<P> Atomistic philosophies are found very early in Islamic philosophy and was influenced by earlier Greek and to some extent Indian philosophy . Like both the Greek and Indian versions, Islamic atomism was a charged topic that had the potential for conflict with the prevalent religious orthodoxy, but it was instead more often favoured by orthodox Islamic theologians . It was such a fertile and flexible idea that, as in Greece and India, it flourished in some leading schools of Islamic thought . </P> <P> The most successful form of Islamic atomism was in the Asharite school of Islamic theology, most notably in the work of the theologian al - Ghazali (1058--1111). In Asharite atomism, atoms are the only perpetual, material things in existence, and all else in the world is "accidental" meaning something that lasts for only an instant . Nothing accidental can be the cause of anything else, except perception, as it exists for a moment . Contingent events are not subject to natural physical causes, but are the direct result of God's constant intervention, without which nothing could happen . Thus nature is completely dependent on God, which meshes with other Asharite Islamic ideas on causation, or the lack thereof (Gardet 2001). Al - Ghazali also used the theory to support his theory of occasionalism . In a sense, the Asharite theory of atomism has far more in common with Indian atomism than it does with Greek atomism . </P> <P> Other traditions in Islam rejected the atomism of the Asharites and expounded on many Greek texts, especially those of Aristotle . An active school of philosophers in Al - Andalus, including the noted commentator Averroes (1126--1198 CE) explicitly rejected the thought of al - Ghazali and turned to an extensive evaluation of the thought of Aristotle . Averroes commented in detail on most of the works of Aristotle and his commentaries became very influential in Jewish and Christian scholastic thought . </P> <P> While Aristotelian philosophy eclipsed the importance of the atomists in late Roman and medieval Europe, their work was still preserved and exposited through commentaries on the works of Aristotle . In the 2nd century, Galen (AD 129--216) presented extensive discussions of the Greek atomists, especially Epicurus, in his Aristotle commentaries . According to historian of atomism Joshua Gregory, there was no serious work done with atomism from the time of Galen until Gassendi and Descartes resurrected it in the 17th century; "the gap between these two' modern naturalists' and the ancient Atomists marked "the exile of the atom" and "it is universally admitted that the Middle Ages had abandoned Atomism, and virtually lost it ." </P>

Make a summary of the contributions of the different philosophers and scientist about atoms