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Shiʿi Doctrine, Muʿtazili Theology Examines the Critical Turn That Shaped Imami Shiʿism in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries

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Shiʿi Doctrine, Muʿtazili Theology Examines the Critical Turn That Shaped Imami Shiʿism in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries Shiʿi Doctrine, Muʿtazili Theology Doctrine, Shiʿi Examines the critical turn that shaped Imami Shiʿism in the tenth and eleventh centuries God is not free to act; He is bound by human ethics. To be just, He must create an individual of perfect intellect and infallible morality. People are obligated to submit to this person; otherwise eternal damnation awaits them. While these claims may be interpreted as an affront to God’s power, an insult to human judgement and a justification for despotism, Shiʿi Muslims in the eleventh century eagerly espoused them in their attempts to forge a ‘rational’ religious discourse. They utilised everything from literary studies and political theory to natural philosophy and metaphysical speculation in support of this Shiʿi Doctrine, project. This book presents the contribution of al-Sharīf al-Murtaḍa (d. 1044) of Baghdad, the thinker most responsible for this irreversible change, which remains central to Imami identity. It analyses his intellectual project and Muʿtazili Theology establishes the dynamic context which prompted him to pour the old wine of Shiʿi doctrine into the new wineskin of systematic Muʿtazili theology. al-Sharīf al-Murtaḍā and Imami Discourse Key Features • Comprehensive coverage of al-Murtaḍā’s enormous oeuvre (running to several thousand pages) and diversity (spanning most contemporary fields of knowledge) • A meticulous engagement with long and dense theoretical texts that are either in manuscript form or poorly edited • A systematic presentation that equips readers with a general, but also Hussein Ali Abdulsater analytically profound, understanding of Shiʿi theology in its main phases • Studies a crucial if unaccountably neglected author whose views are still a major influence for Shiʿi Muslims Hussein Ali Abdulsater is Assistant Professor of Arabic Culture and Islamic Studies in the Department of Classics, University of Notre Dame. Cover image: W.579, Prayer, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Caliph, ca 600–661, Arabic (1534 CE, Astarābād (Iran)). Courtesy of the Walters Art Museum’s Works of Art and made available through the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported licence Cover design: www.hayesdesign.co.uk ISBN 978-1-4744-0440-2 edinburghuniversitypress.com Hussein Ali Abdulsater SHIʿI doctrine, muʿtazili theology To my parents Shiʿi doctrine, muʿtazili theology AL-SHARI¯F AL-MURTADA¯ AND IMAMI DISCOURSE˙ r������r������r HUSSEIN ALI ABDULSATER Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutting-edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance. For more information visit our website: edinburghuniversitypress.com © Hussein Ali Abdulsater, 2017 Edinburgh University Press Ltd The Tun – Holyrood Road 12 (2f) Jackson’s Entry Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Typeset in 10/12.5pt JaghbUni by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4744 0440 2 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 4744 0441 9 (webready PDF) ISBN 978 1 4744 2531 5 (epub) The right of Hussein Ali Abdulsater to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498). Contents Acknowledgements vii Introduction 1 The ambivalent relation between Imami Shiʿism and Muʿtazilism 2 Analysing the ambivalent relation 3 Three masters on Imamism and Muʿtazilism 6 The present study 7 1 Life and Works 16 Historical setting 16 Biography 18 Oeuvre 22 Magna opera 23 Sources and classification 28 Murtaḍā’s bibliography 28 2 God and the World 52 Epistemological sketch: knowledge, investigation, reason and proofs 53 Ontological sketch: entities, attributes and causality 60 Theological sketch: God’s existence, attributes and the theory of states 66 Conclusion 79 3 Moral Theory and Divine Justice 87 Moral theory 88 Desert 97 God as moral agent 98 Consequences as deserved treatments 104 vi ] Shiʿi Doctrine, Muʿtazili Theology Rational and revelational morality 116 Conclusion 119 4 Humans and the Origins of Religious Experience 128 The human being 129 Creation and moral obligation 135 Conclusion 143 5 The Imama and the Need for Moral Leadership 151 Theoretical model 154 The test of history 160 Inconvenient outcomes 167 Conclusion 172 6 Prophethood and the Value of Divine Guidance 182 Theoretical model 183 Historical disclosure 189 Inconvenient outcomes 199 Conclusion 203 Conclusion 211 Theology, doctrine and influence 213 Divine assistance as a theology of history 215 Bibliography 222 Index 242 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deep gratitude to many people whose help has been essen- tial in writing this book. First and foremost, I am indebted to my advisors: Gerhard Böwering for his great support and informative comments, and Hossein Modarressi for his precious advice and meticulous feedback. Their criticism, counsel, patience and encouragement were all indispensable in finishing the doctoral dissertation and, later, in applying the changes that made the present book a totally different work. Since my undergraduate years Maher Jarrar has been an exceptional mentor. Likewise, I could not be more indebted to Vahid Behmardi for his outstanding guid- ance and support. I am also grateful to Dimitri Gutas for his illuminating seminars, to Tarif Khalidi for his insightful remarks on history and literature, to Ebrahim Moosa for his enriching view of Islamic ethics, and to Nader El-Bizri, who made me more aware of the contemporary relevance of many kalām debates. The support of many friends made this work possible through their valuable sug- gestions at various stages of work. I have benefited greatly from Matthew Melvin- Koushki’s (occult) feedback, Mushegh Asatryan’s knowledge of Shiʿi extremism, Mahmud Younes’ philosophical view of kalām, Tarek Idris’ stringent theological arguments and Toufic Salloum’s remarkable outside perspective. I would also like to thank my many teachers and friends in traditional circles of learning for their instructive comments, often in the context of heated conversations and sometimes amidst accusations of Occidentosis. Because of our differences, my father’s critique has always been most educating, as has his personal library. I am also grateful to the anonymous readers chosen by Edinburgh University Press for their suggestions, and to Nicola Ramsey and Ellie Bush for their support during the publication process. The writing of this book, in its various stages, would not have been possible without Nermine el-Horr. Finally, I credit these esteemed individuals with the merits of the book. Any shortcoming is solely my responsibility. [ vii ] INTRODUCTION ُوج ْملةُ ْاﻷمر َّإن َالمذاهب ُيجب أن تُ َؤخذ من ِأفواه قائليها وأصحابِهم ّالمختصين بهم َوم ْن هو ٌمأمون في ِالحكاية عنهم وﻻ يُرجع فيها إلى دعاوى الخصوم؛ فإنه ْإن يُ ْرجع إلى ذلك في ِالمذهب اتَّ َسع ْالخر ُق َوج َّل ْالخط ُب ولم ْنثق ٍبحكاية في ٍمذهب وﻻ ِاستناد مقالة.1 الشريف المرتضى It is perhaps paradoxical, following this epigraph by the Imami Shiʿi al-Sharīf al-Murtaḍā (d. 1044), to invoke the tangential comments on Imami Shiʿism made by al-Jāḥiẓ (d. 869), the great littérateur and also a sui generis Muʿtazili theologian.2 Revelling as usual in scathing sarcasm, he remarked that the Rāfiḍis had been nar- rowing down the line of legitimate claimants to the Imama. This would eventually lead them to argue that an incumbent Imam must live forever; for if the Imam lacked issue and died or was killed by want of prudence, the consistency of their theory would be undermined. The attack was a hypothetical scenario that Jāḥiẓ proposed to cruelly mock a childless ʿAbbāsid bureaucrat whose bad fortune had made him the object of Abū ʿUthmān’s merciless satire.3 In response, the bureaucrat argued that Jāḥiẓ’s incredible gift for spreading pure falsehood must also indicate his absolute inability to tell the truth; but these protests were in vain.4 His penchant for excessive polemics and hyperbole aside, Jāḥiẓ’s comments reflect the harshness of the Imamis’ opponents in judging their beliefs in a reduction- ist manner and caricaturing their standpoint. This was still material for complaint even two centuries later, as echoed in the words of al-Sharīf al-Murtaḍā quoted at the beginning. Jāḥiẓ’s elliptical remarks, however, are illuminating for what they reveal: first, familiarity with the conditions under which the Imams were living; second, awareness of developments in the Imami position over time; third, knowl- edge of Imami investment in developing a coherent theory of the Imama; and fourth, appreciation of the sensitivity of history for Imami beliefs, on which Jāḥiẓ based both his negative judgement on their reasoning and his expectation of future refinements [ 1 ] 2 ] Shiʿi Doctrine, Muʿtazili Theology in the theory. Given Jāḥiẓ’s court connections as a friend of both the grand judge Aḥmad b. Abī Duʾād (d. 854) and the vizier Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Malik al-Zayyāt (d. 847), these remarks reflect the strength of the interaction between Muʿtazilism and Imami Shiʿism in high intellectual and political circles. It is also worth noting that these remarks were made at a time when the Wāqifiyya had been, for around four decades, awaiting the return of the Seventh Imam (in Imami reckoning, which will be used throughout this book), Mūsā b. Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim (d. 799), who they believed had gone into hiding. The Imamis were not particularly impressed by such beliefs;5 their later authorities, however, argued that their rejection of these beliefs at the time was not driven by the improbable age of the presumptive hidden Imam but by the fact that his death had been proven beyond doubt.6 The ambivalent relation between Imami Shiʿism and Muʿtazilism This book examines the critical turn that shaped Imami Shiʿism in the tenth to elev- enth centuries, particularly as seen in the work of the theologian, littérateur, jurist and community leader Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī b.
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