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The Concept of Prophecy and Allegorical Interpretation (Taʾwīl) Within Abū Ḥāmid Al- Ghazzālī‘S and Maimonides‘ Oeuvres

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The Concept of Prophecy and Allegorical Interpretation (Taʾwīl) Within Abū Ḥāmid Al- Ghazzālī‘S and Maimonides‘ Oeuvres The Concept of Prophecy and Allegorical Interpretation (taʾwīl) within Abū Ḥāmid al- Ghazzālī‘s and Maimonides‘ Oeuvres By Soroosh Shahriari Department of Jewish Studies McGill University Montreal, Canada March 2018 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts © Soroosh Shahriari, 2018 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ ii Résumé ......................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................... iv Introduction ................................................................................................................................. v Chapter One: What is the Revelation?&Who is a Prophet? A Philosophical Background 1 Al-Fārābī ................................................................................................................................... 4 Ibn Sīnā ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter Two: The Notion of Prophecy and Allegorical Interpretation: Al-Ghazzālī‘s Perspective ................................................................................................................................... 13 I. Al-Ghazzālī the dialectician: Critique of the falāsifa ................................................... 14 II. Al-Ghazzālī the Theologian: Public Defense of the Ashʿarism............................... 21 III. Al-Ghazzālī between the Worlds: A Conservative Mystic ....................................... 37 IV. Al-Ghazzālī the Freelance Sufi: Philosophizing Mysticism .................................... 46 V. Summary ....................................................................................................................... 60 Chapter Three: Prophecy and Allegorical Interpretation: Maimonides‘ View ................... 62 I. Commentary on the Mishnah ......................................................................................... 64 a. Introduction to the Seder Zeraʿim ............................................................................... 65 b. Introduction to the Pereq Ḥeleq .................................................................................. 74 II. The Guide of the Perplexed ......................................................................................... 88 III. Summary ..................................................................................................................... 104 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 106 Appendix A................................................................................................................................ 111 Appendix B................................................................................................................................ 113 Appendix C................................................................................................................................ 117 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 120 i Abstract Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazzālī (1055-1111) and Rabai Mosheh ben Maimun (1138-1204), better known in English as Maimonides, share the same religiously motivated concern towards scriptural exegesis: How one ought to interpret the divine (or divinely inspired) texts when a literal reading of the passages is at odds with one‘s reasoning. Since they consider the intellect (al-ʿaql) to be divinely endowed as well, al-Ghazzālī and Maimonides take it upon themselves to reconcile the belief in the authority of the revealed text(s) with what each author understands by independent intellectual reasoning. Their goal is to balance the limits of faithful belief in the prophets‘ veracity and their commitment to the reliability of the intellect. To this end, they argue for the presence of (at least) two layers of meaning in the revealed tradition: outward (ẓāhir) vs. inward (bā‏ṭin) and endeavour to prove that the conflict exists only at the superficial level due to the reader‘s inability to comprehend the depth of inward message the text conveys. They both consider the issue important enough to dedicate a major part of their works to it, and hence the topic of allegorical interpretation (taʾwīl) plays, directly or indirectly, a central role in their intellectual projects. In this study, I explore the two authors‘ approach to the question of taʾwīl and try to demonstrate its dependence on the notions of prophecy and revelation (waḥy). ii Résumé Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazzālī (1055-1111) et Rabai Mosheh ben Maimun (1138-1204), plus connu sous le nom de Maïmonide, partagent la même problématique à propos de l‘exégèse du texte sacré : comment devrait-on interpréter les textes révélés (ou d‘inspiration divine) lorsqu‘une lecture littérale du texte va à l‘encontre de la raison pure ? Puisqu‘ils considèrent la raison pure (al-ʿaql) comme étant également divinement dotée aux êtres humains par Dieu, al-Ghazzālī et Maïmonide se décident de réconcilier la croyance en l‘autorité des textes divins avec leur conception du raisonnement pur et indépendant. Leur but est de trouver le point d‘équilibre entre une foi fidèle en la véracité des prophètes et la conviction que la raison est un outil fiable. Pour cela, ils soutiennent la présence de (au moins) deux niveaux de signification dans la tradition révélée : ce qui relève de la signification extérieure (ẓāhir), et ce qui relève de la signification intérieure (bā‏ṭin). Ils cherchent ainsi à prouver que la tension entre foi et raison existe seulement au niveau superficiel, du fait de l‘incapacité du lecteur à saisir la profondeur du message intérieur du texte. Tous deux considèrent que la problématique est assez importante pour y dédier une majeure partie dans leur œuvre. Par conséquent, le sujet de l‘interprétation allégorique (taʾwīl) joue, directement ou indirectement, un rôle central dans leurs projets intellectuels. Cette étude examine l‘approche des deux auteurs à la question du taʾwīl et tente d‘établir la dépendence de ce dernier sur les notions de prophétie et de révélation (waḥy). iii Acknowledgments My thanks go first and foremost to my supervisor, Professor Carlos Fraenkel, for his unreserved help, support (both intellectually and emotionally), guidance (unlike Maimonides‘ which came to be more confusing at some points!), and his enthusiastic encouragements during these tough years. I have learnt a lot from him both as my academic mentor and a caring human being—I will be indebted to him forever. I have also been very fortunate to have Professor Lawrence Kaplan as my adviser. I benefited a lot from his encyclopaedic knowledge of Jewish Law, philosophy, history, and mysticism in the courses of my Master‘s studies at McGill University. I owe my other professors at the Department of Jewish Studies for their unconditional support and kindness: Eric Caplan, Yael Halevi-Wise, Gershon Hundert, and Barry Levy. I should also express my sincere gratitude to Professors Robert Wisnovsky, Alison Laywine, and Stephen Menn for letting me audit their courses on Islamic and Greek philosophy; those were indeed great opportunities for me to deepen my knowledge of falsafa. My dearest friend and former teacher at Carleton University, Professor Mohammed Rustom, is also among the ones I would like to thank. My graduate study was made possible through internal scholarships, awards, and prizes courtesy of the Department of Jewish Studies; I would like to express my gratitude to the respected families and individuals who supported me financially in the course of these years. My last, but not least, heartfelt thanks go to my family, in particular, my beloved wife, Azadeh, for her patience and absolute support in the hardest times. My lovely mother, Khobchehr, and my dearest sister, Mana, were always beside me during these years. And my tearful farewell words to my baba, Muhammad Ali, who passed away a couple of weeks before the first draft of this thesis was complete. He was the one who introduced me to al-Ghazzālī when I was a teenager; I still have his copy of Prof. Zarrrinkub‘s masterpiece on Ghazzālī‘s life, farār az madrese [flee from the madrasah]. I dedicate this work to his memory. iv Introduction Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad bin Muḥammad al-Ghazzālī‘s (10551-1111) and Rabai Mosheh ben Maimun (11382-1204), better known in English as Maimonides, shared the same religiously motivated concern towards arbitrary conflicts found between the intellect (al-ʿaql) and the sacred revealed tradition (al- naql). They faced the same question many other (preceding or succeeding) religious philosophers as well as theologians had come up with: What one ought to do when the demonstrative proof (burhān) comes into conflict with the text of Scripture (or in that matter, the divinely inspired Talmud/ḥadith curpos)?3 If what the intellect dictates, which was perceived by the two sages as divinely endowed, contradicts messages the Scripture conveys, then what can be done to uphold the authority of both these two disagreeing sources? For al-Ghazzālī and Maimonides, the answer
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