Philosophic and theological issues

1. Philosophic and theological issues Creeds and Movements

2. Creeds: Arabic: ‘aqīda (‘aqā’id): Christianity developed in such a way that the major problems were those which had to be resolved by theology. In Islam, the issues involved great theological concerns, but many were much more closely tied to the Qur’an than is typical of parallel Christian concerns and Scriptures.

3. Three Important “Creeds” • Fiqh Akbar – Abu Hanifa (reproduced in http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Articles/shariah/fiqh_al_akbar.html). • Aqida of al-Tahawi (Hanafi, d. 935): http://islamicweb.com/beliefs/creed/Aqeedatut_Tahaawiyyah.htm • Aqida of IbnTaymiyyah: http://islamicweb.com/beliefs/creed/wasiti/taimiyah_1.htm

4. Fikh Akbar From the website quoted previous slide • Al-Fiqh al-akbar (attributed to Abu Hanifah, d. 767 CE) • Translated by Hamid Algar • Professor of Persian and Islamic Studies, University of California, Berkeley(published in the journal Al-Bayan ca. 1980) • From The Heritage of Islamic Literature • One of the most regrettable features of the contemporary Muslim situation is an anarchy and confusion in the sphere of belief that might lead one to suppose the foundations of Islam to have been so obscured that the field is open to anyone to redefine the religion. We begin with the Fiqh al-Akbar of Imam al-A'zam Abu Hanifa, may God be pleased with him, a brief but comprehensive statement of the irreducible dogmas (‘aqa’id - sing.‘aqidah) of Islam.

5. In the Name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful The root of the affirmation of God's unity, and that which is correct conviction, consists of this, that one says: 1. I believe in God, and His angels, and His books, and His messengers, and resurrection after death, and that the good and evil of destiny are from God Most High. I believe too in the accounting and the scales, hell and paradise. All the foregoing is reality. 2. God is One, not in a numerical sense, but in the sense that He has no partner – "Say: He is God, One; God the Eternally Subsistent and Besought; He begets not, nor was He begotten; and there is none like unto Him." He resembles nothing among His creation, nor does anything among His creation resemble Him. He has been, unceasing, and He is, unceasing, with His names and attributes, both those relating to His Essence and those relating to His acts. As for those relating to His Essence, they are life, power, knowledge, speech, hearing, sight, and will. As for those relating to His acts, they are creativity, sustenance, originating and fashioning ex nihilo, making, and other active attributes. He has been, unceasing, and He is, unceasing, with His attributes and names; neither attribute nor name was created. He has always and unceasingly been a knower, by virtue of His knowledge, and His knowledge is a pre-eternal attribute. He has always and unceasingly been powerful, by virtue of His power, and His power is a pre-eternal attribute. He has always and unceasingly been speaking by virtue of His speech and His speech is a pre-eternal attribute. He has always and unceasingly been a creator, by virtue of His creativity, and His creativity is a pre-eternal attribute.

6. He has always and unceasingly been an agent, by virtue of His activity, and His activity is a pre-eternal attribute; the object of His activity is creation, and His activity is uncreated. His attributes existed in pre-eternity, without being created or called into existence at a particular moment. Whoever says that they are created or summoned into existence at a particular moment, or is uncertain about the attributes and doubts them, is an unbeliever in God Almighty. 3. The Qur'an is the Word of God Almighty, written on collections of leaves (masahif), preserved in men's hearts, recited on men's tongues, and sent down to the Prophet, upon whom be God's peace and blessings. Our uttering of the Qur'an is created, and our recitation of the Qur'an is created, but the Qur'an itself is uncreated. That which God Almighty mentions in the Qur'an as a narration from Moses and other of the prophets – peace and blessings be upon them - and also from the Pharaoh and Iblis, all of it is God's word, and constitutes a report concerning them. God's word is uncreated. It is the Qur'an which as the word of God Most High is uncreated, not their words, Moses, upon whom be peace, heard the Word of God Almighty, as God Almighty says: "God addressed Moses in speech." Thus God Almighty was the speaker, and Moses, upon whom be peace, did not speak. …When God addressed Moses He did so with His word that was, like all of His attributes, an attribute existing from pre-eternity, unlike the attributes of created beings. 4. God knows, but not as we know; He has power, but not as we have power; He sees, but not as we see; He hears, but not as we hear; and He speaks, but not as we speak. We speak by means of the speech organs and sounds, whereas God Most High speaks with neither organs nor sounds. Sounds are created, and the word of God Most High is uncreated….

7. Khārijites: (khawārij) • In first civil war concluded that both parties had leaders who were fallible, sinful, and unfit to govern. They came to believe that “grave sins” kabā’irrequired grave consequences. Some executed grave sinners; or exiled them. “Azraqi” group came to hold sway over large areas of Arabia. NajdiKhawarij were more moderate.

8. Murji’ites • Name from: Sura 9:106 “And others are deferred (murjawna) to God’s commandment…” • Deferred judgment about certain sinners. Probably arose in the aftermath of 2nd civil war (Husayn, Mukhtar). May have been enunciated by son of Muh. ibn al-Hanafiyya. • Accepted Abu Bakr and Umar, but reserved judgment on Uthman and Ali. Their teaching on Uthman and Ali distanced themselves from those who rejected them, and they rejected some of the more radical Shi’ite views.

9. “The identification of faith with true belief to the exclusion of acts, which later became the essential trait of irjā, was clearly implied, though not central, in the earliest Murji’ite teaching.” (EI2)  In the early 8th century, they became even more closely associated with a view that the profession of faith is most important, not the degree to which someone upheld Muslim practices. Jahm b. Safwan: Faith consists primarily as “knowledge in the heart.” The Murji’ites were closely associated with the doctrine of the equality of Arabs and non-Arabs. Murji’ites

10. Qadr vs. Jabr. Qadr “power” used on both sides of this issue. Free will position somewhat anti-Umayyad. Jabr “compulsion” came to be applied to the position that God has total power and initiative in all events The Problem of Reason. Abbasids, c. 750—850 greater interest in philosophic ideas; promoted “house of Wisdom,” intellectual discussions, involved Shia and non-Muslims. Greek to Syriac to Arabic. Hunayn b. Ishaq (d. 873) Ishaq b. Hunayn (d. 911)

11. Mu’tazilis. • The original term represented a group which stood aloof from the debates between the shia, khawarijand Murji’unabout who should rule. Usually considered to be liberals and rationalists, but they instituted the mihna under al-Ma’mun (d. 833), and are known as Ahl al-‘Adlwal-Tawhīd“Justice and unity.”

12. Key Mu’tazili Concepts • Incorporeality. Throne verse (2:255); divine hands, eyes, face, etc. (3:73, 36:71; 11:37; 2:115). These are interpreted without ascribing a body to God. • Incomparability: making God one. • “Negative” attributes: If we say God is powerful or wills something, we do not mean he has a separate attribute called "power" or "will."

13. Key Mu’tazili Concepts • Createdness of the Qur’an: “created in time” • Justice: God always wills Good for His creatures. Humans themselves chose their own acts, and thus determine their destinies. “God can only do what is just”—God’s acts are not just because they are God’s acts but because He cannot do otherwise. • Reason: Reason is paramount in all important matters; what is good can be known from reason. • The conundrum of the three brothers: one bad, one good, and one dies young.

14. Summary: Five points of Mu’tazila: • 1. ‘adl “Justice” • 2. tawhīd “Unity” • 3. Al-Wa‘d wal-Wa‘īd “Threat and promise” • 4. al-Manzila bayna l-manzilatayn “Intermediate status” between sinner and believer, between Paradise and Inferno. • 5. Al-Amr bil-Ma‘rūf wal-nahy ‘an al-Munkar.   Commanding the good and prohibiting the disapproved. (cf. Qur’an 3:104,110, 7:157, 9:71)

15. Ash’arism • Al-Ashari d. 935. • Predestination, the uncreatedness of the Qur'ān, the omnipotence of God , existence of divine attributes although bi-lā kayf "we do not know how."

16. Al-Kindi (d. 870) Al-Farabi  (d. 950) Ibn Sina (d. 1037). “Golden Age” in 12th Century Al-Ghazali d. 1111 Ibn Tufayl d. 1185 Ibn Rushd (Averroes) d. 1198 “Backlash” Response to Philosophy after this time. Falsafa (Philosophy)