Ibn Taymiyya on Reason and Revelation - A Study of Dar’ Ta’arid al-‘aql wa-l-naql

458 Pages·2.606 MB·English

by  Carl Sharif El-Tobgui

IbnTaymiyyaonReasonandRevelation
Carl Sharif El-Tobgui - 978-90-04-41286-6
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Islamic Philosophy, Theology
and Science
Texts and Studies
Editedby
HansDaiber
AnnaAkasoy
EmilieSavage-Smith
volume 111
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/ipts
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Ibn Taymiyya on Reason
and Revelation
AStudyof Darʾtaʿāruḍal-ʿaqlwa-l-naql
By
CarlSharif El-Tobgui
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Carl Sharif El-Tobgui - 978-90-04-41286-6
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Thisisanopenaccesstitledistributedunderthetermsofthe
CC-BY-NC4.0License,whichpermitsanynon-commercialuse,
distribution,andreproductioninanymedium,providedtheoriginal
author(s)andsourcearecredited.
Coverillustration:DasTorderGroßenUmayyaden-Moschee,Damaskus,1890.TheGateoftheGreat
UmayyadMosque,Damascus,1890,whereIbnTaymiyyataughtinhisyouthsomesixhundredyearsearlier.
ByGustavBauernfeind(1848–1904).
TheLibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:El-Tobgui,CarlSharif,1974-author.
Title:IbnTaymiyyaonreasonandrevelation:astudyofDarʾtaʿāruḍal-ʿaql
wa-l-naql/byCarlSharifEl-Tobgui.
Description:Leiden;Boston:Brill,[2020]|Series:Islamicphilosophy,theology
andscience,0169-8729;volume111|Includesbibliographicalreferencesand
index.
Identifiers:LCCN2019033459(print)|LCCN2019033460(ebook)|
ISBN9789004412859(hardback)|ISBN9789004412866(ebook)
Subjects:LCSH:IbnTaymīyah,AḥmadibnʿAbdal-Ḥalīm,1263-1328.Bayān
muwāfaqatṣarīḥal-maʿqūlli-ṣaḥīḥal-manqūl.|Faithandreason–Islam.|
Islamandphilosophy.
Classification:LCCBP190.5.R4I25342020(print)|LCCBP190.5.R4(ebook)|
DDC297.2/0414–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019033459
LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019033460
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Thisbookisdedicated,
withboundlessloveandeternalgratitude,
tomydearwife,Nadia,
andmybelovedchildren,
AdnaneandAmina
∵
Carl Sharif El-Tobgui - 978-90-04-41286-6
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Carl Sharif El-Tobgui - 978-90-04-41286-6
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Contents
Acknowledgements xi
ListofFiguresandTables xiv
MiseenScène 1
Introduction 4
1 ContoursofaConflict 6
2 WhytheDarʾtaʿāruḍ? 9
3 AboutThisWork 13
3.1 Aims,Method,andScope 13
3.2 StructureandMajorThemes 16
Part 1
Reasonvs.Revelation?
1 ReasonandRevelationinIslambeforeIbnTaymiyya 23
1 ReasonandRevelation,ReasoninRevelation 23
2 TheEarlyEmergenceofRationalistandTextualistTendencies:
TheCaseoftheLaw 27
3 EarlyTheologicalReflectionandContention 31
3.1 TheTranslationMovementandtheImpactofGreek
Philosophy 38
4 TheMuʿtazila 41
5 Non-speculativeTheologyandtheLegacyofAḥmadb.Ḥanbal 42
6 TheMiḥnaandItsAftermath 46
7 NascentAshʿarīThoughtandtheEarlyKalām 48
7.1 al-Ashʿarī 48
7.2 al-Bāqillānī 52
8 Philosophy 53
8.1 al-Kindī 55
8.2 al-Fārābī 57
8.3 IbnSīnā 60
9 TheNewKalāmandSubsequentDevelopments 63
9.1 al-Juwaynī 63
9.2 al-Ghazālī 66
10 KalāmandFalsafaintheWakeofal-Ghazālī 71
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viii contents
10.1 AshʿarīTheologyandtheStruggletoOrthodoxy 71
10.2 PhilosophicalTheologyandtheFateof FalsafaProper 72
10.3 Fakhral-Dīnal-Rāzī 74
2 IbnTaymiyya:Life,Times,andIntellectualProfile 78
1 TheLifeandTimesofIbnTaymiyya(661–728/1263–1328) 78
2 IntellectualProfile 87
3 CharacterandContemporaryReception 93
4 IbnTaymiyya’sWorks 97
5 TheHistoriographyoftheDarʾtaʿāruḍ:IbnTaymiyya’sAssessment
oftheIntellectualLegacyHeInherited 102
6 TheDarʾtaʿāruḍinContext:IbnTaymiyya’sViewofPrevious
AttemptstoSolvetheConundrumofReasonandRevelation 118
3 OntheIncoherenceoftheUniversalRuleandtheTheoretical
ImpossibilityofaContradictionbetweenReasonandRevelation 132
1 IbnTaymiyyaontheUniversalRuleandtheVarietyofResponses
ItHasElicited 132
2 TheEndResultofFigurativeInterpretation(taʾwīl) 137
3 SpeciousRationalityandItsDiscontents:Reasonina
Cul-de-Sac 141
4 IbnTaymiyya’sProject:RefutingtheUniversalRule 148
5 OnReasonGroundingOurKnowledgeofRevelation 149
6 Knowledgevs.Conjecture:ConclusivenessIsWhatCounts 156
7 Not“Scripturalvs.Rational”but“ScripturallyValidatedvs.
Innovated” 163
8 FurtherArgumentsRegardingtheRationalContradictoriness
oftheUniversalRule 168
9 OntheIncompatibilityoftheUniversalRulewiththeStatusand
AuthorityofRevelation 172
Part 2
IbnTaymiyya’sReformofLanguage,Ontology,andEpistemology
4 Ṣaḥīḥal-Manqūl,orWhatIsRevelation? 179
1 TaʾwīlandtheMeaningofQurʾān3:7 184
1.1 TheMeaningof“Taʾwīl” 185
2 TheCentralityofContextandIbnTaymiyya’s“Contextual
Taʾwīl” 193
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contents ix
2.1 IbnTaymiyya’sContextualTaʾwīlinPractice 198
2.2 TaʾwīlontheBasisofIntertextuality 202
2.3 TaʾwīlontheBasisofthePositionsoftheSalaf 204
3 TheSalafandtheAuthorityofTheirLinguisticConvention
(ʿurf) 206
3.1 TheSalaf’sAuthorityinKnowledgeandtheUnderstanding
ofRevelation 208
4 AnalysisofTermstoDetectandCorrectforSemanticShift 211
5 ACaseStudy:TheTermswāḥid,tawḥīd,andtarkīb 215
5 Ṣarīḥal-Maʿqūl,orWhatIsReason? 227
1 WhatExists?IbnTaymiyya’sAccountofReality 229
1.1 Self-StandingEntities(Aʿyān):TheRealmsoftheSeen
andtheUnseen 230
2 HowDoWeKnowWhatExists?ThePrimarySources
ofKnowledge 235
2.1 TheFirstSourceofKnowledge:Sensation(ḥiss) 236
2.2 TheSecondSourceofKnowledge:TransmittedReports
(khabar) 237
3 TheRealmoftheMind:WhatExists fīal-adhhān? 241
3.1 Universals 241
3.2 EssenceandExistence,EssenceandAttributes 248
4 TheStructureofReason 253
4.1 Self-EvidentandAPrioriKnowledge 255
4.2 Fiṭra:TheOriginalNormativeDisposition 260
4.3 Ḍarūra(Necessity) 264
4.4 TawāturastheFinalEpistemicGuarantor 267
6 ReasonReconstituted:TheDivineAttributesandtheQuestion
ofContradictionbetweenReasonandRevelation 277
1 RationalInferenceandtheQuestionofQiyāsal-ghāʾibʿalā
al-shāhid 277
2 IbnTaymiyya’sReformsApplied:TheQuestionoftheDivine
Attributes 285
3 ConcludingReflections 288
AppendixA:SummaryOutlineoftheDarʾtaʿāruḍ 301
AppendixB:DetailedOutlineoftheDarʾtaʿāruḍ 307
GlossaryofArabicTerms 323
GlossaryofProperNames 347
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x contents
Bibliography 367
IndexofArabicPassages 398
IndexofḤadīth 404
IndexofPeopleandPlaces 406
IndexofQurʾānicVerses 413
IndexofSubjects 423
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