Theology and Society in the Second and Third Centuries of the Hijra. Volume 2, A History of Religious Thought in Early Islam 2

Theology and Society is the most comprehensive study of Islamic intellectual and religious history, focusing on Muslim theology. With its emphasis on the eighth and ninth centuries CE, it remains the most detailed prosopographical study of the early phase of the formation of Islam. Originally published in German between 1991 and 1995, Theology and Society is a monument of scholarship and a unique scholarly enterprise which has stood the test of time as an unparalleled reference work. Josef van Ess, Emeritus Professor of Islamic Studies and Semitic Languages, University of Tübingen, Germany, has published widely on the history of the Islamic World; Islamic theology and philosophy, especially with respect to the formative period (8th-10th centuries) and the age of the Mongol conquests (13th-14th centuries); and Islamic mysticism. His most famous work is Theologie und Gesellschaft in 6 volumes (de Gruyter 1991-97), the first four volumes of which are now being published in English by Brill. Gwendolin Goldbloom (1969) has produced English translations of several books and a number of articles in the field of Islamic Studies, most of them originally published in German. Contents 7 2.2 Basra 13 2.2.1 The “Heretics” 16 2.2.1.1 Bashshār b. Burd 18 2.2.1.2 Ṣāliḥ b. ʿAbd al-Quddūs 29 2.2.1.3 The Sumaniyya 35 2.2.1.4 Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ 38 2.2.1.4.1 A Text against Islam 45 2.2.1.4.2 The Parody of the Quran 51 2.2.1.5 The Context. “Natural Philosophers” 53 2.2.2 Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and His Spiritual Successors 58 2.2.2.1 The Qadariyya 69 2.2.2.1.1 Qadarite Ideas in hadith 70 2.2.2.1.2 Qadarite Traditionists 73 2.2.2.1.2.1 The Generation Following Ḥasan al-Baṣrī 74 2.2.2.1.2.2 The Middle Generation 81 2.2.2.1.2.3 Pupils of Saʿīd b. Abī ʿArūba 95 2.2.2.1.2.4 Other Qadarites in the Second Half of the Second Century 98 2.2.2.1.3 The Uswārīs 103 2.2.2.1.4 Qadarites among the Basran Grammarians 110 2.2.2.2 Qadariyya and Asceticism 113 2.2.2.2.1 Ḥasan al-Baṣrī’s Younger Contemporaries 115 2.2.2.2.2 The Next Generation 122 2.2.2.2.2.1 The Significance of ʿAbbādān 131 2.2.2.2.3 Theological and Juristic Divergent Opinions within the Circle of Basran Ascetics 135 2.2.2.2.3.1 The Bakriyya 137 2.2.2.2.4 Asceticism and Rationality 149 2.2.3 The Jurists 153 2.2.3.1 The Case of Iyās b. Muʿāwiya 155 2.2.3.2 Early Theoretical Texts 164 2.2.3.3 Experts and Jurisconsults 167 2.2.3.4 Kullu mujtahid muṣīb 189 2.2.4 Murjiʾites in Basra. The “Ghaylāniyya” 201 2.2.4.1 Faḍl al-Raqāshī 204 2.2.4.2 Abū Shamir and His School 212 2.2.4.3 “Jahmites” 223 2.2.5 The Ibāḍiyya 227 2.2.5.1 The Case of ʿAbdallāh b. Ibāḍ 227 2.2.5.2 The Development of the Basran Community 230 2.2.5.3 The Question of qadar 245 2.2.5.4 The Quarrel over the Anthropomorphisms 249 2.2.5.5 Further Controversial Issues 257 2.2.5.6 The Environment 260 2.2.5.7 The Relation between Sin and Faith 270 2.2.5.8 Puritanism and Scrupulousness 278 2.2.6 The Early Muʿtazila 280 2.2.6.1 Wāṣil b. ʿAṭāʾ 281 2.2.6.1.1 The Chronology of his Life. His Origins and Profession 282 2.2.6.1.2 Wāṣil the khaṭīb. His Appearance before ʿAbdallāh b. ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿazīz 288 2.2.6.1.3 Wāṣil’s Speech Defect 294 2.2.6.1.4 Wāṣil’s Relations with the ʿAlids in Medina 297 2.2.6.1.5 The Image of Wāṣil’s Personality 302 2.2.6.1.6 Wāṣil’s Relationship with ʿAmr b. ʿUbayd and Ḥasan al-Baṣrī 304 2.2.6.1.7 The Doctrine of the Intermediate State 310 2.2.6.1.7.1 Sin and Penitence 317 2.2.6.1.7.2 Wāṣil’s Relationship with Khārijites and Murjiʾites 318 2.2.6.1.8 Wāṣil’s Political Views 321 2.2.6.1.9 Further Points of Doctrine 324 2.2.6.1.9.1 Epistemological Issues 327 2.2.6.2 ʿAmr b. ʿUbayd 331 2.2.6.2.1 Biographical Data 333 2.2.6.2.2 Political Decisions 337 2.2.6.2.2.1 The Relationship with Manṣūr 339 2.2.6.2.3 The Image of ʿAmr’s Personality 348 2.2.6.2.4 His Relationship with Ḥasan al-Baṣrī 350 2.2.6.2.4.1 ʿAmr as an Exegete 351 2.2.6.2.5 ʿAmr as a Legal Scholar 354 2.2.6.2.6 ʿAmr as a Traditionist 356 2.2.6.2.7 Theology and Politics 360 2.2.6.3 The Pupil Generation 364 2.2.6.3.1 The Circle around Wāṣil 365 2.2.6.3.1.1 The duʿāt 365 2.2.6.3.1.2 Wāṣil’s Other Pupils 372 2.2.6.3.2 The Circle around ʿAmr b. ʿUbayd 378 2.2.6.3.2.1 Jurists and Traditionists 378 2.2.6.3.2.2 The “Muʿtazilites” of the Uprising of AH 145 384 2.2.6.4 The Origin of the Name Muʿtazila 394 2.2.7 The Traditionist Reaction 402 2.2.7.1 Opposition against ʿAmr b. ʿUbayd 402 2.2.7.1.1 Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī 403 2.2.7.1.2 Yūnus b. ʿUbayd 413 2.2.7.1.3 ʿAbdallāh b. ʿAwn 416 2.2.7.1.4 Sulaymān al-Taymī 430 2.2.7.1.5 Abū ʿAmr Ibn al-ʿAlāʾ 433 2.2.7.2 The Next Generation 439 2.2.8 The Muʿtazila in Basra during the Second Half of the Second Century 446 2.2.8.1 Ṣafwān al-Anṣārī 447 2.2.8.1.1 The Image of the Early Muʿtazila in Ṣafwān’s qaṣīda 448 2.2.8.2 The Principle of amr bil-maʿrūf wal-nahy ʿan al-munkar 452 2.2.8.2.1 The Case of Muḥammad b. Munādhir 455 2.2.8.3 The Position of the Muʿtazila in Basra after 145 458 2.2.8.4 The Development of Theology and Law 460 2.2.8.4.1 Al-Aṣamm 462 2.2.8.4.1.1 Aṣamm’s “Ontology” 464 2.2.8.4.1.2 Aṣamm’s Quranic Commentary 469 2.2.8.4.1.3 The Consensus of Muslims 473 2.2.8.4.1.3.1 Consensus and Political Theory 475 2.2.8.4.1.4 Aṣamm the Lawyer 481 2.2.8.4.2 Ibn ʿUlayya 485 2.2.8.4.3 Further Basran Muʿtazilites 489 2.2.9 Basran Shīʿites 491 2.3 Wāsiṭ 499 2.4 The Jazira 510 2.4.1 Ḥarrān 512 2.4.1.1 The Ṣābians 513 2.4.1.2 Ḥarrān and Islamic Theology 521 2.4.2 Diyār Rabīʿa 532 2.4.2.1 The Khārijites 532 2.4.2.2 Mosul 539 2.4.2.3 Nisibis 542 2.4.3 Raqqa 544 2.4.3.1 Sulaymān al-Raqqī 545 2.4.3.2 Extreme Shīʿites 560 Chapter 3 Iran 563 3.0 General Preliminary Remarks 563 3.1 Eastern Iran 565 3.1.1 Jahm b. Ṣafwān 568 3.1.1.1 The Connection between Jahm and the Jahmiyya 583 3.1.2 The Cities 584 3.1.2.1 Balkh 584 3.1.2.1.1 Quranic Exegesis 585 3.1.2.1.1.1 Muqātil b. Ḥayyān 586 3.1.2.1.1.2 Muqātil b. Sulaymān 593 3.1.2.1.1.2.1 Muqātil’s Theological Views 606 3.1.2.1.2 ʿUmar b. Ṣubḥ and the rafʿ al-yadayn 610 3.1.2.1.3 Murjiʾites and Ḥanafites 612 3.1.2.1.4 The Beginnings of Eastern Iranian Mysticism 623 3.1.2.2 Marv 627 3.1.2.3 Tirmidh 638 3.1.2.4 Samarqand 640 3.1.2.5 Herat 648 3.1.3 Sīstān 654 3.1.3.1 The Khārijites 654 3.1.3.1.1 Ḥamza b. Ādharak’s Uprising 668 3.1.3.2 Non-Khārijite Groups 672 3.1.4 The Western Part of the Province of Khorasan 674 3.1.4.1 Khorasanian Khārijites 674 3.1.4.1.1 The Bayhasiyya 678 3.1.4.1.1.1 Yamān b. Riʾāb 683 3.1.4.1.2 The Ibāḍiyya 686 3.1.4.2 Nishapur 690 3.2 Central and Southern Iran 698 3.2.1 The Khārijites 699 3.2.1.1 Yazīd b. Unaysa and the uprising of Abū ʿĪsā al-Iṣfahānī 700 3.2.1.2 Later Khārijites 705 3.2.2 ʿAbdallāh b. Muʿāwiya 712 3.2.3 The Cities 714 3.2.3.1 Isfahan 715 3.2.3.2 Qom 719 3.2.3.3 Hamadan 720 3.2.3.4 Rayy 721 Chapter 4 The Arabian Peninsula 729 4.1 The Hijaz 730 4.1.1 Mecca 730 4.1.1.1 The Qadarites 733 4.1.1.2 The Khārijites 746 4.1.1.2.1 The Ibāḍites 747 4.1.1.3 The Murjiʾites 750 4.1.1.4 The Shīʿites 755 4.1.2 Medina 756 4.1.2.1 The Khārijites 758 4.1.2.2 The Murjiʾa 760 4.1.2.3 The Qadarites 761 4.1.2.3.1 Al-Nafs al-zakiyya’s Uprising 771 4.1.2.3.2 Later Developments. Resistance against the Qadariyya 782 4.1.2.4 The Jahmiyya 797 4.2 Southern Arabia 799 4.2.1 Yemen 799 4.2.1.1 The Qadarites 803 4.2.2.1 Other Trends 806 4.2.2 Oman and Ḥaḍramawt 808 Chapter 5 Egypt 812 5.0 General Preliminary Remarks 812 5.1 Shīʿite Tendencies 815 5.2 Counter-Trends. The Ibāḍiyya 818 5.3 Implicit Theology. Hadith 822 5.4 Explicit Theology. Kalām 828 5.4.1 Theologians of Uncertain Affiliation 834 Supplementary Remarks 843 Theology And Society Is The Most Comprehensive Study Of Islamic Intellectual And Religious History, Focusing On Muslim Theology. With Its Emphasis On The Eighth And Ninth Centuries Ce, It Remains The Most Detailed Prosopographical Study Of The Early Phase Of The Formation Of Islam. Originally Published In German Between 1991 And 1995, Theology And Society Is A Monument Of Scholarship And A Unique Scholarly Enterprise Which Has Stood The Test Of Time As An Unparalleled Reference Work. V. 1. Pt. A. Prelude : Characteristics Of Islamic Religiosity In The 1st Century -- 1. Setting The Seal On Prophecy -- 2. The Awareness Of Being Chosen And Identity Formation -- 2.1. Symbols Of Islamic Identity In The Caliphate Of 'abd Al-malik -- 2.2. Early Evidence In The Literary Tradition -- 3. Community And Individual -- 3.1. Faith And The Promise Of Paradise -- 3.2. Consciousness Of Sin And Individual Responsibility -- 3.3. Divine Grace And Predestination -- 4. Specific Religious Developments Around The Turn Of The 2nd Century -- 4.1. The Image Of The Prophet -- 4.2. The Koran -- 5. The Spread Of The Faith -- 5.1. The Literary Instruments For Conveying The Faith -- 5.1.1. The Creation Of Dialectical Theology -- 5.1.2. The Prospect -- Pt. B The Islamic Provinces In The 2nd Century Introductory Remark On Methodology -- 1. Syria -- 1.0. General Basic Features -- 1.1 The Relationship With The Shī'a -- 1.2. The Qadariyya -- 1.2.1. The Question Of Origin -- 1.2.2. Ghaylān Al-dimashqī And His Environment -- 1.2.3. Ghaylān's Aftereffect -- 1.2.4. Yazīd Iii's Putsch -- 1.2.4.1. Yazid Iii's Accession Sermon -- 1.2.4.2. Further Developments Up To The Time Of Marwān Ii -- 1.2.5. The Qadarites Under Yazīd Iii -- 1.2.5.1. Damascus -- 1.2.5.2. Qadarites From Palestine -- 1.2.5.3. Qadarites From Ḥimṣ -- 1.2.6. Later Qadarites -- 1.2.7. General Conclusions -- 1.2.8. The Further Iraqi Development Of Ghaylān's Doctrine -- 1.2.8.1. The Epistles Of Ghaylān And The Ghaylān Legend -- 1.2.9. ʻumar Ii And The Qadariyya -- 1.3. A Case Of Heresy -- 1.4. Syrian Murji'ites -- 1.4.1. Jahmites -- 1.5. From Asceticism To Mysticism -- 2. Iraq -- 2.0. Preliminary General Remarks -- 2.1. Kūfa -- 2.1.1. The Murji'a -- 2.1.1.1 The Oldest Representatives Of The Murji'a In Kūfa -- 2.1.1.2. The Delegation To ʻumar Ii -- 2.1.1.3. Two Murji'ite Poems -- 2.1.1.4. The Polemic Against The Murji'a In The Sīrat Sālim B. Dhakwan -- 2.1.1.5. The K. Al-irjā' -- 2.1.1.6. The Spectrum Of The Murji'a Up To 150 Hijrī -- 2.1.1.7. The Circle Of Abū Hanīfa -- 2.1.1.7.1. The Precursors -- 2.1.1.7.2. On The Life And Aftereffects Of ʻabū Hanīfa -- 2.1.1.7.3. Abū Hanīfa's Theological Views -- 2.1.1.7-3-1. The Letter To 'uthmān Al-battī -- 2.1.1.7.3.1.1. Comparison With Other Early Hanafite Writings -- 2.1.1.7.3.2. A Second Letter To 'uthmān Al-battī -- 2.1.1.7.3.3. The So-called Fiqh Akbar (i) -- 2.1.1.7.3.4. The Image Of God. The Political Theory -- 2.1.1.7.4. Contemporaries Of Abū Hanīfa -- 2.1.1.8. The Kūfan Murji'a After Abū Hanīfa -- 2.1.1.9. The Reform Of Ghassan B. Abān -- 2.1.2.1.1 Anti-murji'ite Currents In Kūfa -- 2.1.2.1. Sufyān Al-thawrī -- 2.1.2.2. Ṣūfis -- 2.1.2.3. Qadarites -- 2.1.3. The Shī'a -- 2.1.3.1. Shī'itizing Traditionists -- 2.1.3.2. The Zaydiyya -- 2.1.3.2.1. The Butriyya -- 2.1.3.2.1.1. The Weak Zaydīs -- 2.1.3.2.2. The Jārūdiyya -- 2.1.3.2.2.1. The Shaping Of Jārūdite Thought -- 2.1.3.2.2.2. The Later Development -- 2.1.3.2.3. Early Zaydī Splinter Groups -- 2.1.3.2.3.1. The Kāmiliyya -- 2.1.3.3. The Rawāfid -- 2.1.3.3.1. Quietism And Communal Spirit -- 2.1.3.3.2. The Imam As Omniscient Leader -- 2.1.3.3.3. The Return (raj'a) -- 2.1.3.3.3.1. The Idea Of Raj'a Among The Early Zaydīs -- 2.1.3.3.3.2. Adherents Of Raj'a Among The Shī'ite Authorities Of The 1st Century -- 2.1.3.3.3.3. Early Shī'ite Tafsīr As A Possible Purveyor Of The Idea Of Raj'a -- 2.1.3.3.3.4. The Decline Of The Kaysāniyya -- 2.1.3.3.3.5 The Change Of The Idea Of Raj'a In The Imāmiyya -- 2.1.3.3.4. Rejection Of The First Two Caliphs -- 2.1.3.3.5. Maintaining Secrecy (taqiyya) -- 2.1.3.3.6. God Changing His Mind (badā') -- 2.1.3.3.7. Rāfiḍite Theological Schools -- 2.1.3.3.7.1. The Beginnings -- 2.1.3.3.7.1.1. Fro-murji'ite Groups -- 2.1.3.3.7.1.2. Zurāra B. A'yan And His Circle -- 2.1.3.3.7.1.3. The Discussion About God's Image -- 2.1.3.3.7.2. The Next Generation -- 2.1.3.3.7.2.1. Shayṭān Al-Ṭāq And Hishām Al-jawālīqī -- 2.1.3.3.7.2.2. Hishām B. Al-Ḥakam -- 2.1.3.3.7.2.2.1. Ontology -- 2.1.3.3.7.2.2.2. The Concept Of God -- 2.1.3.3.7.2.2.3. Natural-scientific Questions -- 2.1.3.3.7.2.2.4. The Theory Of Perception -- 2.1.3.3.7.2.2.5. Human Action -- 2.1.3.3.7.2.2.6. The Divine Attributes -- 2.1.3.3.7.2.2.7. The Koran And Prophecy -- 2.1.3.3.7.2.2.8. `iṣma And Naṣṣ -- 2.1.3.3.7.2.2.8.1.3.3.5 Excursus. Means Of Legitimation Within The Shī'a -- 2.1.3.3.7.2.2.9. Raj'a -- 2.1.3.3.7.2.3. ʻalī B. Ri'āb (?) -- 2.1.3.3.7.3. The Succession To The Big Theologians -- 2.1.3.3.7.3.1. The School Of Hishām I Al-jawālīqi -- 2.1.3.3.7.3.2. The School Of Hishām B. Al-Ḥakam -- 2.1.3.3.7.3.3. The Prospect -- 2.1.3.3.8. General Conclusions -- 2.1.3.3.8.1. Rāfiḍite Theology And Its Milieu. Stoic And Jewish Influences -- 2.1.4. The Khārijites -- 2.1.4.1. The Ibāḍite Community In Kufa -- 2.1.4.2. 'isā B. 'umayr -- 2.1.5. The Heretics -- 2.1.5.1. The Term Zindīq -- 2.1.5.2. Manicheanism In The Early Islamic Period -- 2.1.5.3. Zandaqa As A Social And Religious Phenomenon -- 2.1.5.4. The Dayṣāniyya -- 2.1.5.5. The Marcionites -- 2.1.5.6. The Kantaeans -- 2.1.5.7. Excursus: Mazdakites In The Islamic World -- 2.1.5.8. Zandaqa In Kūfa -- 2.1.5.8.1.3.3.7.2.2.8.1.3.3.5 Cosmology And Natural Philosophy -- 2.1.5.8.2. Polite Society -- 2.1.5.8.3. Arguing With The Zanādiqa According To Imāmite Sources -- 2.1.5.8.4. The Role Of The Zanādiqa In The Later Umayyad Period. V. 2. 2.2. Basra -- 3. -- Iran -- 4. The Arabian Peninsula -- 5. Egypt. V. 3. Part C. The Unification Of Islamic Thought And The Flowering Of Theology. V. 4. Part C. The Unification Of Islamic Thought And The Flowering Of Theology (continued). By Josef Van Ess ; Translated From German By John O'kane. Volumes 2- Translated By Gwendolin Goldbloom. Includes Bibliographical References. Intro -- Contents -- 2.2 Basra -- 2.2.1 The "Heretics" -- 2.2.1.1 Bashshār b. Burd -- 2.2.1.2 Ṣāliḥ b. ʻAbd al-Quddūs -- 2.2.1.3 The Sumaniyya -- 2.2.1.4 Ibn al-Muqaffaʻ -- 2.2.1.4.1 A Text against Islam -- 2.2.1.4.2 The Parody of the Quran -- 2.2.1.5 The Context. "Natural Philosophers" -- 2.2.2 Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and His Spiritual Successors -- 2.2.2.1 The Qadariyya -- 2.2.2.1.1 Qadarite Ideas in hadith -- 2.2.2.1.2 Qadarite Traditionists -- 2.2.2.1.2.1 The Generation Following Ḥasan al-Baṣrī -- 2.2.2.1.2.2 The Middle Generation -- 2.2.2.1.2.3 Pupils of Saʻīd b. Abī ʻArūba -- 2.2.2.1.2.4 Other Qadarites in the Second Half of the Second Century -- 2.2.2.1.3 The Uswārīs -- 2.2.2.1.4 Qadarites among the Basran Grammarians -- 2.2.2.2 Qadariyya and Asceticism -- 2.2.2.2.1 Ḥasan al-Baṣrī's Younger Contemporaries -- 2.2.2.2.2 The Next Generation -- 2.2.2.2.2.1 The Significance of ʻAbbādān -- 2.2.2.2.3 Theological and Juristic Divergent Opinions within the Circle of Basran Ascetics -- 2.2.2.2.3.1 The Bakriyya -- 2.2.2.2.4 Asceticism and Rationality -- 2.2.3 The Jurists -- 2.2.3.1 The Case of Iyās b. Muʻāwiya -- 2.2.3.2 Early Theoretical Texts -- 2.2.3.3 Experts and Jurisconsults -- 2.2.3.4 Kullu mujtahid muṣīb -- 2.2.4 Murjiʾites in Basra. The "Ghaylāniyya" -- 2.2.4.1 Faḍl al-Raqāshī -- 2.2.4.2 Abū Shamir and His School -- 2.2.4.3 "Jahmites" -- 2.2.5 The Ibāḍiyya -- 2.2.5.1 The Case of ʻAbdallāh b. Ibāḍ -- 2.2.5.2 The Development of the Basran Community -- 2.2.5.3 The Question of qadar -- 2.2.5.4 The Quarrel over the Anthropomorphisms -- 2.2.5.5 Further Controversial Issues -- 2.2.5.6 The Environment -- 2.2.5.7 The Relation between Sin and Faith -- 2.2.5.8 Puritanism and Scrupulousness -- 2.2.6 The Early Muʻtazila -- 2.2.6.1 Wāṣil b. ʻAṭāʾ -- 2.2.6.1.1 The Chronology of his Life. His Origins and Profession