COMMENTS ON ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY BY NASR
PART III
Although Kalaam, theology, is considered outside the
domain of pure philosophy (falsafa), many Islamic thought leaders were
from this disciple, ie mutakalimeen.
Without a brief detour to Kalaam the topic of Islamic philosophy
is not complete.
KALAAM
EARLY
KALAAM
Ali ibn
Abi Talib is
considered the first one to establish the science of kalaam. Nahjal
balagha contains the first rational proofs of the unity of God.
Later due to
Islam’s interaction with Christianity, Mazdeans and Manichaeans, there was a
need to construct its own edifice. It needed to develop creed to prevent
various kinds of errors. Abu Hanifa of 2nd hijra was the
first one in the series of many to develop versions of creed. There was an
initial emphasis on gaining as much knowledge about God as possible.
MUTAZILA
It is the
first systemic school of Kalaam. Founder, Wasil bin Ata 2nd
Hijri, was a student of Hasan Basri but parted his ways. His emphasis
was to use reason in religious matters and the importance of Free Will. Its
influence was at the zenith during Mamun Rashid and waned after that. However,
it did not completely go away. Present day Zaidis of Yemen have adopted Mu’tazila
teachings. Even after its dominance waned, it still had an effect on both Sunni
and Shia kalaam of later centuries.
FIVE
PRINCIPLES OF MUTAZILA:
usul e khamsa, which summarize their basic teachings.
First is the Toheed, Unity of
God. To create a rational concept of God, it was reduced to an
abstract Idea. They rejected anthropomorphism and explained the
Quranic verses dealing with God’s eyes, hands, face etc. with other
interpretations. In denying any attributes to God, they denied the eternity
of Quran as the Word of God. That became their most contested thesis.
Second is Justice Adl. They
liked to call themselves People of the Unity and Justice. God does not will
evil. Evil is created by humans who have been given free will to go either
way.
Third is Promise and threat, wa’d wa al waid.
People are either believers, Momin, sinners, Fasiq or
non-believers, Kafir. The sinners are in between a Muslim and a
non-Muslim. They would be considered a member of Muslim Community while living,
ultimately, they will go to Hell.
Fourth is the in-between position. Manzil bain
manzilatain. It is the expansion
of the third point, and it deals with the question of who is saved and who
is not. The faith, Imaan is not the only possession for to be
saved. Avoidance of sins is a must.
Final is the well-known Islamic principle
of exhorting to perform the Good and forbid the Evil. Amar bil maroof
wa nahi anil munkir
ASHARITE
Early
Asharism.
Abul
Hasan Ashari, late 2nd
hijri was a Mu’tazila follower who changed overnight due to a dream of the
Prophet. He refuted his earlier adherence to the claim that Quran is created.
Although the Asharites are considered orthodox, they posited themselves to seek
an intermediate course between Free thinkers Mu’tazila who made revelation
subservient to reason and the externalists who rejected reason completely.
Differences
from the usul e khamsa of Mu’tazila: They believed in anthropomorphism
of God but defined it different than human physical attributes. Moreover,
while Quran is non-created and eternal, its ink, paper and words are created.
Sinners will go to hell but Prophet can intercede on their behalf if God
willed. They reduced God’s nature to Divine Will from Supreme Reality.
The
concept of atomism.
All things are composed of Atoms, which cannot be further divided. There is no
horizontal causality. It is God’s will and the nature of anything can be
changed by God’s will. God is the only cause.
Maturidi
and Tahawi: Contemporaries of Asharite.
Both were Hanafis,
and presented a more rational version of theology. Maturidi considered it
incumbent on all humans to seek to know God whether they followed Divine Law or
not. Ashari, on the contrary believed that only by following shariat one
can follow God.
Asharism
remained popular with Shafi’is and eventually triumphed over its rivals across
all sects, mostly thanks to later Asharites especially Ghazali
Later
Asharism Muta’akhireen
It is this
Later Theology, which dominated the Muslim world for many centuries to
date. It includes Imam Juwayni and his student Ghazali 5th
hijri, the most celebrated of all Muslim theologians and an outstanding
figure in the history of Sufism. This later Asharism turned more and
more philosophical and reached its peak with Fakhruddin Razi 6th
Hijri, whose work is taught to this day in Azhar.
Kalaam in
Modern World
Nasr
mentions Egyptian Abduh who revived certain Mu’tazila theses and paid
more attention to reason, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Syed Ameer Ali and Iqbal
(esp. if considered his Reconstruction of Religious thoughts). They are all
of mid to late 19th BCE.
Message
of Asharism:
In one
sentence, it will be to make intelligence subservient to Will of God. It
takes away from intellect its function to being able to know God.
Only God
knows, wallahul ilm, explains this concept. A positive effect of this
omnipotentialism is Pure Goodness. If everything depends on the Will of God,
then there has to be inherent goodness in the world.
The concept
of atomism, mentioned above, reduces the reality of phenomenal world
to disconnected units. This world is annihilated and reconnected at
every moment by the Will of God. It denies the horizontal causes of
connection and only relies on the vertical cause, the Straight Path, siratal
mustaqeem as manifested by the Divine Cause.
Despite
its anti-intellectualism, Asharism became the dominant Kalaam in the Sunni world and
became combined in certain circumstances with Sufism.
Although it
became more philosophical with time, it remained an impediment as
seen by most philosophers. It protected the city of Divine Knowledge by
building a wall around it, but did not provide the door to enter it.
Shiite
Kalaam
Ismaili Kalaam is
more philosophical. It is mentioned in the philosophy section
Zaydis of Yemen adopted kalaam
influenced by Mu’tazila thoughts. It still persists
Isna ashari, (Twelve Imam
Shiites) kalam developed much later. Its major work is by the famous scientist Nasir
al Din Tusi 7th Hijri, and later by Jamaluddin Hilli’s Kashafal murad.
Shiite kalaam differs
from Asharism and is more aligned with Sina’s ontology of order of things as
compared to Asharite’s atomism.
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