the cambridge companion to CLASSICAL ISLAMIC THEOLOGY This series of critical reflections on the evolution and major themes of pre-modern Muslim theology begins with the revelation of the Qur’an, and extends to the beginnings of modernity in the eighteenth century. The significance of Islamic theology reflects the immense importance of Islam in the history of monotheism, to which it has brought a unique approach and style, and a range of solutions which are of abiding interest. Devoting especial attention to questions of rationality, scriptural fidelity and the construction of ‘‘orthodoxy’’, this volume introduces key Muslim theories of revelation, creation, ethics, scriptural interpretation, law, mysticism and eschatology. Throughout the treatment is firmly set in the historical, social and political context in which Islam’s distinctive understanding of God evolved. Despite its importance, Islamic theology has been neglected in recent scholarship, and this book provides a unique, scholarly but accessible introduction. Tim Winter is University Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge. Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008 Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008 cambridge companions to religion A series of companions to major topics and key figures in theology and religious studies. Each volume contains specially commissioned chapters by international scholars which provide an accessible and stimulating introduction to the subject for new readers and non-specialists. Other titles in the series the cambridge companion to christian doctrine edited by Colin Gunton (1997) isbn 0 521 47118 4 hardback isbn 0 521 47695 x paperback the cambridge companion to biblical interpretation edited by John Barton (1998) isbn 0 521 48144 9 hardback isbn 0 521 48593 2 paperback the cambridge companion to dietrich bonhoeffer edited by John de Gruchy (1999) isbn 0 521 58258 x hardback isbn 0 521 58781 6 paperback the cambridge companion to liberation theology, first edition edited by Christopher Rowland (1999) isbn 0 521 46144 8 hardback isbn 0 521 46707 1 paperback the cambridge companion to karl barth edited by John Webster (2000) isbn 0 521 58476 0 hardback isbn 0 521 58560 0 paperback the cambridge companion to christian ethics edited by Robin Gill (2001) isbn 0 521 77070 x hardback isbn 0 521 77918 9 paperback the cambridge companion to jesus edited by Markus Bockmuehl (2001) isbn 0 521 79261 4 hardback isbn 0 521 79678 4 paperback the cambridge companion to feminist theology edited by Susan Frank Parsons (2002) isbn 0 521 66327 x hardback isbn 0 521 66380 6 paperback the cambridge companion to martin luther edited by Donald K. McKim (2003) isbn 0 521 81648 3 hardback isbn 0 521 01673 8 paperback the cambridge companion to st. paul edited by James D. G. Dunn (2003) isbn 0 521 78155 8 hardback isbn 0 521 78694 0 paperback the cambridge companion to postmodern theology edited by Kevin J. Vanhoozer (2003) isbn 0 521 79062 x hardback isbn 0 521 79395 5 paperback the cambridge companion to john calvin edited by Donald K. McKim (2004) isbn 0 521 81647 5 hardback isbn 0 521 01672 x paperback Continued at the back of the book Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008 Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008 the cambridge companion to CLASSICAL ISLAMIC THEOLOGY Edited by Tim Winter Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008 cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sa˜o Paulo, Delhi Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, uk Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521785495 ª Cambridge University Press 2008 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2008 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data The Cambridge companion to classical Islamic theology / edited by Tim Winter. p. cm. – (Cambridge companions to religion) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-521-78058-2 (hardback : alk. paper) – isbn 978-0-521-78549-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Islam–Theology–History. 2. Islam–Doctrines–History. I. Winter, T. J. II. Title: Classical Islamic theology. III. Series. bp166.1.c36 2008 297.209–dc22 2008008970 isbn 978-0-521-78058-2 hardback isbn 978-0-521-78549-5 paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008 Contents Notes on contributors page ix Introduction 1 tim winter Part I Historical perspectives 1 Qur’an and hadith 19 m. a. s. abdel haleem 2 The early creed 33 khalid blankinship 3 Islamic philosophy (falsafa) 55 hossein ziai 4 The developed kala¯ m tradition 77 oliver leaman (part i) and sajjad rizvi (part ii) 5 The social construction of orthodoxy 97 ahmed el shamsy Part II Themes 6 God: essence and attributes 121 nader el-bizri 7 Creation 141 david b. burrell csc 8 Ethics 161 steffen a. j. stelzer 9 Revelation 180 yahya michot 10 The existence of God 197 ayman shihadeh 11 Worship 218 william c. chittick vii Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008 viii Contents 12 Theological dimensions of Islamic law 237 umar f. abd-allah 13 Theology and Sufism 258 toby mayer 14 Epistemology and divine discourse 288 paul-a. hardy 15 Eschatology 308 marcia hermansen Index 325 Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008 Notes on contributors Umar F. Abd-Allah received his PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Chicago in 1978 with a dissertation on the origins of Islamic law. His principal interests are Islamic intellectual and spiritual history, the history of Islam in the West, and comparative religion. He taught academically in the United States, Canada and Saudi Arabia for more than twenty years before taking up his present post as chairperson and scholar-in-residence of the Nawawi Foundation (Chicago), an educational organisation devoted to exploring Islamic intellectual, spiritual and cultural legacies and making them relevant today. His most recent book, A Muslim in Victorian America: The Life of Alexander Russell Webb, appeared in 2006. M. A. S. Abdel Haleem was educated at al-Azhar, Cairo, and Cambridge Universities, and has taught Arabic at the universities of Cambridge and London since 1966. He is now Professor of Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Among his recent publications are Understanding the Qur’an: Themes and Style (2001), English Translations of the Qur’an: The Making of an Image (2004), and a new translation of The Qur’an (2004). Nader El-Bizri is a Research Associate in Philosophy at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, and an Affiliated Lecturer at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge. He is also a Visiting Professor at Lincoln University, and acts as a Chercheur Associe´ at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, Paris). He previously taught at the universities of Nottingham and Harvard and the American University of Beirut. In addition, he is an elected member of the Steering Committee of the Socie´te´ Internationale d’Histoire des Sciences et des Philosophies Arabes et Islamiques (CNRS, Paris). His areas of research are Arabic Sciences and Philosophy, Phenomenology, and Architectural Humanities. Khalid Blankinship obtained his PhD in history in 1988, with a specialisation in Islam, from the University of Washington. Since 1990, he has worked as a professor in the Department of Religion at Temple University in Philadelphia. He has remained active in research and lecturing on religion in general and Islam in particular. His book, The End of the Jihad State: The Reign of Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads was published in 1994; ix Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008 x Notes on contributors he also translated two of the thirty-eight volumes of The History of al-T_ abarı for the T_ abarı Translation Project. David B. Burrell CSC is Theodore M. Hesburgh Professor in Philosophy and Theology at the University of Notre Dame, USA. His publishing career began in 1973 with Analogy and Philosophical Language, and led to a series of studies of St Thomas Aquinas. Since 1982 he has worked mainly in comparative issues in philosophical theology in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. His more recent works include Freedom and Creation in Three Traditions (1993), and two translations of theological texts by al-Ghazal ı. William C. Chittick is Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Asian and Asian-American Studies, State University of New York, Stony Brook. He has published twenty-five books and numerous articles on Islamic intellectual history, including The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi (1983), The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn al-‘Arabıˆ’s Metaphysics of Imagination (1989), and The Heart of Islamic Philosophy (2001). Ahmed El Shamsy is a doctoral candidate in History and Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. He received his BA and MSc from the University of London, and has also studied Islamic theology and law in Germany and Egypt. His doctoral research investigates the early social and intellectual history of the Shafi‘ ı school of law; in conjunction with this project, he is preparing a critical edition of a ninth-century work by al-Shafi‘ı’s successor al-Buwayt_ ı.