Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min al-Ilahiyyat Ard wa Naqd

Ibn Hazm wa-Mawqifuhu min al-Ilahiyyat: Ard wa-Naqd (Ibn Hazm and His Stance on Theology: Presentation and Critique) is an academic study in Islamic creed by Ahmad bin Nasir al-Hamad, dedicated to analyzing and evaluating the theological views of the Andalusian scholar Ibn Hazm concerning the divine essence, attributes, and actions Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min…+1.

Background and Composition

The work originated as a doctoral dissertation in Islamic creed presented to the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies in Mecca at King Abdulaziz University (later Umm al-Qura University) Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min…. The dissertation was defended on 24 Shawwal 1400 AH, receiving an "Excellent" evaluation grade, under the supervision of Abd al-Aziz Abd Allah Ubayd and with initial academic guidance from Awad Allah Jad Hijazi Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min…+1. It was published in its first edition in 1406 AH by the Center for Scientific Research and Islamic Heritage Revival at Umm al-Qura University as the forty-ninth publication in its heritage series Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min….

The author was motivated to write the study after noting that doxographical works rarely mentioned the theological positions of the Zahiri school on the fundamentals of religion (usul al-din), despite their prominence in jurisprudence (furu'), and because scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Kathir had observed that Ibn Hazm, despite adhering to Zahirism in legal branches, engaged in extensive figurative interpretation (ta'wil) regarding the divine attributes and theological principles Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min…. Al-Hamad focused specifically on ilahiyyat (theology/divinity), rather than prophecies (nubuwwat) or eschatology (sam'iyyat), because it constitutes the core area of theological dispute among Islamic sects Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min…+1.

Scope and Sources

To establish and reconstruct Ibn Hazm's theological views, the author primarily relied on three of Ibn Hazm's works:

• Al-Fisal fi al-Milal wa-al-Ahwa' wa-al-Nihal, deriving his positions from his debates with and refutations of various sects Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min….
• Al-Muhalla, which contains direct expressions of his creed Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min….
• Al-Usul wa-al-Furu', which touches upon relevant theological topics Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min….

The methodology entails presenting Ibn Hazm's stance and textual arguments concisely on each topic, identifying other groups or thinkers who shared the position, evaluating its correctness in light of evidence, answering Ibn Hazm's objections, and presenting the opposing traditional sunni arguments Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min….

Structure and Contents

The book opens with an introduction covering the topic's significance, rationale, methodology, and outline, followed by two main parts and a conclusion Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min…+1:

• Part One: The Life and Era of Ibn Hazm (الباب الأول: حياة ابن حزم)

  • Chapter One: Biography of Ibn Hazm, discussing his family lineage and origins, birth, upbringing, early education, teachers, scholarly standing, students, written works, and death Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min…+1.
  • Chapter Two: The historical context of Ibn Hazm, examining the political, social, and intellectual conditions of al-Andalus before and during his lifetime Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min….

• Part Two: Theology (الباب الثاني: الإلهيات)

  • Preamble: Defining ilahiyyat as the technical term encompassing everything pertaining to God's essence, attributes, and actions Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min….
  • Chapter One: The Existence of God (Wujud Allah), examining and critiquing Ibn Hazm's proofs for God's existence Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min….
  • Chapter Two: The Oneness of God (Wahdaniyyat Allah), analyzing Ibn Hazm's argumentation for divine unity and uniqueness in divinity Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min….
  • Chapter Three: Divine Transcendence and Negations (al-Tanzihat), addressing questions of corporeality, accidentality, temporality, spatiality, motion, divine form (al-surah), quiddity (al-mahiyyah), describing God, and naming God Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min….
  • Chapter Four: The Divine Attributes (al-Sifat), beginning with a preamble on the classification of attributes, followed by individual examinations of eighteen attributes: Life, Knowledge, Power and Strength, Will, Speech, Hearing and Sight, Might and Pride, Self and Essence, Face, Eye, Hand, Fingers, Side, Shin, Foot, Ascending over the Throne (al-Istiwa'), Descending (al-Nuzul), and the Beatific Vision (al-Ru'yah) Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min….
  • Chapter Five: The Divine Acts (Af'al Allah), beginning with a preamble on the Mu'tazili stance, followed by seven discussions: Predestination and Decree (al-Qada' wa-l-Qadar), the creation of human actions, guidance and misguidance, divine justice (al-ta'dil wa-l-tajwir), teleology and the causal rationale of God's actions (ta'lil af'al Allah), grace and the optimum (al-lutf wa-l-aslah), and the sending of messengers Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min….

The book ends with a conclusion summarizing the findings of the study Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min….