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Dar' Ta'a>Rud} Al-'Aql Wa-L-Naql 'The Refutation of the Contradiction Of REASON, REVELATION & THE RECONSTITUTION OF RATIONALITY: Taqi> al-Di>n Ibn Taymiyya’s (d. 728/1328) Dar’ Ta‘a>rud} al-‘Aql wa-l-Naql or ‘The Refutation of the Contradiction of Reason and Revelation’ by Carl Sharif El-Tobgui A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Institute of Islamic Studies McGill University Montreal Final Submission April 12, 2013 في وما تو قي إﻻ باهلل This thesis is dedicated, with gratitude and awe to PROF. MAYSAM AL-FARUQI a truly peerless woman whose uncanny lot it has been to save me not just once, but twice. No thanks will ever be enough. ABSTRACT Author: Carl Sharif El-Tobgui Title: REASON, REVELATION & THE RECONSTITUTION OF RATIONALITY: Taqi> al-Di>n Ibn Taymiyya’s (d. 728/1328) Dar’ Ta‘a>rud} al- ‘Aql wa-l-Naql, or ‘The Refutation of the Contradiction of Reason and Revelation’ Department: Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University Degree: Doctor of Philosophy This thesis explores the broad outlines of Ibn Taymiyya’s attempt to resolve the “conflict” between reason and revelation in late medieval Islam in his 10- volume, 4,000-page magnum opus, Dar’ ta‘a>rud} al-‘aql wa-l-naql, or The Refuta- tion of the Contradiction of Reason and Revelation by breaking down and sys- tematically reconstituting the basic categories in terms of which the debate was framed. The perceived conflict between revelation and reason centered on the in- terpretation of a number of Divine Attributes, considered rationally indefensible by the philosophers and the Mu‘tazila because their affirmation would involve an unacceptable assimilation (tashbi>h) of God to created beings. This stance culmi- nated in the Ash‘arite theologian Fakhr al-Di>n al-Ra>zi>’s “Universal Law” (qa>nu>n kulli>), which stated that whenever a conflict between revelation and reason aris- es, the dictates of reason must be given priority and revelation interpreted meta- phorically through ta’wi>l. Ibn Taymiyya counters these claims with a comprehensive response, at- tacking the logical integrity of the Universal Law but also articulating a textual- ly self-sufficient hermeneutic and devising a radical reformulation of the philos- ophers’ ontology, particularly their realist theory of universals which has result- ed in a chronic confusion between what exists logically in the mind and what ex- ists ontologically in external reality. This in turn allows him to elaborate a new epistemology based on three principal avenues for gaining knowledge, namely, “h}iss,” or sense perception; “khabar,” or the transmission of reports (particularly revelation); and “‘aql,” or rational knowledge (both innate and inferred). These sources of knowledge are corroborated by the mechanism of tawa>tur and under- girded by an expanded notion of the fit}ra. The disparate elements of Ibn Tay- miyya’s theory of language, his ontology, and his epistemology eventually con- verge into a synthesis meant to accommodate a robust and rationally defensible affirmationism vis-à-vis the Divine Attributes while yet avoiding the tashbi>h generally presumed by the later tradition to be inevitably entailed thereby. iv RÉSUMÉ Auteur : Carl Sharif El-Tobgui Titre : LA RAISON, LA RÉVÉLATION & LA RECONSTITUTION DE LA RATIONALITÉ: le Dar’ ta‘a>rud} al-‘aql wa-l-naql, ou « La réfu- tation de la contradiction entre la raison et la révélation » de Taqi> al-Di>n Ibn Taymiyya (m. 728/1328) Faculté : Institut d’Études islamiques, Université McGill Grade : Doctorat La présente thèse se voue à une exploration des grandes lignes du projet d’Ibn Taymiyya dans son chef-d’œuvre en dix volumes et 4 000 pages, le Dar’ ta‘a>rud} al-‘aql wa-l-naql, ou La réfutation de la contradiction entre la raison et la révéla- tion. Cette œuvre a pour but de résoudre une fois pour toutes le « conflit » entre la raison et la révélation dans l’Islam médiéval tardif au moyen d’une décons- truction et d’une reconstruction systématiques des catégories structurelles du débat. Le prétendu conflit entre la révélation et la raison portait surtout sur l’interprétation de certains des attributs divins jugés irrationnels par les philo- sophes et les Mu’tazilites, qui y voyaient une assimilation inadmissible de Dieu aux choses créées (tashbi>h). Cette prise de position culmine dans l’élaboration de la « loi universelle » (qa>nu>n kulli>) par le théologien ash‘arite Fakhr al-Di>n al- Ra>zi>. Cette « loi » oblige à privilégier les préceptes et les conclusions de la raison en tout cas de conflit entre celle-ci et la révélation coranique, dont les versets s’en retrouvent réduits, par le biais du ta’wi>l, à une lecture métaphorique. La riposte d’Ibn Taymiyya se révèle exhaustive et globale. Elle a pour ef- fet non seulement de vicier l’intégrité logique de la Loi universelle, mais elle donne lieu également à l’élaboration d’une herméneutique ancrée sur le texte même de la révélation tout en permettant une refonte radicale de l’ontologie des philosophes, surtout de leur théorie réaliste des concepts universels qui avait abouti à une confusion chronique entre ce qui tient à l’existence mentale logique et ce qui relève de la réalité ontologique externe. Cette approche permet à notre auteur de mettre au point une nouvelle épistémologie empirique qui met en va- leur trois voies principales d’acquisition de la connaissance, à savoir, le « h}iss », ou la perception sensorielle; le « khabar », ou la transmission de récits (surtout en guise de révélation); et le « ‘aql », ou la connaissance rationnelle (autant innée qu’inférentielle). Ces sources de la connaissance sont corroborées à leur tour par le mécanisme du tawa>tur et sous-tendues par une conception étendue de la fit}ra. Les divers éléments mis en avant par Ibn Taymiyya en matière de linguistique, d’ontologie et d’épistémologie s’entremêlent pour s’élever à une synthèse per- mettant d’adhérer à un affirmationisme stricte et rationellement défendable à l’égard des attributs divins tout en évitant le tashbi>h qui, dans la perspective gé- nérale de la tradition ultérieure, devait inévitablement en découler. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract iv Résumé v Table of Contents vi Acknowledgements ix INTRODUCTION xii Part I: Reason vs. Revelation? CHAPTER 1: Reason & Revelation in Islam before Ibn Taymiyya 1 I. Reason and Revelation, Reason in Revelation 1 II. Early Political cum Theological Controversies 6 III. The Nascent Development of the Islamic Disciplines: 9 Qur’an exegesis, grammar, law, and hadith IV. Early Theological Reflection and Contention 19 V. The Mu‘tazila 29 VI. Non-Speculative Theology and the Legacy of 33 Ah}mad b. H{anbal VII. The Mih}na and its Aftermath 36 VIII. Al-Ash‘ari> and the “Old Kala>m” 41 IX. Philosophy 47 X. The New Kala>m and Subsequent Developments 58 XI. Kala>m and Falsafa in the Wake of al-Ghaza>li> 70 CHAPTER 2: The Life, Times, and Intellectual Profile of Ibn Taymiyya 78 I. The Life and Times of Ibn Taymiyya 78 II. Intellectual Profile 87 III. Character and Contemporary Reception 97 IV. The Works of Ibn Taymiyya 102 V. Ibn Taymiyya’s Assessment of the Intellectual Heritage 109 Bequeathed to Him vi VI. Previous Attempts to Solve the Conundrum of Reason 122 and Revelation CHAPTER 3: On the Incoherence of the “Universal Law” & the Theoretical 132 Impossibility of a Contradiction between Reason and Revelation I. Ibn Taymiyya on the Universal Law and the Reality of 132 Metaphorical Interpretation (Ta’wi>l) II. The End Result of Metaphorical Interpretation 140 III. Faulty Rationality and its Discontents: Reason in a 149 Cul-de-Sac IV. Ibn Taymiyya’s Project: Refuting the Universal Law 158 V. On Reason “Grounding” Our Knowledge of Revelation 160 VI. Knowledge vs. Conjecture: Conclusiveness Is What Counts 170 VII. Not “Reason vs. Revelation” but “Scripturally Validated 179 vs. Scripturally Non-Validated” VIII. Further Arguments Regarding the Rational Contradictori- 184 ness of the Universal Law IX. On the Universal Law’s Incoherence with the Epistemology 191 of the Islamic Faith Part II: Ibn Taymiyya’s Reform of Language, Ontology, and Epistemology CHAPTER 4: S{ah}i>h} al-Manqu>l , or ‘What is Revelation?’ 198 I. Introduction 198 II. Ta’wi>l and the Meaning of Qur’an 3:7 202 III. The Centrality of Context and Ibn Taymiyya’s 210 “Contextual Ta’wi>l ” A. Ibn Taymiyya’s Contextual Ta’wi>l in Practice 214 B. Ta’wi>l on the Basis of Intertextuality 216 C. Ta’wi>l on the Basis of the Positions of the Salaf 218 IV. The Salaf and the Authority of Their Linguistic 220 Convention (‘urf) V. Analysis of Terms to Detect and Correct for Semantic Shift 226 VI. A Case Study: The Terms “wa>h}id,” “tawh}i>d,” and “tarki>b” 231 VII. Conclusion 240 vii CHAPTER 5: S{ari>h} al-Ma‘qu>l , or ‘What is Reason?’ 244 I. Introduction 244 II. ‘What Exists?’: Ibn Taymiyya’s Account of Reality 246 III. ‘How Do We Know What Exists?’ 253 The Primary Sources of Knowledge: H{iss and Khabar A. The First Source of Knowledge: H{iss (perception) 254 B. The Second Source of Knowledge: Khabar (report) 254 IV. The Realm of the Mind: What Exists fi> al-adhha>n? 260 A. Universals 260 B. Essence and Existence, Essence and Attributes 266 V. The Structure of Reason (‘aql) 270 A. On A Priori Knowledge 272 B. Fit}ra : The “Original Normative Disposition” 276 C. D{aru>ra (Necessity) 279 D. Tawa>tur as the Final Guarantor of Epistemic 281 Authenticity VI.
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