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Introduction to the History of

I s lamic Theology

Mehdi Azaiez – Assistant Professor of Islamic Theology

www.mehdi-azaiez.org - mehdi.azaiez@theo.kuleuven.be Winter 2014 - KU Leuven

The Alhambra (Al-Ḥamrā'), Granada, Spain

Course description

« This is a science that involves arguing with logical proofs in defense of the articles of faith and refuting innovators who deviate in their dogmas from the early Muslims and Muslim orthodoxy. The real core of the articles of faith is the oneness of God (tawḥīd). » (Ibn H ̱aldūn, Muqaddima, VI, §14) This course is an introduction to the History of the Islamic Theology organised into three general sections.

• The first section will explore the origins and the early development of ‘Ilm al Kalām. • The second section will study some important forms, concepts and content introduced by some fundamental

texts of Islamic Theology in interaction with the other major religious disciplines: Exegesis, Jurisprudence, Heresiography, Sufism and Islamic philosophy.

• The third section will be devoted to the modern theological debates in muslim countries. We will consider new questions such as : How have modern contexts shaped Muslim reformers’ understanding of the Qurʾān and of the Islamic tradition, and how have the reformers’ interpretations recontextualized Islamic classical theology ?

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I. Aims At the end of the course the student is able to : Knowledge

• Know some important forms, concepts and content of Islamic Theology • Know Topics on Early Debates in Islamic Theology • Know some Muslim reformers’ understanding of the Qurʾān and of the Islamic tradition

Skills

• Familiarize students with crucial texts in the development of ‘Ilm al Kalām Attitude

• To enter into critical debate with different critical scholarly reflections on the evolution and major themes of pre-modern Muslim theology

Planning (subject to minor changes)

I. Introduction (September, 25)

UNIT 1. An Introduction to the Early History of Islamic Theology

II. ‘Ilm al Kalām: a definition (October, 2) T. Winter, Introduction Ibn H ̱aldūn (d. 1406), The Muqaddimah: an introduction to

history / Ibn Khaldûn ; translated from the arabic by Franz Rosenthal, Pantheon Books, 1958. (Read, Chapter VI, sections 9-17)

T.J. O’Shaughnessy, Word of God in the Qur’ân, p. 1-12

III. Early Development of Islamic Theology (October, 9) T. Winter, chap. I & II

Šāfi'ī Al-(d. 820), Al-Šāfi'ī’s Risala, Treatise on the Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence, translated by Majid Khadduri, The Islamic Texts Society, 1987.

IV. ‘Ilm al Kalām and Philosophy (october, 16)

T. Winter, chap. III (only p. 55-66) Ibn Sina (Avicenna, d. 1037), The metaphysics of the healing:

Al-Šifāʾ : al-ilahīyyāt : a parallel English-Arabic text, Avicenna; translated, introduced, and annotated by Michael E. Marmura, Brigham Young University Press, 2005.

V. Some aspects of the « Traditional » Theology (october, 23)

T. winter, chap. III (only p. 66-73)

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Ašʿarī Al-(d. 935), Kitāb al-lumʿ: fī al-raddi ʿlā ahl al-zayg̳ wa al-bidʿa / Abū al-Ḥasan Al-ašʿarī ; aniya bi našrihi wa taṣḥīḥihi Al-ab Rišārd yūsaf Makārtī al-yasūʿī: The theology of Al-Ash'ari... / [ed. by] Richard J. Mc Carthy, Beirut, Imprimerie catholique, 1953. (Read p. 119-134)

Ġazālī, Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Abū Ḥāmid al- (d. 1111), The incoherence of the philosophers, Tahāfut al-falāsifah : a parallel English-Arabic text / Al-Ghazālī ; transl., introd., and annotated by Michael E. Marmura. - 2nd ed. Brigham Young University Press, 2000. (Read Author’s Introduction)

UNIT 2. Themes and controversies

VI. The place of Philosophy and mysticism in Theology (October, 30) Ġazālī, Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Abū Ḥāmid al- (d.

1111), The incoherence of the philosophers, Tahāfut al-falāsifah : a parallel English-Arabic text / Al-Ghazālī ; transl., introd., and annotated by Michael E. Marmura. - 2nd ed. Brigham Young University Press, 2000. (Read Author’s Introduction)

Ibn Rušd (Averroes, d. 1098), The book of the decisive treatise determining the connection between the law and wisdom ; & Epistle dedicatory / Averroës ; transl., with introd. and notes, by Charles E. Butterworth, Brigham Young University Press, 2001.

VII. God : essence and attributes (November, 6)

T. Winter, Chap. 6 F. Hamza, An anthology of Qur’anic commentaries, p. 491-495

VIII. God and anthropomorphism (November, 13) J. van Ess, Chap. 2

Al Qāsim ibn Ibrāhīm (d. 860), Anthropomorphism & Interpretation of the Qur’ān in the Theology of al Al Qāsim ibn Ibrāhīm, Kitāb al-Mustarshid, Introduction & p. 99-109

IX. Prophethood (November, 20)

T. Winter, Chap. 8 Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī (d. 934), Abu Hatim al-Razi: The Proofs

of Prophecy: Kitāb aʿlām al-nubuwwa ; a parallel English-Arabic text edited, translated, and annotated by Tarif Khalidi, Brigham Young University Press, 2012. (Read, Part one, chapter 4)

UNIT 3. Modern theological questions

X. Qur’an and religious pluralism (November, 27) Ayoub (Mahmoud), A Muslim View Of Christianity: Essays on Dialogue, Orbis Books, 2007 Video : M. Sirry, The Qur’an and Other Religions, Qur’ân Seminar

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Book Reviews due

XI. Qur’ân and Feminism (December, 4) M. Campanini, Chapter IV.

N. H. Barazangi, Woman’s identity and the Qur’ân, p. 1-21

XII. Qur’ân and Contemporary Quranic studies (December, 11) M. Arkoun, A critical introduction to Qur’ânic Studies approach, p. 53-92

XIII. Conclusion (December, 18)

* Final Quiz * Final Paper due January 5, 2015 to mehdi.azaiez@theo.kuleuven.be Required Texts 1. Ibn H ̱aldūn (d. 1406), « Chapter VI: The various kinds of sciences, Sections 9-17 on the religious sciences » in The Muqaddimah. An introduction to History. Translated from the Arabic by F. Rozenthal, 3 vols, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1958. 2. Winter (Tim), The Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology, Cambridge University Press, 2008. 3. Wolfson (Harry Austryn), The philosophy of the kalam, Harvard University Press, 1976.

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING VI. Evaluation Grading

Quizzes 25% Written Book report 25% Research paper 50%

Class participation

Regular attendance is required. Class participation will demonstrate your motivation and engagement in the course. Take this aspect seriously. You must have done the readings before the course.

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Book report

Students will write a report on a work from a provided list. Reports won’t exceed 2 pages (max. 1000 words). The report will demonstrate the capacity of the students to articulate their reading with the content of the course. Students will offer a 10 minutes oral summary of his/her report in class and will receive feedback from fellow students.

Quizzes

A short weekly quiz will be held at the end of each course to measure growth in knowledge, abilities, and/or skills (not graded). At the end of the course semester (18th December), a final quiz exam will be held of 50 questions based on the previous quizzes (graded).

Research paper Papers (maximum 5000 words) will be graded based on content, organization and structure, style: - Content: 1. addresses the topic or question, 2. accurately presents authors’ viewpoints, 3. provides sufficient textual evidence - Structure: 1. Introduction includes a clearly stated thesis and indicates how the paper is organised, 2. The body contains a complete discussion where each paragraph develops one main idea and has a transition sentence linking it to the next paragraph, 3. The conclusion recaps the thesis and presents a closing statement. - Organisation: your paper should progress in a systematic fashion with a solid argumentation - Style: concise and precise, free of grammatical mistakes and spelling errors and with correct references. Follow the guidelines of the faculty.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RECOMMENDED READINGS (Resources are available at the library)

Books can be chosen for reviews Abrahamov, Binyamin (Editor), Anthropomorphism and interpretation of the Qur'ān in the theology of al-

Qāsim ibn Ibrāhīm : Kitāb al-Mustarshid al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim, Leiden, Brill, 1996 Abrahamov, Binyamin, Islamic theology: traditionalism and rationalism, Edinburgh, Edinburgh

university press, 1998 Arkoun, Mohammed, L'humanisme arabe au IVe/Xe siècle. Miskawayh, philosophe et historien, Paris

Vrin, 1982 Arkoun, Mohammed, The Unthought in Contemporary Islamic Thought, London Saqi books, 2002 Aslan, Ednan (Editor) ; Hermansen, Marcia K. (1951) (Editor) ; Medeni, Elif (Editor), Muslima

theology: the voices of Muslim women theologians, Frankfurt am Main Lang, 2013 Bello, Iysa A., The medieval Islamic controversy between philosophy and orthodoxy : Ijmā' and Ta'wīl in the

conflict between al-Ghazālī and Ibn Rushd, Leiden, Brill, 1989 Dabashi, Hamid, Islamic liberation theology: resisting the empire, London Routledge, 2010 Fakhry, Majid, Ethical theories in Islam, Leiden Brill, 1991 Frank, Richard M., Classical Islamic theology : the Ash'arites: texts and studies on the development and history

of Kalam. Vol. 3, Aldershot Ashgate, 2008 Gardet, Louis (1904-1986) ; Anawati, Georges Chehata, Introduction à la théologie musulmane : essai de

théologie comparée, Paris Vrin, 1970 Gimaret, Daniel, Les noms divins en islam : exégèse lexicographique et théologique, Paris Cerf, 1988 Gutas, Dimitri, Avicenna and the Aristotelian tradition : introduction to reading Avicenna's philosophical

works, Leiden Brill, 1988 Izutsu, Toshihiko, The concept of belief in Islamic theology, New York (N.Y.), Books for libraries, 1980 Jukko, Risto, Trinitarian theology in christian-muslim encounters : theological foundations of the work of the

French Roman Catholic Church's Secretariat for Relations with Islam, Helsinki Luther-agricola-society, 2001

Larkin, Margaret, The theology of meaning : 'Abd al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī's theory of discourse, New Haven (Conn.): American oriental society, 1995 Marmura, Michael E. (Editor), Islamic theology and philosophy : studies in honor of George F. Hourani,

Albany State, University of New York press, 1984 Montgomery, James E. (Editor), Arabic theology, Arabic philosophy: from the many to the one : essays in

celebration of Richard M. Frank, Leuven Peeters, 2006 Nagel, Tilman, The history of Islamic theology from Muhammad to the present, Geschichte der islamischen

Theologie : von Mohammed bis zur Gegenwart, Princeton (N.J.), Wiener, 2000 Raven, Wim (Editor) ; Akasoy, Anna (Editor), Islamic thought in the Middle Ages: studies in text,

transmission and translation, Leiden Brill, 2008 Seale, Morris S., Muslim theology: a study of origins with reference to the Church Fathers, London Luzac,

1964 Sirry, Mun'im A., Scriptural polemics: the Quran and other religions, New York Oxford University Press,

2014 Tymieniecka, A.T., Classic Issues in Islamic Philosophy and Theology Today, Dordrecht : Springer;

Dordrecht, Springer, 2009 Van Ess, Josef, The flowering of Muslim theology, Cambridge Harvard University Press, 2006 Watt, William Montgomery, Islamic philosophy and theology, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press,

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ACADEMIC INTEGRITY As bright scientific ideas have the potential to improve our life, both in terms of wellness and welfare, they deserve an optimal environment for further analyses, experiments, testing, observing, recording, data handling, ….and finally drafting conclusions. This optimal environment is closely related to “academic freedom” which is generally accepted to be indispensable for the proper functioning of modern universities. It is no surprise that the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which became binding in 2009, explicitly guarantees academic freedom in its article 13.

The principles of truth and honesty are considered as fundamental to a community of scholars. The reliability of scientific outcomes can be ensured by a collective dialogue with colleagues and peers. Integrity principles such as proper data management, integrity of authorship, correct citing of peers, mentioning acknowledgements, e.o. are fundamental for all scientists. The KU Leuven expects both senior and junior researchers to honour these principles, and in so doing, to protect and maintain the high international recognition of our research and our institution.

During the last decade, the number of researchers worldwide increased drastically, the facilities at their disposal are unprecedented, resulting in an explosion of data and a multiplication of the number of scientific journals. This evolution is basically very positive, but however, it also asks for a proper balance between academic freedom and the need to guarantee the integrity of research. It is clear that misconduct, in all its forms, undermines public confidence in science and even exceptional cases of fraud are highly damaging for the whole scientific community.

Therefore, research integrity has become an integral part of the institutional research policy. Our objective is clear: the research at KU Leuven should meet the highest standards and correct scientific behaviour is the norm at KU Leuven.

Prof. Liliane Schoofs, Vice-President for Research KU Leuven

http://www.kuleuven.be/research/integrity/index.html !!!