The Theology of Abū l-Qāsim al-Balkhī/al-Kaʿbī (d. 319/931)

240 Pages·2016·1.489 MB·English

by  Racha el Omari

The Theology of Abū l-Qāsim al-Balkhī/al-Kaʿbī (d. 319/931)
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Islamic Philosophy, Theology
and Science
TEXTS AND STUDIES
Edited by
Hans Daiber
Anna Akasoy
Emilie Savage-Smith
VOLUME 99
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ipts
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The Theology of Abū l-Qāsim
al-Balkhī/al-Kaʿbī (d. 319/931)
By
Racha el Omari
LEIDEN | BOSTON
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Cover illustration: Interior detail; decoration on soffit of arch resting on south pillar (8th-9th century
Abbasid Mosque at Balkh) Copyright Horst P. Schastok, image courtesy of Fine Arts Library, Harvard
University.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Omari, Racha Moujir el, author.
Title: The theology of Abu l-Qasim al-Balkhi/al-Kaʿbi (d. 319/931) /
by Racha el Omari.
Description: Boston ; Leiden : Brill, [2016] | Series: Islamic philosophy,
theology and science ; 99 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
| Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by
publisher; resource not viewed.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015046409 (print) | LCCN 2015044807 (ebook) | ISBN
9789004259683 (E-book) | ISBN 9789004259690 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Kaʿbī, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad 931 or 932. |
Muslim scholars--Biography. | Islam--Doctrines--History. | Motazilites.
Classification: LCC BP80.K28 (print) | LCC BP80.K28 O43 2016 (ebook) | DDC
297.8/34092--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015046409
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issn 0169-8729
isbn 978-90-04-25969-0 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-25968-3 (e-book)
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For My Parents
and
for the Memory of Anas
∵
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Contents
Acknowledgments xi
List of Tables xiii
Introduction 1
Review of Scholarship 5
Biography 8
Works 16
Titles of Lost Works 17
Part 1
Source Criticism
1 The Four Testimonies 29
The Muʿtazilī Testimony 30
The Imāmī Baghdadi Muʿtazilī Testimony 33
The Māturīdī Testimony 34
al-Ashʿarī and the Ashʿarī Testimony 35
Assessment of Testimonies 37
The Attributes 37
Justice 42
Epistemology 46
The Doctrine of Nature 49
The Imāma 50
Summary of al-Kaʿbī’s Theological Doctrines 52
Appendix 1: Articles in the Reconstruction of al-Kaʿbī’s Doctrine of
Justice 81
Appendix 2: Articles in the Reconstruction of al-Kaʿbī’s
Epistemology 84
Appendix 3: Articles in the Reconstruction of al-Kaʿbī’s Cosmology 85
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viii Contents
Part 2
Theology
2 The Attributes 89
al-Kaʿbī’s Precursors on the Attributes 92
al-Naẓẓām 92
Baghdadi Predecessors 95
al-Kaʿbī’s Doctrine of the Attributes 98
The Attributes of Essence and of Act 98
The Scripturalist Basis for Knowing the Attributes 99
The Attributes of Hearing, Seeing, and Volition 99
God’s Speech and God’s Relation to Place 102
The Case of the Basran Muʿtazilī and Māturīdī Testimonies:
Attributes of Essence 103
The Case of the Basran Testimony versus ʿAbd al-Qāhir
al-Baghdādī: Scripture and God’s Names 108
The Case of the Late Ashʿarī Testimony 111
3 Justice 117
An Overview of the Basran Ontology of Acts 122
Early Muʿtazilī Views on Divine Justice 125
al-Kaʿbī’s Doctrine of Justice 133
The Principles for Distinguishing Good from Evil Acts 133
God’s Capacity for Doing Evil 134
The Optimum 136
The Case of the Basran Polemical Testimony: al-Kaʿbī’s Argument
for the Optimum (al-aṣlaḥ) 142
4 Epistemology 149
Overview of Basran Epistemology 150
Early Muʿtazilī Epistemology 154
al-Kaʿbī’s Epistemology 157
The Case of the Basran Polemical Testimony: al-Kaʿbī’s Definition of
Knowledge 162
5 The Doctrine of Nature 166
Early Muʿtazilī Doctrines of Nature 169
al-Kaʿbī’s Doctrine of Nature 175
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