Kalam (Islamic Theology)

Khojazadah on the issue of The Eternity Of The World

by veysel kaya

In Turkish, published in the "International Symposium on Khojazada Proceedings", Bursa 2011.

Khojazadah has been regarded as one of the scholars who belong to the Fakh al-Dın al-Razi’s School in the Ottoman... more Khojazadah has been regarded as one of the scholars who belong to the Fakh al-Dın al-Razi’s School in the Ottoman thought. Althought he owed quite much to al-Razi in terms of terminology and theological writing style, particularly stressing God`s free-agency he did not maintain al-Razi`s "hesitant" stance in the issue of the eternity of the world. He got close to the Kalam`s position which asserts the world`s impeccable temporality and thus strove to eliminate philosophers` critics. Meanwhile, he severely criticized al-Ghazali in several places where the latter contradicted the philosophers, accusing him of misunderstanding and misjudging the aims of philosophers. It is quite meaningful that he criticized Ghazali for his view “eternal cannot be an effect”, because of which the latter announced that they are unbelievers. In my presentation, I will try to locate Khojazadah`s place in the above-mentioned problem in the light of his remarks on issues like God's attribute of will, infinite regression and the nature of contingency.

Introduction to Islam

by David Drennan

La Trobe Journal, no. 89 (2012): 9-19

This brief article aims to give a thorough overview of Islamic beliefs and practices for those unfamiliar with the... more This brief article aims to give a thorough overview of Islamic beliefs and practices for those unfamiliar with the religious tradition. It also aims to allow the opportunity for further reading on the subject, citing a wide variety of scholarly texts written for non-specialist audiences.

The article is divided into sections giving a brief overview of early Islamic history and Muhammad's lifetime, the primary Islamic religious sources, namely, the Qur'an and Sunna, the Five Pillars of Islamic practice, foundational Islamic creedal beliefs, the Shari'a, and finally, Sufism.

The pre-edited version of the paper is included here.

Life and Works of Abu l-Hasan al-Ash'ari (Spanish)

by Carlos Segovia

"Vida y obra de Abu l-Hasan al-Ash'ari," Revista Española de Filosofía Medieval 12 (2005) 253-60.

Zoroastrian Mystic Neoplatonist or Mutezilite? The Curious Case of Said b. Dadhurmuz in terms of His Risala fi al-Tawhid

by veysel kaya

Forthcoming article with the edited Arabic text based on the unique MS in Bursa.

Light upon Light: Succession in the Shia Ismaili Imamat

by Khalil Andani

Published by IsmailiMail

In Shi‘a Isma‘ili Islam, the succession of the Imamate – including the demise of the predecessor and the enthronement... more In Shi‘a Isma‘ili Islam, the succession of the Imamate – including the demise of the predecessor and the enthronement of his successor – is an event which combines both clarity as well as ambiguity. The face of the succession is clear – this Imam has succeeded thatImam. But the underlying matters are nebulous and in modern times are often subject to speculation: How is the next Imam chosen? Does the Imam-to-be know of his own status beforehand? Was he prepared for his function? Why does the Imamate continue in a single line of male descent? This article, written from a theological perspective, will explore these questions pertaining to the Isma‘ili Imamate and the matter of succession in light of some of the historical sources from the intellectual heritage of Isma‘ilism.

Shi'a Isma'ili Muslim Christology: Jesus in Classical Isma'ili Thought

by Khalil Andani

Presented at "The Christology Symposium: Multiple Perspectives within Christianity and Islam" held at the University of Toronto (St. Michael's College), March 15, 2012

“…the conditions of the dialogue between Christianity and Islam change completely as soon as the interlocutor... more “…the conditions of the dialogue between Christianity and Islam change completely as soon as the interlocutor represents not legalistic Islam but this spiritual Islam, whether it be that of Sufism or of Shi‘ite gnosis.”
(Henry Corbin, Spiritual Body and Celestial Earth, Prologue)

Khalil Andani’s presentation titled "Shi‘a Isma‘ili Muslim Christology: Jesus in Classical Isma‘ili Thought" summarized some of the classical Isma‘ili Muslm perspectives on Jesus which stem from the Fatimid Isma‘ili discourse on the absolute transcendence of God, the Universal Intellect (al-‘aql al-kull), and the Cycles of the Natiqs (Prophets) and the Imams. The presentation concluded by sharing an Isma‘ili ta’wil (esoteric interpretation) of the Christian Cross and the Islamic Shahada as outlined in the writings of Abu Yaqub al-Sijistani and Ja’far ibn Mansur al-Yaman which demonstrate the ecumenical and pluralistic approaches of the Fatimid Isma‘ili thinkers.

The Metaphysics of the Common Word: A Dialogue of Eckhartian and Isma'ili Gnosis (Part 1)

by Khalil Andani

This essay—the first of two parts—presents a comparative dialogue between the Trinitarian metaphysics of Christianity... more This essay—the first of two parts—presents a comparative dialogue between the Trinitarian metaphysics of Christianity as taught by Meister Eckhart and the metaphysics of Islam as elucidated in Shi'a Isma'ili theosophy. This important study, which we believe to be the first of its kind, compares the three Persons of the Christian Trinity with the three highest hypostases of Isma'ili gnosis. In this first installment, the author puts forth the premises for a metaphysical dialogue and outlines the correspondence between the degrees of Beyond-Being and Being as described by Meister Eckhart and the Isma'ili theosophers. This is followed by a detailed comparison of the Eckhartian notion of the Godhead (Gottheit) and the Isma'ili concept of the Divine Essence or the Originator (al-Mubdi) as well as their respective apophatic discourses on the nature of the Ultimate Reality. The first part concludes with a comparison of Eckhart's concept of the Father and the Isma'ili concept of the Divine Command (Amr) in light of the concept of Pure Being. The second installment, which will continue the metaphysical and hypostatic comparisons, is to be published in volume 27 of Sacred Web.

كارگرايى كلامى در دوران ميانى جهان اسلام

by Sabine Schmidtke زابينه اشميتكه סבינה שמיטקה

ترجمه حميد عطايى نظري
آينه پژوهش 132 (1390) 7-19
Being a Persian translation of "Theological Rationalism in the Medieval World of Islam", al-Usur al-wusta 20 i (April 2008), pp. 17-22

The 'Aqidah of Tuan Guru

by Auwais Rafudeen

This is an English translation of Tuan Guru's transcription of the Ummul Barahin, a late Ashari theological treatise... more This is an English translation of Tuan Guru's transcription of the Ummul Barahin, a late Ashari theological treatise by Shatkh Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Sanusi [d. 1490]of Tlemcen. A commentary by one of Shaykh al-Sanusi's students, Shaykh Abdullah al-Malali was also transcribed.

A parallel mode of being: the Sanūsīyyah and intellectual subversion in Cape Town, 1800-1840 (Part 1)

by Auwais Rafudeen

Journal for the Study of Religion Vol.18(1) 2005: 77-95

Shaykh ‘Abdullāh ibn Qāḍī ‘Abdus Salām [1712- 1807], more commonly known in Cape Town as Tuan Guru or “Esteemed... more Shaykh ‘Abdullāh ibn Qāḍī ‘Abdus Salām [1712- 1807], more commonly known in Cape Town as Tuan Guru or “Esteemed Master”, is generally acknowledged as the personality mainly responsible for the formal establishment of Islam in Cape Town.  This “High Priest”  of the Muslim community established South Africa’s first Muslim school [madrasah]and mosque. But his literary and intellectual legacy was of even greater significance: it was a legacy that provided the impetus for the development of the first written Afrikaans  and which, more profoundly, shaped the worldview of the Cape Muslim community for the centuries to come. This worldview is contained in Tuan Guru’s transcription of a classic text on Islamic belief, entitled the Ummul Barāhīn[The Demonstrative Proofs], together with one of its commentaries. The Ummul Barāhīn was authored by a North African scholar, Shaykh Muḥammad bin Yūsuf al-Sanūsī [1435/36 – 1490] and thus was also known as the Sanūsīyyah [Sanūsi’s]. The commentary transcribed by Tuan Guru is that of a student of Shaykh Sanūsi’s, Shaykh ‘Abdullāh al-Malāli.  The transcription of the Ummul Barāhīn, though, is only one component of Tuan Guru’s massive compendium of Islamic knowledge - often called the M‘arifat ul-Islām [Knowledge of Islam] – which in addition  consists of ḥadīth [Prophetic sayings], fiqh [Islamic law], supplications, amulets and transcriptions of parts of the Qurān.  The focus of this two-part essay is not on these more pietistic sections of the compendium, but on the theological Ummul Barāhīn and its commentary, hereinafter referred to as the ‘transcription’ or ‘text’. Part one deals with the implications of its contents, while the second part contextualises its transmission in nineteenth century Cape Town. 

What did the transcription mean to those who held its perspective and for the way they related to those who did not? By juxtaposing a debate regarding the reasons for rapid Islamic conversion in the early nineteenth century with an analysis of the content of the transcription, this section of the  paper suggests that the transcription oriented the Muslim slaves and free blacks in a fully coherent, rationally enunciated and self-sustaining worldview that, on the one hand, provided cognitive grounds for their beliefs while, on the other, shielded them from arguments that may have been advanced by Christian missionaries and, more significantly, dissolved the temporal power of their colonial “masters” by locating it within a wider ontological sphere. This self-sustaining ontology necessarily implies a mode of being, a mode of relating to reality that ran parallel, as it were, to these other modes, not being dominated by them and indeed, since “true”, to be privileged over them.

A parallel mode of being: the Sanūsīyyah and intellectual subversion in Cape Town, 1800-1840 (Part two)

by Auwais Rafudeen

Journal for the Study of Religion Vol. 18(2) 2005: 23-38

This second part of this essay seeks to locate the transmission of the text within the socio-political context of the... more This second part of this essay seeks to locate the transmission of the text within the socio-political context of the Cape at the turn of the nineteenth century. Whereas the  previous section argued that the spectacular growth  of Cape Islam in this period was rooted in the ontology of the text, this part examines the ways in which this ontology found social expression.  It does this by providing an overview of the slaves and free-blacks – the classes to whom the text was addressed-; locating the role of the text in the formation of a distinct Muslim community extracted from these classes; and finally exploring the modalities of its transmission which were underpinned by the ethics of the master-disciple relationship drawn from classical Islam. It suggests that while the subversion of ruling class hegemony precipitated by the text took place in covert, intellectual terms - in terms of a change in mindset- its social concomitants were no less revolutionary for that. 

Dios ante los hombres en las concepciones islámicas (de la teología negativa a la théosis)

by Salvador Peña

Published in 'Dios en las tres culturas', edited by J. Choza, J. de Garay and J.J. Padial, Sevilla: Thémata, 2012.

It is an over-simplification to maintain that there is and have been a single Islamic ideal of the attitude of mankind... more It is an over-simplification to maintain that there is and have been a single Islamic ideal of the attitude of mankind towards God. Negative theology (tanazzuh) and 'théosis' (ta'alluh) are examined here, as two relevant instances of such heterogeneous conceptions.

Al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī: His Writings on Theology and Their Reception

by Sabine Schmidtke زابينه اشميتكه סבינה שמיטקה

with Hassan Ansari

in: The Study of Shīʿī Islam: The State of the Field, Issues of Methodology and Recent Developments, eds. Farhad Daftary and Gurdofarid Miskinzoda, London: I.B. Tauris [forthcoming]

Van vreemde herkomst

by Ruud Peters

Muʿtazilism in a 20th Century Zaydī Qurʾān Commentary

by Gregor Schwarb أغريغور شوارب גריגור שוורב

to be published in Arabica 59,3-4 (2012):371–402

The Zaydīs in Yemen are the only current within Islam that fostered the continuous transmission and study of Muʿtazilī... more The Zaydīs in Yemen are the only current within Islam that fostered the continuous transmission and study of Muʿtazilī kalām up to the present time. This article aims to examine the presence and quality of Muʿtazilī kalām in a major Zaydī composition of the 20th century, namely ʿAlī b. Muḥammad al-ʿAǧrī’s (1320-1407/1902-1987) Miftāḥ al-saʿāda, which was completed in May 1952. The Miftāḥ and other works of Zaydī scholars written during the first half of the 20th century provide us with valuable insights into Zaydī-Hādawī scholarship in Northern Yemen prior to the Republican revolution of 1962 and furnish important information about the education of 20th century Zaydī-Hādawī scholars and the contents of their libraries. The wide range of Muʿtazilī and non-Muʿtazilī sources used and quoted in the Miftāḥ sheds light on the distinct impact of various phases of a centuries-old school- and teaching-tradition.

Kalam and the Kalama Sutta

by Dion Peoples

Képi ábrázolás és annak teológiai tilalma az iszlámban

by Csilla Nelli Gyöngyösi

A 2011. november 12.-én, a Székek. Vizuális találkozások a hatalommal című konferencián magyarul elhangzott előadás kibővített változata.)

Az iszlám egyrészt teológiai megfontolásokból, másrészt a szöveghez való ragaszkodából tiltja a képi ábrázolást a... more Az iszlám egyrészt teológiai megfontolásokból, másrészt a szöveghez való ragaszkodából tiltja a képi ábrázolást a szent terekben és a szent tárgyakon. Láthatjuk, hogy ennek ellenére mégis létezik bizonyos körülmények között figuratív művészet. Az iszlám művészet azonban mégis a szövegben talál leginkább magára, akkor, amikor a szöveget inspirációként, képként, művészetként értelmezheti.

Jihadi-Salafist Creed: Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi’s imperatives of faith.

by Orhan Elmaz

Rüdiger Lohlker (ed.), New Approaches to the Analysis of Jihadism. Online and offline, pp. 15-36. Göttingen: Vienna University Press, 2011.

FĪ UṢŪL AL-ḤİWĀR WA TAJDĪD ʿILM AL-KALĀM by Ṭāhā ʿAbd Al-Raḥmān

by veysel kaya

Book Review

La causalité selon al-Ḥākim al-Ǧišumī

by Jan Thiele

Arabica 59iii-iv (2012), pp. 291-318 [in press]

Al-Ḥākim al-Ǧišumī, auteur bahšamite et zaydite, principalement connu pour son œuvre exégétique, a composé... more Al-Ḥākim al-Ǧišumī, auteur bahšamite et zaydite, principalement connu pour son œuvre exégétique, a composé d’importants textes théologiques. Parmi ces textes se trouve une somme de théologie intitulée K. al- Taʾṯīr wa-l-muʾaṯṯir fī ʿilm al-kalām. Cette somme nous est parvenue grâce à un manuscrit unique conservé au Yémen. La première partie de ce livre aborde le sujet de la causalité d’après l’approche muʿtazilite, et examine les diverses notions et catégories des causes. Présenté par son auteur comme une synthèse des idées des grands maîtres Abū ʿAlī al-Ǧubbāʾī, Abū Hāšim al-Ǧubbāʾī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Baṣrī et ʿAbd al-Ǧabbār, ce texte semble être le plus ancien exposé systématique écrit par un muʿtazilite qui nous soit parvenu dans ce domaine.

Al-Ḥākim al-Ǧišumī, a Bahšamī and Zaydī author who is primarily known for his exegetical work, composed a number of important theological texts. Among these we find a theological summa entitled K. al-Taʾṯīr wa-l-muʾaṯṯir fī ʿilm al-kalām, which has been preserved in a unique manuscript in Yemen. The first part of the book deals with the issue of causality according to the Muʿtazilī approach and examines various notions and categories of causes. The author presents his work as a synthesis of ideas of the outstanding masters Abū ʿAlī al-Ǧubbāʾī, Abū Hāšim al-Ǧubbāʾī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Baṣrī and ʿAbd al-Ǧabbār. The text appears to be the oldest extant systematic treatise by a Muʿtazilī written on this subject.