Draft:Mutakallim
Mutakallim (Arabic: مُتَکَلِّم) or **Theologian** is a scholar of Islamic theology ('Ilm al-Kalam) who engages in extracting religious doctrines from sacred texts and defending them rationally.
A Mutakallim differs from a philosopher (faylasuf); because a Mutakallim has accepted the presuppositions of religious beliefs and considers himself obliged to defend them, whereas a philosopher has no commitment to defend religious doctrines and merely engages in knowing the truth of existence.
In Shi'a theology, Textualism (Naṣṣ-garāʾī) and Rationalism (ʿAql-garāʾī) are considered two main approaches; Al-Shaykh al-Saduq is an example of a textualist theologian, and Al-Shaykh al-Mufid, Al-Sayyid al-Murtada, and Al-Shaykh al-Tusi are examples of rationalist theologians.
Semantics
A scholar of Islamic theology is called a Mutakallim.[1] The science of Kalam is a science by the help of which a Mutakallim can prove religious beliefs by presenting arguments and refuting doubts.[2] In other words, Kalam is a science by the help of which a person (Mutakallim) can support and defend specific opinions and actions explicitly stated by the Lawgiver (Shari') through speech and refute whatever opposes it.[3]
Duties of a Mutakallim
Inferring religious beliefs and doctrines from sacred texts and defending these doctrines have been counted as the most important duties of a Mutakallim.[4] After the inference of religious doctrines by the Mutakallim, defending them is possible through the following activities:
- Categorizing and systematizing the doctrines inferred from religious texts;
- Explaining and clarifying those doctrines and analyzing their foundations and implications if needed;
- Proving and substantiating those doctrines;
- Refuting doubts raised against these doctrines or beliefs;
- Refuting beliefs opposing religion even if they are not raised as doubts.[5]
Based on this, a Mutakallim is someone who plays a role in the two stations of inferring religious doctrines and defending them by combining rational and transmitted (naqlī) methods. Therefore, according to Reza Berenjkar, a theology researcher and professor at the Seminary of Qom, if someone suffices only with inferring religious doctrines and does not engage in defending them, he is not called a Mutakallim.[6]
Difference between Mutakallim and Philosopher
Differences have been stated between a Mutakallim and a philosopher, some of which are as follows:
- A Mutakallim considers himself obliged and committed to defend the sanctuary of religion; whereas a philosopher is not committed to defend religion and his goal is knowing the truth of existence in a free manner.[7]
- A Mutakallim accepts religious beliefs beforehand and then sets out to prove or defend them;[8] but a philosopher does not set out to prove predetermined contents.[9]
- Both Mutakallim and philosopher rely on rational arguments, with the difference that the Mutakallim resorts to arguments based on principles such as Rational Good and Evil (al-husn wa l-qubh al-'aqliyyayn), the Rule of Grace (Qa'idat al-Lutf), and the Necessity of the most advantageous (Wujub al-aslah), but the philosopher bases his argument on rational self-evident truths (badihiyyat) such as the "impossibility of the conjunction and removal of two contradictories".[10]
- Both Mutakallim and philosopher discuss "being qua being" (al-mawjud bima huwa mawjud), its attributes and accidents; with the difference that the Mutakallim in his arguments and syllogisms must use premises that correspond with issues proven through the appearances of the Sharia; but the philosopher uses premises that correspond with purely rational laws, whether they are compatible with the appearances of the Sharia or not, and if they are not compatible, he makes them compatible with rational laws through interpretation (ta'wil).[11]
Textualist and Rationalist Theologians
Muslim theologians are divided into two categories: Textualist and Rationalist. Rationalism in the discussions of theology refers to an approach that does not ignore the role of reason and other ordinary tools of acquiring knowledge for knowing religious teachings, and Textualism is an approach that warns religious people against rational evaluation of religious beliefs and believes that religious teachings must be derived from religious texts and revelatory sources.[12] It is said that Al-Shaykh al-Saduq is among the textualist theologians, and theologians such as Al-Shaykh al-Mufid, Al-Sayyid al-Murtada, and Al-Shaykh al-Tusi are counted among the representatives of the rationalist approach in Shi'a theology.[13] Rationalism has been counted as one of the most important characteristics of the School of Baghdad[14] and Textualism as one of the important characteristics of the School of Qom.[15]
Shi'a Theologians
Theological Principles of Shi'a Theologians
Some of the theological principles of Shi'a theologians and their difference from Sunni theologians are as follows:
- By accepting Rational Good and Evil, Shi'a theologians consider the knowledge of God to be rationally obligatory due to the Obligation of thanking the benefactor (wujub shukr al-mun'im) and the Obligation of warding off probable harm (wujub daf' al-darar al-muhtamal); whereas the Ash'arites (a Sunni theological sect), by denying rational Good and Evil, have considered the knowledge of God to be legally (shar'i) obligatory.[16]
- In the Attributes of God, Shi'a theologians believe in the identity of Attributes with the Divine Essence;[17] while Ash'arites believe in the Attributes being additional to the Divine Essence.
- In the issue of Determinism and Free Will, unlike the Mu'tazila who believe in Tafwid (Delegation) and unlike the Ash'arites who believe in Kasb (Acquisition), Shi'a theologians, using the narrations of the Infallible Imams (a), have accepted the theory of Amr bayn al-amrayn (A matter between the two matters).[18]
- In the issue of Imamate and Caliphate after the Prophet (s), unlike Sunni theologians, Shi'a theologians have consensus that Imam Ali (a) was the immediate successor of the Prophet (s) and was appointed by him through explicit designation (Nass Jali).[19]
Famous Shi'a Theologians
Some of the famous Shi'a theologians are:
Notes
- ↑ Dehkhodā, Lughat-nāma, under the word Mutakallim.
- ↑ Ījī, Al-Mawāqif, p. 7.
- ↑ Fārābī, Iḥṣāʾ al-ʿulūm, 1996, p. 84.
- ↑ Birinjkār, Rawish-shināsī-yi ʿilm-i kalām, 1391 Sh, p. 22.
- ↑ See: Birinjkār, Rawish-shināsī-yi ʿilm-i kalām, 1391 Sh, pp. 22-23; Malikiyān, "Sukhanrānī-yi Muṣṭafā Malikiyān dar rūnamāyī az kitāb-i Falsafa-yi andīsha-yi dīnī".
- ↑ Birinjkār, Rawish-shināsī-yi ʿilm-i kalām, 1391 Sh, p. 23.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Āshnāyī bā ʿulūm-i islāmī: bakhsh-i falsafa, 1388 Sh, p. 179.
- ↑ Ḥasan-Zāda Āmulī, Maʾāthir āthār, 1386 Sh, vol. 2, p. 101.
- ↑ "Farq-i faylasūf wa ḥakīm", website of Barnāma-yi Maʿrifat.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Āshnāyī bā ʿulūm-i islāmī: bakhsh-i falsafa, 1388 Sh, pp. 178-179.
- ↑ Lāhījī, Shawāriq al-ilhām, 1428 AH, vol. 1, p. 70.
- ↑ Sharīʿatmadārī & Tawakulī Muḥammadī, "ʿAql-garāʾī wa naṣṣ-garāʾī dar kalām-i islāmī bā barrasī-yi dīdgāh-i Shaykh Ṭūsī wa Ibn Idrīs", p. 30.
- ↑ Sharīʿatmadārī & Tawakulī Muḥammadī, "ʿAql-garāʾī wa naṣṣ-garāʾī dar kalām-i islāmī bā barrasī-yi dīdgāh-i Shaykh Ṭūsī wa Ibn Idrīs", p. 33.
- ↑ Farmāniyān & Ṣādiqī Kāshānī, Nigāhī bi tārīkh-i tafakkur-i Imāmiyya, 1394 Sh, p. 57.
- ↑ Jaʿfarī, "Muqāyisa-ī miyān-i dū maktab-i fikrī-yi Shīʿa dar Qum wa Baghdād dar qarn-i chāhārum-i hijrī", p. 16.
- ↑ Subḥānī, Al-Inṣāf fī masāʾil dāma fīhā l-khilāf, vol. 3, p. 34.
- ↑ For example, see: Baḥrānī, Qawāʿid al-marām fī ʿilm al-kalām, 1406 AH, p. 101.
- ↑ ʿAllāma Ḥillī, Nahj al-ḥaqq wa kashf al-ṣidq, p. 101.
- ↑ ʿAllāma Ḥillī, Kashf al-murād fī sharḥ tajrīd al-iʿtiqād, 1437 AH, pp. 497-498.
References
- ʿAllāma Ḥillī, Ḥasan b. Yūsuf al-. Kashf al-murād fī sharḥ tajrīd al-iʿtiqād. Qom, Muʾassasat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 16th ed., 1437 AH.
- ʿAllāma Ḥillī, Ḥasan b. Yūsuf al-. Nahj al-ḥaqq wa kashf al-ṣidq. Beirut, Dār al-Kitāb al-Lubnānī, 1st ed., 1982.
- Baḥrānī, Ibn Maytham al-. Qawāʿid al-marām ilā ʿilm al-kalām. Qom, Maktabat Āyatullāh Marʿashī Najafī, 2nd ed., 1406 AH.
- Birinjkār, Riḍā. Rawish-shināsī-yi ʿilm-i kalām. Qom, Muʾassasa-yi ʿIlmī Farhangī-yi Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1st ed., 1391 Sh.
- Dehkhodā, ʿAlī Akbar. Lughat-nāma. Tehran, Muʾassasa-yi Intishārāt wa Chāp-i Dānishgāh-i Tihrān, 1377 Sh.
- Fārābī, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Iḥṣāʾ al-ʿulūm. Beirut, Dār wa Maktabat al-Hilāl, 1996.
- Farmāniyān, Mahdī & Muṣṭafā Ṣādiqī Kāshānī. Nigāhī bi tārīkh-i tafakkur-i Imāmiyya; az āghāz tā ẓuhūr-i Ṣafawiyya. Qom, Pazhūhishgāh-i ʿUlūm wa Farhang-i Islāmī, 1st ed., 1394 Sh.
- "Farq-i faylasūf wa ḥakīm". Website of Barnāma-yi Maʿrifat. Posted: 3 Dey 1389 Sh. Accessed: 26 Bahman 1400 Sh.
- Ḥasan-Zāda Āmulī, Ḥasan. Maʾāthir āthār. Qom, Intishārāt-i Alif. Lām. Mīm., 1386 Sh.
- Ījī, ʿAdud al-Dīn al-. Al-Mawāqif fī ʿilm al-kalām. Beirut, ʿĀlam al-Kutub, n.d.
- Jaʿfarī, Yaʿqūb. "Muqāyisa-ī miyān-i dū maktab-i fikrī-yi Shīʿa dar Qum wa Baghdād dar qarn-i chāhārum-i hijrī". in Maqālāt-i Fārsī (Majmūʿa maqālāt-i kungira-yi Shaykh Mufīd, vol. 69). Qom, Kungira-yi Jahānī-yi Hazāra-yi Shaykh Mufīd, 1st ed., 1413 AH.
- Lāhījī, ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-. Shawāriq al-ilhām. Qom, Muʾassasa-yi Imām Ṣādiq (a), 1428 AH.
- Malikiyān, Muṣṭafā. "Sukhanrānī-yi Muṣṭafā Malikiyān dar rūnamāyī az kitāb-i Falsafa-yi andīsha-yi dīnī". Website of Sedanat. Accessed: 25 Bahman 1400 Sh.
- Muṭahharī, Murtaḍā. Āshnāyī bā ʿulūm-i islāmī: bakhsh-i falsafa. Qom, Intishārāt-i Ṣadrā, 1388 Sh.
- Sharīʿatmadārī, Ḥamīd Riḍā & Murtaḍā Tawakulī Muḥammadī. "ʿAql-garāʾī wa naṣṣ-garāʾī dar kalām-i islāmī bā barrasī-yi dīdgāh-i Shaykh Ṭūsī wa Ibn Idrīs". Pazhūhishgāh-i Kalām. No. 1, Autumn and Winter 1393 Sh.
- Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. Al-Inṣāf fī masāʾil dāma fīhā l-khilāf.