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Pdf of the Dissertation In presenting this dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Emory University, I agree that the Library of the University shall make it available for inspection and circulation in accordance with its regulations governing materials of this type. I agree that permission to copy from, or to publish, this dissertation may be granted by the professor under whose direction it was written, or, in his absence, by the Dean of the Graduate School when such copying or publication is solely for scholarly purposes and does not involve potential financial gain. It is understood that any copying from, or publication of, this dissertation which involves potential financial gain will not be allowed without written permission. ___________________________ David R. Vishanoff Early Islamic Hermeneutics: Language, Speech, and Meaning in Preclassical Legal Theory By David R. Vishanoff Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Division of Religion __________________________________ Richard C. Martin Adviser __________________________________ Gordon D. Newby Committee Member __________________________________ Devin J. Stewart Committee Member Accepted: __________________________________ Dean of the Graduate School __________________________________ Date Early Islamic Hermeneutics: Language, Speech, and Meaning in Preclassical Legal Theory By David R. Vishanoff B.A., Gordon College, 1990 M.A., University of Colorado, 1997 Adviser: Richard C. Martin, Ph.D. An abstract of a dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Division of Religion 2004 ABSTRACT The opening chapters of Islamic legal theory manuals offer extended discussions of the language of the Qurʾān, and principles for its interpretation. This discourse takes the form of detailed analyses of specific verbal constructions – for example, when a command has the form “if A then do B,” must one do B every time condition A is met? Taken as a whole, this discourse constitutes a sophisticated theory of language and hermeneutics addressing basic linguistic issues such as ambiguity, reference, scope, the classification of speech acts, and verbal implication. This dissertation tentatively reconstructs the emergence of this theory, in relation to the various theological models of divine speech that informed it, during the formative period of debate that preceded the crystallization of classical Sunnī legal theory in the late 5th/11th century. Chapter 2 identifies early discussions of key hermeneutical concepts in early exegetical, theological, and legal discourses, and then shows how al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204/820) integrated these concepts into a hermeneutical theory that reconciles conflicting revealed texts and laws by systematically exploiting the ambiguities of Arabic, thus making it possible to ground Islamic law in revelation. Chapter 3 shows how Muʿtazilī theologians such as ʿAbd al-Jabbār (d. 415/1025) resisted al-Shāfiʿī’s emphasis on the ambiguity of revealed language, and formulated an alternative legal hermeneutics based on the principle that all God’s speech functions as a perfectly clear, created indicator of the intrinsic goodness or badness of human actions. Chapter 4 interprets the work of al-Bāqillānī (d. 403/1013) as a theoretical vindication of al-Shāfiʿī’s hermeneutics of ambiguity, based on the Ashʿarī doctrine of the uncreatedness of the Qurʾān. This dissertation demonstrates that the fierce debates of early Islamic legal hermeneutics were not mere quibbles about the fine points of interpretation; they were a central part of an interdisciplinary struggle over the nature of the Islamic canon and its role as a source of knowledge and practice for the Muslim community. In addition to providing the first historical overview of this arcane discourse, the dissertation seeks to make it accessible to students of hermeneutics in contemporary Islamic thought and in other religious traditions. Early Islamic Hermeneutics: Language, Speech, and Meaning in Preclassical Legal Theory By David R. Vishanoff B.A., Gordon College, 1990 M.A., University of Colorado, 1997 Adviser: Richard C. Martin, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Division of Religion 2004 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe my first confrontation with the subject of this study to Idrīs Ḥammādī, professor of legal theory at the College of Letters in Fez, whose lectures on the analysis of revealed language collided with my search for Islamic hermeneutical theory. The subsequent task of reassembling my shattered conception of hermeneutics, to accommodate both the questions posed by Muslim legal theorists and the problems of Euro-American hermeneutics, was guided and encouraged by Emory professors Gordon Newby and Vernon Robbins, who resolutely believed that a comparative and interactive study of these disparate discourses would generate new insights into both. This stage of my work was generously supported by a George W. Woodruff fellowship from Emory University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and by a Washington University in St. Louis fellowship for study in Fez. Even the very tentative and partial attempt made here at reconstructing the early history of Islamic legal hermeneutics would not have been possible without the years afforded by a Harvey fellowship from the Mustard Seed Foundation, or without the help of the Chester Beatty Library staff, of Hikmat Faraj in Emory’s Woodruff Library, and especially of Marie Hansen and the rest of Emory’s Interlibrary Loan staff. At this stage it was Emory’s Devin Stewart who constantly spurred my aspiration to historical precision. Emory law professor Abdullahi an-Naʿim challenged me to make history relevant to the concerns of contemporary Muslim thinkers. My adviser Richard Martin provided judicious, attentive, light-handed guidance at each step, and especially encouraged me to develop the theological dimensions of the project. I am also grateful to Michael Cook for his encouragement, and for sparing me from several historical inaccuracies. I have no doubt, however, that innumerable errors remain. I will be very grateful if those who read this first effort will communicate to me any problems that they find, so that I may correct as many as possible in a revised and augmented publication. If I can now look back over the growth of this dissertation as a memorable period of intellectual and personal delight, this is in no small measure thanks to the courageous, dedicated, and loving partnership of my wife Beth, and the resilient affection of the two small children with whom we dared to undertake this venture. The final product is dedicated to my father, whose unflagging interest in each step of the process has been like an extension of my childhood home. CONTENTS I INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 Islamic Legal Theory as Hermeneutic ....................................................................... 2 The Muslim Rediscovery of Legal Theory as an Islamic Hermeneutic .......................................................................................................... 6 This Project in the Context of Western Scholarship on Islamic Legal Theory ........................................................................................................ 10 II DIVERGENT PROOFS OF A COHERENT LAW: AL-SHĀFIʿĪ AND THE BIRTH OF LEGAL HERMENEUTICS .................................................. 17 Varieties of Early Hermeneutical Discourse ........................................................... 18 Qurʾānic exegesis .......................................................................................... 19 Early theological debates.............................................................................. 22 Early legal thought ........................................................................................ 25 Other relevant discourses ............................................................................. 28 al-Shāfiʿī’s Hermeneutical Reconciliation of the Two Canons ............................. 31 1) Clarity and ambiguity ............................................................................... 34 2) Modes of reference ................................................................................... 38 3) Scope of reference .................................................................................... 39 4) Modes of speech ....................................................................................... 41 5) Verbal implication .................................................................................... 42 al-Shāfiʿī’s Impact on the Development of Legal Hermeneutics .......................... 44 III CLEAR SIGNS OF GOD’S WILL: ʿABD AL-JABBĀR AND THE MUʿTAZILA .................................................................................................................. 49 Historical Context ..................................................................................................... 49 The Muʿtazilī theologians ............................................................................ 49 The Ḥanafī jurists ......................................................................................... 54 The Legal Hermeneutics of ʿAbd al-Jabbār
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