Ibn Taymiyya and the Attributes of God (Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science. Texts and Studies, 125)

In Ibn Taymiyya and the Attributes of God (orig. published in German, 2019), Farid Suleiman pieces together, on the basis of statements scattered unsystematically over numerous individual treatises, an overall picture of the methodological foundations of Ibn Taymiyya's doctrine of the divine attributes. He then examines how Ibn Taymiyya applies these foundational principles as exemplified in his treatment of selected divine attributes. Throughout the book, Suleiman relates Ibn Taymiyya's positions to the larger context of Islamic intellectual history. The book was awarded the Dissertation Prize 2019 by the Academy for Islam in Research and Society (AIWG) and the Classical Islamic Book Prize by Gorgias Press (2020). ‎Contents 6 ‎Acknowledgements (to the English translation) 10 ‎Acknowledgements (of original German version) 11 ‎Figures and Tables 13 ‎Figures 13 ‎Tables 13 ‎Chapter 1. Introduction 14 ‎1. State of the Field 17 ‎2. Objectives and Approach 22 ‎3. Overview of the Works of Ibn Taymiyya Most Frequently Used in This Study 26 ‎Part 1. Ibn Taymiyya’s Biography and the History of the Divine Attributes in Islamic Thought before His Time 34 ‎Chapter 2. Ibn Taymiyya’s Biography 36 ‎Chapter 3. The Divine Attributes in Islamic Intellectual History up to the Time of Ibn Taymiyya 51 ‎1. The Emergence of the Debate over the Divine Attributes in Early Islam 52 ‎2. The Muʿtazila 54 ‎3. The Falāsifa 62 ‎4. Ahl al-Ḥadīth 71 ‎5. The Ashʿarīs 94 ‎Part 2. The Methodological Foundations of Ibn Taymiyya’s Doctrine of the Divine Attributes 106 ‎Chapter 4. Ontological Foundations 108 ‎1. The Term wujūd: Meaning and Gradations 108 ‎2. Likeness (mithl, tamāthul) and Similarity (shibh, tashābuh, ishtibāh) among Existent Things 112 ‎3. Ibn Taymiyya’s Ontological Conceptualism 116 ‎3.1. The Onto-linguistic Perspective: The Relationship between Universal Concepts and the External World 120 ‎3.2. The Ontological-Epistemological Perspective: On Causality 123 ‎3.3. The Ontological–Natural Philosophical Perspective: On Space and Time 129 ‎4. Ibn Taymiyya’s Critique of the Doctrine of the Unity of Being (waḥdat al-wujūd) in Speculative Sufism 138 ‎Chapter 5. Linguistic Foundations 154 ‎1. The ḥaqīqa–majāz Dichotomy 154 ‎1.1. Ibn Taymiyya’s Critique of the ḥaqīqa–majāz Dichotomy 156 ‎1.2. Did Ibn Taymiyya Hold Different Positions on the ḥaqīqa–majāz Dichotomy? 165 ‎2. On the Semantic Relationship of Homonymous Expressions: Ibn Taymiyya’s Linguistic Counterproposal to the ḥaqīqa–majāz Dichotomy 168 ‎3. What Are the Theological Consequences of Ibn Taymiyya’s Alternative to the ḥaqīqa–majāz Dichotomy? 180 ‎Chapter 6. Hermeneutical Foundations 186 ‎1. Verse Q. 3:7—Ibn Taymiyya’s Understanding of the Terms muḥkam, mutashābih, and taʾwīl 186 ‎1.1. The Term taʾwīl 189 ‎1.2. The Opposite Pair muḥkam and mutashābih 196 ‎1.3. Verse Q. 3:7—A Crossroads in Quranic Hermeneutics? 201 ‎2. Ibn Taymiyya’s Challenge to the Validity of taʾwīl majāzī: Attempting to Limit the Scope of Application of the Universal Rule (al-qānūn al-kullī) 205 ‎2.1. The Ashʿarīs and the Universal Rule 205 ‎2.2. Conditions for the Validity of taʾwīl majāzī 212 ‎3. The Two Principles and the Seven Basic Rules for Interpreting the Divine Attributes 222 ‎Chapter 7. Epistemological Foundations 235 ‎1. On the Applicability of qiyās in Theology 235 ‎1.1. Qiyās in Islamic Theology before Ibn Taymiyya 237 ‎1.2. Ibn Taymiyya’s View on qiyās: A Further Development of al-Āmidī’s Position 248 ‎1.3. Ibn Taymiyya’s Critique of His Opponents 259 ‎1.4. Evaluating Ibn Taymiyya’s Position 263 ‎2. The Epistemic Value of Textual Indicants: Ibn Taymiyya in Debate with al-Rāzī 265 ‎Chapter 8. Summary 280 ‎Part 3. The Divine Essence and Attributes in Focus 288 ‎Chapter 9. Temporally Originating States and Acts (ḥawādith) in the Divine Essence 290 ‎Chapter 10. Case Studies of Selected Divine Attributes 297 ‎1. al-ʿAdl: God’s Justice 297 ‎2. al-Kalām: God’s Speech 306 ‎3. al-Istiwāʾ: God’s Rising over His Throne 320 ‎4. al-Maʿiyya: God’s “Withness” 334 ‎Chapter 11. Summary 339 ‎Chapter 12. Evaluation and Conclusion 342 ‎1. What Role Does Reason Play in Ibn Taymiyya’s Methodology? 342 ‎2. Does Ibn Taymiyya Apply the Methodology He Has Worked Out Consistently in Practice? 344 ‎3. Is Ibn Taymiyya’s View of Himself as neither a Literalist nor an Anthropomorphist Justified? 345 ‎4. What Relationship Do Ibn Taymiyya’s Positions Have to the Development of Ideas That Preceded Him? 346 ‎Bibliography 350 ‎Index of Quranic Verses 390 ‎Index of People and Subjects 391 In Ibn Taymiyya and the Attributes of God , Farid Suleiman offers a comprehensive study of Ibn Taymiyya’s views on God and His attributes, contextualizing his position within the century-old debates on this fraught theological issue.