scrutiny, questioning claims made for Muhammad and arguing that many conversions to Islam had come through coercion or material advantage rather than conviction. The book's circulation provoked serious unrest in Baghdad, and in 1284 a threatening mob forced his secret removal, hidden in a leather covered box, to Hillah, where he lived until his death; some later sources suggest he may have converted to Twelver Shi'ism in his final months, though this remains disputed.