AL-KASHSHĀF: AL-ZAMAKHSHARῙ’S (D. 538/1144) MUʻTAZILITE EXEGESIS OF THE QURʼĀN A Dissertation submitted to the Facuty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Arabic and Islamic Studies By Kifayat Ullah, M.A. Washington, DC March 21, 2013 Copyright 2013 by Kifayat Ullah All Rights Reserved ii AL-KASHSHĀF: AL-ZAMAKHSHARῙ’S (D. 538/1144) MUʻTAZILITE EXEGESIS OF THE QURʼĀN Kifayat Ullah, M.A. Thesis Advisor: Felicitas Opwis, Ph.D. ABSTRACT Abū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd b. ‘Umar al-Zamakhsharī Jār Allāh is one of the last widely known and outstanding Ḥanafī Muʻtazilite scholars who made important contributions in the fields of Qur’ānic exegesis, theology, and Arabic linguistics. Primarily, his fame rests upon the Qur’ān commentary al-Kashshāf ‘an ḥaqā’iq al-tanzīl wa ‘uyūn al-ghawāmiḍ fī wujūh al-ta’wīl. My thesis is that al-Zamakhsharī’s Qur’ān commentary is squarely within the Muʻtazilite tradition. I selected those verses where anthropomorphisms need clarification as well as verses that are known to be points of contention between the Muʻtazilies and traditionists. I examined and evaluated al-Kashshāf within the dogmatic framework of “the five principles” (al-uṣūl al-khamsa) which are considered indispensable for a Muʻtazilite identity. These principles are: “God’s unity” (al-tawhīd), “God’s justice” (al-‘adl), “reward and punishment” (al-waʻd wa-al-waʻīd), “intermediate position between belief and unbelief” (al-manzila bayna al-manzilatayn) and “enjoining good and forbidding evil” (al-amr bi-al-maʻrūf wa-al-nahy ‘an al-munkar). This dissertation demonstrates that al-Zamakhsharī’s al-Kashshāf is not only a quintessence of Muʻtazilite doctrine which was adopted from the earlier Muʻtazilite exegetes, but also unequivocally establishes the fact that he expounds the five principles throughout his interpretation of the Qurʼān. Despite, al-Zamakhsharī’s Muʻtazilite tafsīr, it remained popular not only amongst the Muʻtazilites but also was prescribed in the madrassas’ iii curriculums, as well as cited, adopted, and commented upon by the orthodox community, the Shiʼites, and the Zaydites. In fact, no other book in the history of tafsīr has been commented upon in the forms of glosses, superglosses, supercommentaries, and mukhtaṣars more than al-Kashshāf. iv Acknowledgements Special thanks to my Thesis Advisor Felicitas Opwis whose encyclopedic knowledge of Islamic Studies inspired this study and guided its progress. I am indebted to Barbara Stowasser, Daniel Madigan and Walid Saleh for their excellent advice, encouragement and support. My thanks to my colleagues and friends at the Georgetown University, who provided suggestions, edited draft and motivated me throughout the research and writing process, specifically Nancy Farley and the staff of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies. I am immensely grateful for having constant support and encouragement of my family. I especially thank my wife Kahkashan for her sincere and steadfast support. v Table of Contents Introduction 1 1. Abū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd b. ‘Umar al-Zamakhsharī 1 2. Origin of the Muʻtazilites 2 3. Tafsīr, Ta’wīl, Maʻānī, and Sharḥ 5 4. The Qurʼānic Exegesis 6 5. Al-Kashshāf 12 6. Thesis 14 7. Notes on Translation and Transliteration 16 Chapter 1: Al-Zamakhsharī’s Biography 17 1. Early Life of al-Zamakhsharī 17 2. Education of al-Zamakhsharī 20 3. Al-Zamakhsharī’s Teachers 21 4. Al-Zamakhsharī’s Students 23 5. Travels of al-Zamakhsharī 25 6. Al-Zamakhsharī’s Visits to Mecca 26 7. Crises in the Lives of Muslim Scholars 28 8. Crisis of al-Ashʻarī 30 9. Crisis of al-Ghazālī 33 10. Crisis of Ibn ʻAqīl 38 11. Crisis of al-Zamakhsharī 43 12. Conclusion 48 Chapter 2: Muʻtazilites 52 1. Origin of the Muʻtazilites 52 2. Wāṣil b. ʻAṭāʼ 53 3. ʻAmr b. ʻUbayd 58 4. Viewpoints regarding the Emergence of the Muʻtazilites 60 5. Abstinence from the Worldly Affairs 61 6. Neutrality in the Civil Wars 62 7. Withdrawal from the Community 63 8. Political Movement 68 9. Muʻtazilite Schools of Baṣra and Baghdad 75 10. Conclusion 77 Chapter 3: Qurʼānic Exegesis 79 1. Tafsīr, Ta’wīl, Maʻānī, and Sharḥ 79 2. Tafsīr 80 vi 3. Ta’wīl 82 4. Maʻānī 84 5. Sharḥ 85 6. Similarities and Difference between tafsīr, ta’wīl, maʻānī, and sharḥ 85 7. Qur’ānic Exegesis in Early Islam 89 8. Traditional Muslims’ View s 89 9. Tafsīr bi-al-ma’thūr and Tafsīr bi-al-ra’y 93 10. Western Scholars’ Views 95 11. The Development of the Qur’ānic Exegesis 103 12. Paraphrastic and Narrative Exegesis 104 13. Legal Exegesis 104 14. Linguistic Exegesis 105 15. Philosophical Exegesis 106 16. Mystical Exegesis 108 17. Theological Exegesis 110 18. Shiʻite Exegesis 111 19. Zaydite Exegesis 112 20. Ismaʻilī Exegesis 114 21. Kharijite Exegesis 115 22. Muʻtazilite Exegesis 116 23. Conclusion 121 Chapter 4: Al-Zamakhsharī’s Methodology of Tafsīr 124 1. Muḥkamāt wa mutashābihāt 125 2. ʻIlm al-maʻānī and ʻilm al-bayān 130 3. Questions and Answers (asʼila wa-ajwiba) 141 4. Grammar 144 5. Tafsīr al-Qurʼān bi-al-Qurʼān 147 6. Ḥadīth 148 7. Variant Readings of the Qurʼān (qirāʼāt) 155 8. Conclusion 158 Chapter 5: The Five Principles (al-uṣūl al-khamsa) 160 1. First Principle: Unity of God (tawḥīd) 162 2. Createdness of the Qur’ān 180 3. Anthropomorphism and Transcendence 186 4. Vision of God 190 5. God’s Seat (kursī) 196 6. God’s Throne (ʻarsh) 197 7. God’s Hand (yad Allāh) 198 8. Coming of Lord (mujīʼ rabb) 200 9. Appearing of God (ityān Allāh) 201 vii 10. With (maʻiyyat) 202 11. Face (wajh) 203 12. Conclusion 203 Chapter 6: Second Principle: Justice (‘adl) 205 1. The Concept of Grace (luṭf) 212 2. The Best (aṣlaḥ) 218 3. Going Astray (iḍlāl) 221 4. Sealing of the Hearts (khatm al-qulūb) 225 5. God does not Will any Evil but Good (anna Allāh lā yurīd sharr bal yurīd al-khayr) 227 6. Conclusion 230 Chapter 7: Third Principle: The Promise and the Threat (al-waʻd wa al-waʻīd) and Fourth Principle: The Intermediate Position between Belief and Unbelief (al-manzila bayna al- manzilatayn) 232 1. The Concept of Belief (īmān) 232 2. The Promise and the Threat (al-waʻd wa al-waʻīd) 238 3. The Intermediate Position between Belief and Unbelief (al-manzila bayna al- manzilatayn) 239 4. The Major and the Minor Sins (al-kabāʼir wa-al-saghāʼir) 242 5. The Concept of Constraint (iljāʼ) 244 6. The Concept of Nullification and Atonement” (al-iḥbāṭ wa al-takfīr) 246 7. Repentance (tawba) 250 8. Forgiveness (ghufrān) 253 9. Intercession (shafaʻa) 256 10. Conclusion 259 Chapter 8: Fifth Principle: Enjoining what is Right and Forbidding what is Wrong (al-amr bi al-maʻrūf wa al-nahy ‘an al-munkar) 261 Conclusion 269 Conclusions 270 viii Appendix 1: Al-Kashshāf 285 Appendix 2: Al-Zamakhsharī’s Teachers and Students 318 Appendix 3: Al-Zamakhsharī’s Scholarly Contribution 333 Appendix 4: Muḥkamāt wa mutashābihāt 364 Appendix 5: Muʻtazilites’ Ṭabaqāt 382 Appendix 6: The Retraction of Ibn ʻAqīl 385 Bibliography 386 ix Introduction 1. Abū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd b. ‘Umar al-Zamakhsharī Abū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd b. ‘Umar al-Zamakhsharī was one of the last widely known and outstanding Ḥanafī Muʻtazilite scholars who made important contributions in the fields of Arabic linguistics, theology, and Qur’ānic exegesis. Muʻtazilism continued to thrive in Khwārazm, at least until the second half of the eighth/fourteenth century, while in the rest of the Muslim world it had already declined.1 Primarily, his fame rests upon the Qur’ān commentary al-Kashshāf ‘an ḥaqā’iq al-tanzīl wa ‘uyūn al-ghawāmiḍ fī wujūh al-ta’wīl which he began to write upon his arrival in Mecca in 526/1132, and completed in 528/1134. Al-Zamakhsharī’s commentary contains a quintessence of Muʻtazilite doctrine which was adopted from the earlier Muʻtazilite exegetes; however, frequently presented his own views. He mentions the views of both the schools – Baṣra and Baghdad, but does not associate himself to any one of them. He was familiar with the Muʻtazilite theology of Qāḍī ʻAbd al-Jabbār and also studied the doctrine of Abū al- Ḥusayn al-Baṣrī (d. 436/1044) which is evident in his Muʻtazilite creed al-Minhāj fī uṣūl al-dīn.2 Wilfred Madelung describes that, “For the Muʻtazilites, al-Kashshāf represents the peak of intellectual achievement in Qur’ān commentary.”3 According to Andrew Rippin, 1 Wilfred Madelung, The Theology of al-Zamakhsharī,” Actas del XII Congreso de la U.E.A.I. (Malaga, 1984) (Madrid: Union Europeenne d’Arabisants et d’Islamisants, 1986), 485; Wilfred Madelung, “The Spread of Maturidism and the Turks,” in Actas IV Congresso de Estudos Arabes e Islamicos Coimbra- Lisboa 1968 (Leiden: Brill, 1971), 116. 2 Wilfred Madelung, “al-Zamakhsharī,” EI2 Supplement, 11-12:840-41. 3 Wilfred Madelung, The Theology of al-Zamakhsharī,” Actas del XII Congreso de la U.E.A.I. (Malaga, 1984) (Madrid: Union Europeenne d’Arabisants et d’Islamisants, 1986), 485. 1 The distinctiveness of al-Zamakhsharī’s Qur’ān commentary lies in his Muʻtazilī theological leanings…The Muʻtazilī doctrines of the unity and justice of God and the consequent ideas of the human free will and the need to deanthropomorphize the Qur’ān become the prime themes of the distinctive passages of interpretation.4 I will discuss about al-Kashshāf later. 2. Origin of the Muʻtazilites Little is known about the origin of Muʻtazilites – one of the most important theological schools of Islam – which was founded in the first half the second/eighth century.