Philosophy of Religion in Islam

This is the first anthology to represent the contributions and perspectives of medieval Islamic scholars on philosophy of religion. Assembling and translating 63 key texts, including many never before published in English, it captures the variety and influence of Islamic thought on how we think about the existence of God, the problem of evil and the relationship between faith and reason. Focusing on the classical period of medieval Islamic thought up until the end of the 13th century, this one-of-a kind reader is organized thematically around five parts and covers: Conceptions of faith and reason The possibility of miracles as the sign of divine support Arguments for the God''s existence Strategies for understanding religious texts The nature of salvationEach Part has its own specialized introduction, relating medieval Islamic discussions on that problem to the contemporary discussions in philosophy of religion. Each reading is accompanied by an overview that provides context and background to the argument. Broad and rich, there is a wealth of translated writing here. Granting access to such valuable primary sources, this reader offers us deeper insight into the debates, discussions, and arguments of Islam thinkers on universal questions in philosophy.>

Préface
A major anthology of newly-translated texts from Islamic thinkers on core problems in philosophy of religion.

Auteur

Rahim Acar is Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Marmara University, Turkey.

M. Cüneyt Kaya is Professor of Islamic Philosophy at Istanbul University, Turkey.

Contenu

PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

PART I: RELIGION AND REASON, edited by Rahim Acar

Introduction

1. Faith and Reason
2. The Origin and Nature of Religion
3. The Relationship between Religious Teachings and Philosophical-Scientific Theories

Texts

1. Al-Shahrastani: The Position of Doubt in the Face of Faith
2. Al-Ash?ari: A Vindication of the Science of Kalam
3. Ibn al-Mala?imi: The Invalidity of Conjecture in Accepting Religious Beliefs
4. Al-Ghazali: Evaluation of Different Approaches on the Relationship of Reason and Revelation
5. Al-Juwayni: Justification of Prophethood
6. Abu ?atim al-Razi & Abu Bakr al-Razi: Why is There a Need for a Prophet?
7. Al-Farabi: Religion as a Social Order
8. Ibn al-?Arabi: The Meaning of Religion and the Status of Prophethood
9. Al-Farabi: Philosophy, Religion and Theology as Parts of a Hierarchically Ordered Whole
10. Ibn ?ufayl: Revelation and Reason Are Different Ways that Show the Same Truth
11. Ibn Rushd: The Final Words on the Relationship between Philosophy and Religion

PART II: RELIGION AND ETHICS, edited by Hümeyra Özturan
Introduction

1. The Problem of Good and Bad (?usn and qub?)
2. The Content of the Moral Knowledge Based on Religion.
3. Moral Sanction

Texts

1. Qa?i ?Abd al-Jabbar: The Rationality of Good and Evil
2. Al-Juwayni: Judgment on Good and Bad (?usn and qub?) can only be Obtained from Religion
3. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi: Can Reason Judge Whether Something is Good or Bad?
4. Al-Maturidi: On the Imperfectness of our Judgements on the Good and the Bad due to our Ignorance
5. Al-Ghazali: On the Permissibility of Entities whose Status is not Legally Determined
6. Ibn al-?Arabi: The Root and the Characteristics of Morality
7. Al-Ja?i?: Strengthening the Mind with Sanctions Against Desires

PART III: RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE AND RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE, edited by M. Nedim Tan

Introduction

1. Prophetic Guidance and Transmission-based Epistemology
2. Prophethood as a Potency: A Philosophical Perspective
3. Sufism as a Prophethood-Centered Religious Experience

Texts

1. Al-Maturidi: Sources of Knowledge and the Necessity of the Prophet
2. Al-Farabi: Dream, Revelation, and Imagination
3. Ibn Sina: On Proving the Prophecy and the Mission of the Prophet
4. Ibn Sina: Stations of the Knowers
5. Al-Ghazali: Stages of the Perception of the Truth
6. Al-Qay?ari: Sainthood and the Imaginal World
7. Najm al-Din Razi: Dreams and Visions

PART IV: EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS, edited by Ercan Alkan
Introduction

1. Mu?jiza (Miracle)
2. Karama (Blessing/ Divine Gift/Saintly Marvel)
3. Irha? and Ma?una (Precursor and Support)
4. Istidraj and Ikhana (Mischief and Betrayal)
5. Si?r (Magic)

Texts

1. Al-Juwayni: Prophetic Miracles and their Conditions, and Proofs for the Saintly Marvels
2. Ibn ?azm: Miracle as the Evidence of Prophethood and its Differences from Magic and Prophecy
3. Al-Ghazali & Ibn Rushd: Continuity in the Nature and Possibility of Miracles
4. Ibn Sina: The Secrets of the Extraordinary Events
5. Ibn al-?Arabi: Extraordinary Events: Miracles, Blessings, and Magic

PART V: GOD'S EXISTENCE AND UNITY, edited by M. Cüneyt Kaya

Introduction

1. If and How Can God Be Known?
2. Arguments for the Existence of God
   A. Ontological Argument
   B. Cosmological Arguments: Movement and Beginning to Exist (?uduth)
   C. Teleological Argument
3. The Unity of God

Texts

1. Al-Raghib al-I?fahani: The Ways of Knowing God's Existence
2. Ibn Sina: Existence and Its Causes
3. Al-Juwayni: Proving God's Existence from the Createdness of the Universe
4. Ibn al-Mala?imi: The Necessity of Knowing God and the Necessity of Reasoning in Knowing Him
5. Ibn Rushd: The Attempts to Prove the Existence of God and the Method of the Qur?an
6. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi: An Overview of the Arguments for the Existence of God
7. Ibn al-?Arabi: Existence of God between Theory and Unveiling
8. Al-Farabi: Unity of the First Existent

PART VI: GOD AND THE UNIVERSE, edited by Rahim Acar
Introduction

1. Creation and the Order of Beings
2. God's Maintenance of the Universe
3. The Problem of Evil

Texts

1. Ibn Sina: Creation of the Universe and the Order of Existents
2. Al-Shahrastani: Creation of the Universe out of Nothing
3. Al-Qay?ari: The Universal Realms and the Five Levels of Divine Existence
4. Ibn Miskawayh: The Hierarchical Relation among Existents
5. Al-Ja?i?: Al-Na??am's Thought on Latency (kumun)
6. Ibn Sina: God as the Essential Cause of Everything Created
7. Al-Baqillani: The Critique of the Concept of Nature
8. Qa?i ?Abd al-Jabbar: Divine Justice and Evil in the Universe
9. Al-Nasafi: Creation of Evil
10. Al-Ghazali: This World Is the Most Perfect World that Could Be

PART VII: HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE RELIGIOUS TEXTS?edited by Nail Okuyucu & Rahim Acar
Introduction

1. Philosophical-Scientific Explanations and Statements in Religious Texts
2. Religious Texts as the Source of Moral-Legal Rules

Texts

1. Al-Farabi: The Expression of Truth: The Language of Religion and the Language of Philosophy
2. Al-Ghazali: Hierarchy of Existence and Interpretation (ta?vil)
3. Ibn Rushd: The Theory of Interpretation
4. Qa?i ?Abd al-Jabbar: Understanding and Interpretation of Religious Texts
5. Al-Qunawi: Degrees of Understanding with Respect to Prophetic Knowledge
6. Al-Shafi?i: Understanding the Divine Will: Perspective on Human Obligations
7. Al-Sha?ibi: The Purpose of Establishing the Shari?a

PART VIII: THEOLOGICAL LANGUAGE AND DIVINE RPOPERTIES, edited by Osman Demir

Introduction

1. Knowing and Naming God
2. Understanding the Properties Predicated of God
   A. The Literalist Understanding of the Properties Attributed to God
   B. Emphasis on Divine Transcendence in Expressions Attributed to God
   C. The Balance of Transcendence-Immanence in Divine Properties
   D. Categorizing Divine Names and Properties

Texts

1. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi: Whether God's Reality Can Be Kn…