MAIMONIDE (Möšeh ben Majmön). — Rabbi and philosopher, known by the abbreviation Rambam (R.M. B.M.), born on the eve of the Jewish Passover (30 March) 1135 in Cordova, died in Egypt on 13 December 1204. His father, a disciple of the Talmudic school of Jishāq al-Fāsī, was a member of the rabbinical court. It was a period of flourishing spiritual life in Andalusia and Castile, with men such as Ibn 'Ezrā' (v.) Levita (v.). The young M. acquired extensive knowledge of Hebrew and Arabic literature; but when he was 14 years old, the fanatical Almohads occupied the city, and the Jews had either to go into exile or convert to Islam (in 1148). Wandering from place to place, M. devoted himself to Arabic philosophy, astronomy, mathematics and the natural sciences, and especially to medicine. From Arabic sources he learned Aristotelian philosophy.
Around 1160 he moved with his family to North Africa and settled in Fez. Here too many Jews had to assume, at least formally, the Islamic faith. A fanatic then circulated a writing claiming that verbal adherence to Islam, even for one who continued to practise Judaism, signified complete apostasy. Fearing that this writing might turn verbal declarations into genuine conversions, M. opposed it with his Letter on Apostasy, in which he maintained that this did not involve embracing the rites of Islam, but rather temporarily pronouncing the formula of faith in Muhammad; apostasy, on the other hand, meant the voluntary renunciation of one’s own convictions.
Before long M. and his family had to take refuge in Palestine (spring 1165). After a perilous journey, they reached Acre. From there they went to Jerusalem, and then to Hebron. From Palestine they moved to Egypt, where they lived first in Alexandria and then in Old Cairo (al-Fustāt). After the death of his brother David, M. devoted himself to the practice of medicine. From 1170 to 1180 he was physician to the Egyptian sultan Saladin and to his vizier. At the same time he stood at the head of the Jewish community of Cairo, and was soon recognized as nāghidh (“prince”) among his Egyptian coreligionists. Requests for legal opinions came to him from many communities of the East, and these were accorded legal authority. In 1168, after ten years of work, he completed his extensive commentary on the Miñāh (v.), written in Arabic. This work was repeatedly translated into Hebrew. The purpose of the work is to make the Miñāh intelligible independently of the discussion of the Gōmārā' (v.). The commentary shows that dogmatics and ethics were of particular concern to him. In the final chapter of the commentary on the treatise Sanhedhrin he speaks of the immortality of the soul, and also presents his thirteen articles of faith: 1) the existence of God the Creator; 2) the absolute unity of God; 3) his incorporeality; 4) his immutability; 5) his eternity and supra-temporality; 6) the duty to serve God alone; 7) the truth of biblical prophecy and, in particular, of Mosaic revelation; 8) the inerrancy of the Tōrāh; 9) its immutability; 10) God’s omniscience; 11) the justice of rewards; 12) the coming of the Messiah; 13) the resurrection of the dead. In the introduction to the treatise 'Abōth, M. deals with the soul and morality.
In Cairo M. gathered into a code entitled Miñāh Tōrāh (“Second Law”) all the laws, dogmas and ritual prescriptions. The code is written in a very clear Hebrew, in order thereby to facilitate religious practice: it is a compendium of oral teaching, as contained in the vast Talmudic literature. The work, completed in 1180, is divided into 14 books; 14 in Hebrew numerical value corresponds to jādh (“hand”), and therefore the work’s second title is Jādh ha-bāzāqāh (“Strong Hand”). Chapter 1 (“Book of Knowledge”) is a philosophical exposition of Jewish dogmatics; the presentation is rationalistic in character: for M., messianism means human brotherhood.
M. wrote in Arabic a treatise on the 613 rabbinical precepts, clearly distinguishing between biblical and Talmudic prescriptions; M.’s Code was the subject of much discussion.
M.’s principal philosophical work, which Gilson defines as “a true summa of Jewish scholastic theology,” is Mōrāh nākhākhim, “The Guide of the Perplexed” (v. GIUDAISMO). M. is also the author of various medical writings in Arabic.