Customer Reviews

Defenders of Reason In Islam: Mu'tazilism and Rational Theology from Medieval School to Modern Symbol

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Mu'tazilism was a school of Islamic theological discourse (kalam) that enjoyed the patronage of many Muslim rulers during the Abbasid Age (800-1050 CE). Mu'tazali intellectuals forwarded a rationalist conception of Islamic theology and offered specific opinions about divine unity, the historical context of revelation, and ethical answerability to God. The first principle of Mu'tazilism was that all humans must exercise speculative reason in order to know God. Further, the Mu'tazila believed that humans had the power (qudra) to act independently and were responsible to God for those actions. Later Muslim orthodoxy (i.e. Ash'ariya) strongly opposed this doctrine and favored the doctrine of divine predestination.

The authors argue that modernist Muslim intellectuals have dipped into the well of Islamic history and drawn heavily from Mu'tazalism. In addition to the belief in human efficacy, modernist Muslims seem particular interested in the Mu'tazlite assertion that the Qur'an was revealed in a particular historical context and therefore Muslims must use reason to interpret it when living in new contexts. The Mu'tazilite doctrine that asserts that associating attributes to God is tantamount to shirk (polytheism) seems to be of little interest to most modernist Muslims.

Although very few of these contemporary intellectuals self-identify as neo-mu'tazalite they admire the Mu'tazalite commitment to reason. However, one Indonesian intellectual, Harun Nasution, has boldly declared himself to be a modern day Mu'tazalite.

The authors translate and explicate two Mu'tazalite texts. The first was written in the tenth century CE by Qadi 'Abd al-Jabbar, considered by some to be the last major Mu'tazalite scholar. The second was written by the contemporary Indonesian Islamic scholar, Harun Nasution. The authors compare these texts both in term of their theological (kalam) arguments as well as in terms of the context in which they were written. In this way, it is a exquisite examination of continuity and change within a religious tradition.

This is not a book for the casual reader, despite the fact that it is distributed through popular booksellers in the United States. It twists and turns through the history of theological debates in Islam. Some of the debates might seem arcane to the first time student of Islam and others confusing as to the real difference between the opposing views.

For the advanced scholar of Islam, this is a marvelous book. It reflects a collaborative effort of a kind that should be encouraged and repeated in the study of Islam. Martin is an historian of Islam and a philologist. Woodward is an anthropologist well-known for his work on Indonesian Islam. Both are detached scholars; neither is Muslim. Atmaja, on the other hand, is a young Indonesian Islamic intellectual conversant in historical texts and, like many of his contemporaries, trying to come to terms with modernity and postmodernity. In fact, as the preface of the book openly admits, this book was inspired by Atmaja's desire to examine Mu'tazilism as a source for thinking about the relationship between rationality and faith.

Ron Lukens-Bull, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Anthropology University of North Florida Jacksonville, FL 32224-2650 (904) 620-2850 rlukens@unf.edu

This is a great book describing the doctrines of the Mutazil school of Islamic theology. It explains the history and development of the different theological schools, focussing on the works of the famous Mutazil scholar Qadi 'Abd al-Jabbar. His "Kitab al-Usul al-Khamsa" (the Book os 5 Foundations) is known in Islamic circles as representative of the later Mutazil school, synthesized from various different strains of early thought. It is translated here with a commentary by the authors and also by one of 'Abd al-Jabbar's original students.

The 5 foundational principles of: "Unity of God" (Tawhid); "Justice" (al-'adl); "The Promise and Threat" (al-wa'd wa l-wa'id); "The Intermediate Position" (al-manzila bayn al-manzilatayn) and finally "Commanding the Good and forbidding the Evil" (al-amr bi l-ma'ruf wa-l nahy 'an al-munkar) are discussed in detail with reference to the Mutazil sources. Also the pre-requisite even before these - that of speculative reasoning (al-nazar) and it's use in coming to realise or prove the existence of God. Some of these positions differ radically from the main Sunni creed of the Ashariyya, but is more close to the Maturidiyya (the school I follow).

After the background and translation of this important text, the authors move to talk about a contemporary neo-Mutazil thinker in Indonesia, Harun Nasuiton. One of his works is translated and explained with commentary. The concept of the revival of Mutazil-inspired thought is discussed from the time of the original "Salafiyya" movement before it was hijacked by the Wahabbi creed (Muhammad 'Abduh for example) and a number of interesting points are raised.

I only gave it 4 stars, because I felt it was lacking in some parts. Mainly the history and development of the Mutazil creed, the socio-political aspects that led to their decline and other things. I wish there was much more information regarding this, as well as how much the Mutazil creed influenced the Shia theology as well (the student of 'Abd al-Jabbar referenced a lot was a Zaydi Shia for example). There is a chapter or 2 on this kind of imformation and it is a great overview, but it left me hungry for more! The same for the contemporary scene - I wish that more intellectuals and scholars were referenced. But I guess this is the problem with it being originally written in 1997.

I look forward to an updated and expanded edition, or another publication based on such pioneering work.