Treatises on the Islamic firaq (Sects) and the Origin of Islamic kalām: Early Kufa-Baghdad Literature
This study examines two late 2nd/8th century books that have been edited and published recently: Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Yazīd al-Fazārī (d. c.185/800)’s Kitāb al-Rudūd (The Book of Responses) and Ḍirār b. ʿAmr al-Ġaṭāfānī’s (d. c.200/810) Kitāb al-Taḥrīš (The Book of Provocation). Both texts she...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Studia Islamica
Year: 2025, Volume: 120, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-41 |
| Further subjects: | B
Ibadism
B ʿilm al-munāẓara B Al-Fazārī B J. van Ess B early Islamic kalām B Muʿtazilisme B early Islamic firaq B Ibadisme B Ḍirār b. ʿAmr al-Ġaṭāfānī B firaq des débuts de l’Islam B H. Daiber B Muʿtazilite B kalām des débuts de l’Islam B ʿilm al-ǧadal |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This study examines two late 2nd/8th century books that have been edited and published recently: Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Yazīd al-Fazārī (d. c.185/800)’s Kitāb al-Rudūd (The Book of Responses) and Ḍirār b. ʿAmr al-Ġaṭāfānī’s (d. c.200/810) Kitāb al-Taḥrīš (The Book of Provocation). Both texts shed light on the emergence of ʿilm al-kalām (scholastic theology) in early Islam and its relationship to books and treatises on the Islamic firaq (sects) – a relationship which until now has not been sufficiently examined. In comparing these two texts, we focus on the specific topics they share, the methodologies they use, and the technical terms they employ. We conclude that the emergence of ʿilm al-kalām, as well as the Islamic “contemplative disciplines” in general, occurred not primarily, as is often surmised, as a result of external Greek philosophical influence but rather as the result of a politico-theological debate that took place within Muslim communities. We also reconsider the nature of intellectual life during the early Abbasid period. |
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| ISSN: | 1958-5705 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Studia Islamica
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/19585705-12341508 |
