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A TRANSLATION & ANALYSIS of Tabd AL-JABBAR's CRITIQUE OF A TRANSLATION & ANALYSIS OF tABD AL-JABBAR'S CRITIQUE OF TRINITARIAN AND CHRISTOLOGICAL DOCTRINES BY ABDUL RASHID e Ph. D. Thesis Presented in the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Faculty of Art, University of Edinburgh September 1986 i Table of Contents Page No: Declaration 11 Abstract 111 Acknowledgements iv Transliteration, Textual Notes and V Abbreviations. Introduction 1 Part one An Annotated Translation 18 Part two 95 Chapter I Commentary on the Christian 96 'Abd Doctrines alluded%y al-Jabbär in the translation of al-Mughni. Chapter II Muslim and Christian views of, 14 110 Meaning of Jawhar and A.. ganim. Chapter III The Sift in Islamic and Christian 115 Theology. Chapter IV A Comparative Analysis of 'Abd 128 al-Jabb r Critique of Trinitarian Doctrines. Chapter V The Theology of Incarnation. 141 Chapter VI A Comparative Analysis of fAbd 164 al-Jabbär'Critique of Christological Doctrines. Conclusion 18Z 'Abd Appendix Recent Studies on al-Jabbär and his 184 work. Bibliography 188 11 DECLARATION I declare that the following thesis is the result of my own research work and was composed entirely by myself. &j . -0 ASHID iii Abstract "Abd The study is based on al-Jabbär's understanding of Christian doctrine of God with special reference to his al-Mughni, Vol. V. 'Abd It starts with an introduction containing a biographical account of al- 'Abd Jabbär and his works, a survey of Christian sects mentioned by al- 'Abd Jabbär in his al-Mughni and Muslim Christian literature before al- Jabbar which is available. Part I of the thesis is an annotated translation of the section on Christianity in al-Mughni, Vol. V, PP. 80-151. ýAbd Part II is concerned with an exposition of al-Jabbär's treatment of Trinitarian and Christological doctrine. Chapter I presents a commentary on the Christian doctrine described by 'Abd al-Jabbar together with evidence about them from Christian and Muslim sources. Chapter U is devoted to Muslim-Christian views about the meaning of two terms jawhar (substance) and aaanim (hypostasis) when describing the essence of God. In Chapter III, there is a comparative study of sif it (attributes of God) in the light of Christian and Muslim theology and how the use of the term sifdt affected the whole debate. Chapter N discusses and analyses '(Abd al-Jabbär's criticism of Trinita- rian doctrines and his approach toward them in the light of Christian literature written in Arabic and Muslim sources. Chapter V provides a description and explanation of union of incarnati on as it was presented by early Church Fathers, the nature of that union and Christian heresies in the eastern church, such as Nestorians and Jacobites and finally an expression presented by Christian scholars who lived within a Muslim environment. Chapter VI discusses 'Abd al-Jabbär's Critique of Christological Doctr- ine and their analysis in the light of Christian literature in Arabic and other Muslim sources. The thesis finishes with a conclusion, summarising the result of the study. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Dz L K. A. Howard, who first introduced me to 'Abd al-Jabbär and devoted his precious time generously. His knowledge and keen interest in this work make this thesis possible. I am also grateful to all members of teaching staff of this department for their guidance and assistance. My thanks also to Dz M. F. al- Shayyäl who helped me to provide some books from Egypt. I am also grateful to the Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan for granting me a scholarship for higher education abroad. I am indebted to Mr Muräd 'All Khan Nizämäni, former education attachi, embassy of Pakistan in London and Mr Syed M. Salim, education officer in the embassy for their assistance in continuing this research. I would also extend my thanks to Islamia University Bahouralpur authorities for providing facilities to pursue my studies. I also owe great debt to all my friends here in UK and in Pakistan for their best wishes and moral support, especially Dr. Qibla Ayäz (Peshawar) who was kind enough to help me in settling down in Edinburgh. My thanks are also due to all staff of University library in general and inter library loan section in particular. I owe a special debt to the departmental secretary Miss I. Crawford. I am also grateful to Mr Akhtar 'Ali who made arrangements of typing the thesis and Mrs J. Porteous for typing the manuscript. Finally, I must thank my wife and children who stayed with me for a long time who is waiting patiently back home. V Transliteration The system of transliteration used in this thesis is that of U. S. Library of Congress, Cataloguing Service, Bulletin 49, November 1958. Textual Notes All Biblical quotations are from the revised standard version of the Bible, London 1952. All QuAnic quotations are from Egyptian standard version, and translation from, The Koran interpreted" by A. J. Arberry (OUP) 1964. Abbreviations E. I1 - Encyclopedia of Islam, First edition Leiden, 1913-1938. E. I1 - Encyclopedia of Islam, New edition Leiden and London, 1960 continuing. E. I(S) - Supplement of Encyclopedia of Islam. E. R. E - Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics. N. D. C. T -A New Dictionary of Christian Theology. J. A. O. S - Journal of American Oriental Society. M. W - Muslim World. B. J. R. L - Bulletin of John Ryland Library. INTRODUCTION ýAbd The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how al-Jabbär was able to understand Trinitarian and Christological doctrines and to determine his general structure and methodology and his intellectual approach towards the refutation of a non-Islamic religion. It is a comparative study through the reference of Christian scholars, especially writing in Arabic to present their Christian ýAbd doctrine. This means that an attempt is made to understand al-Jabbir's section on Christianity, within framework of the general apologetic and polemical literature which was produced by both Christians and Muslims up to the time of 'Abd al-Jabbär, i. e., eleventh century and even later up to thirteenth century. This thesis will also be concerned with a comparison of his understanding of the Christian doctrine with the doctrine as generally presented by Christian scholars. {Abd After this introduction which will also discuss al-Jabbär's life and work and a summary of Christian doctrines and sects, and earlier Muslim-Christian 4Abd discussions which al-Jabbär dealt with, there will be an annotated translation of the section on Christianity in al-Mughni fi Abwäb al-'Adl wa al- Tawhid, vol. V which is devoted for non Islamic faiths. Background of 'Abd al-Jabbär Brief summary of his life ýAbd Abü al-Hasan al-Jabkiar b. Ahmad b. 4Abd al-Jabbär b. Ahmad b. Khalil b. 'Abd-Alläh 1 al-Hamadäni, frequently preceded by honorific title Qädi al-Qudät. Z The Mu'tazilite usually refer to him as Qädi. As regards the details of al- Hamadän, most writers consider it as the region where 'Abd al-Jabbär was probably born. But Mustaf ä al-Sädiq in the introduction to part XIV of al- 3 Mughni, traces this name back to Hamdän, a Yemeni tribe. iallifin, 1. Kahhäla, Mu jam al-Mu Vol. V, P. 78, Ibn al-Amid, Shadhrät, Vol. III, PP. 202-3, Ibn Murtadä, Ta_bagät al-Mu'tazila, PP. 112 Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. I, PP. 59 _60 (New edition). 4iyya, 2. Subki, Ta bagat al-Shafi Vol. III, PP. 219-220, Zarkaly, al-A'läm, Vol. III, -6P. M. 3. Peters, God's Created Speech, P. 8. 1 Some of the biographers have added the title (lagab) al-Asad Abädi4 to his 5 name; this may be his birth place, but there are a number of variations. His biographers are not sure about his date of birth. The year of his death is given as 414,415 and 4166/1023-5. It is stated that he had lived a long life of about ninety years, so one can conclude that his birth goes back to between 320 and 330/932-941. After elementary studies in his home town, he went to Iraq, where he continued his theological studies first in Basra and later in Baghdad. He also visited Qazwin to join the circles of famous traditionists there.? In about 340/951, he went to Hamadan and Isfahan, where he became a follower of the theological 8 school of the Ash1arites and Shafi'ite in jurisprudence. Later he went to Basra, where he became influenced by the teaching of the 9 Mu1tazilites and decided to join the Mu'tazilite circle. For a while he studied 'Ayyäsh with famous Mu'tazilite scholar, Abü Ishäq Ibrahim b. (d. "" 9o), the pupil and successor of Basrian master Abü Häshim al-Jubbäli (d. 320/932). Afterward 4Abd-Allah he went to Baghdad where he became a disciple of Abü al-Basri (d. 10 369/969), another Abü Häshim's pupils and even stayed with him in his house. AAbd-Allah According to Ibn Murtadä, when asked his master Abü to teach him something about Hanafi law, his teacher suggested that he must stay as Shäfi'i l l and he himself as Hanafi. In about 360/970 he left Baghdad to stay in Rämhurmuz, a small town in southern Persia, where there seemed to be many Muýtazilites. There he started to dictate his famous book of twenty volumes, i. e. al-Mughni. In the meantime (about 362/972-3) the Chief Minister of Buwayhid ruler, Sahib 'Abbäd, b. (d. 385/990) invited him to come to Rayy and gave him the opportunity of teaching Mu'tazilite theology and religious law.
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