Texts and Studies on the Development and History of Kalam, Vol. II: Early Islamic Theology: The Muʿtazilites and al-Ashʿarī

This is the second of three volumes reprinting the collected papers on Islamic subjects by Richard M. Frank, Professor Emeritus at the Catholic University of America. It brings together Franks's articles on early kalam, the Muʿtazilites, and the development of the thought of al-Ashʿari. The studies in this collection are of particular importance for the study of kalam, in that they represent an original attempt to make philosophical sense and understand the theoretical underpinnings of the foundational theological tradition in early Islam, the Muʿtazilite school of Basra. They focus, among others, on Abu l-Hudhayl al-`Allaf, al-Jubbaʿi, and al-Ashʿari, and include a critical edition and translation of the latter's al-Hathth ʿala l-bahth. Contents Foreword Acknowledgements I The metaphysics of created being according to Abū l-Hudhayl al-ʿAllāf: a philosophical study of the earliest kalām II The divine attributes according to the teaching of Abū l-Hudhayl al-ʿAllāf III Several fundamental assumptions of the Baṣra Schoolof the Muʿtazila IV Al-maʿdūm wal-mawjūd: the non-existent, the existent, and the possible in the teaching of Abū Hāshim and his followers V Abu Hashim’s theory of ‘states’: its structure and function VI Elements in the development of the teaching of al-Ashʿarī VII The structure of created causality according to al-Ashʿarī: an analysis of the Kitāb al-Lumaʿ, §§ 82-164 VIII Al-Ashʿarī’s conception of the nature and role of speculative reasoning in theology IX Al-Ashʿarī’s “Kitāb al-Ḥathth ʿalā l-Baḥth” [contains text and translation] Index of names and subjects Index of Arabic words Index of Greek and Syriac terms