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The
following subjects were dealt with in this section: (i)
'Divine Decree'; (ii) 'Divine Will'; (iii) 'Justice'; (iv)
'Faith'; (v) 'Promise and Threat'; (vi) Classification of the
Muslims who commit grave sins; (vii) Creation of the Qur’an;
(viii) The Proof of God against people; (ix) Religions other
than Islam; (x) The 'Names' of Allah; (xi) Allah's friendship
and enmity; (xii) The woman who permits sexual intercourse
other than per vulvam; (xiii) The Imamate; (xiv) Refutation of
the Mu’tazili view of the shedding of Uthman's blood; (xv)
Refutation of the Zaydi view on the question of the
arbitration; (xvi) Refutation of the Nukkari view on the
question of the Imam who is excelled by others; (xvii) The
problem of those who believe in the Qur’an, but teach wrong
doctrines as a result of incorrect interpretation.
The second
scholar in this group is Abu Amr Uthman b. Khalifah al-Sufi, of
Wad Suf in southern Algeria. He lived during the first half
other sixth century H.274
His main theological work is K. al-Sualat.275
He also wrote a short treatise on the Islamic sects, Risalah fi
bayan kull firqah. In the latter work, Abu Amr dealt mainly
with the Ibadhi sects and presented a brief account of their
views, but he also mentioned some of the other Islamic sects.256
His K. al-Sualat
is a large work on theology, with a mixture of literary
explanations of theological expressions based on Qur’an, hadith,
and ancient Arabic verse. It is a work rich in data on he
Arabic language, together with theological opinions and
expressions used among Ibadhi scholars and students. This book,
though ascribed to him, is in fact a transmission of the
responses given to a large number of questions. The responses
were reported by Abu Amr from the students of Abu al-Rabi from
their teacher Abu al-rabi Sulaiman b. Yakhalaf. The book was
dictated by Abu Ya’qub Yusuf b. Muhammad, recorded by Isa b. Isa
al-Nufusi, reviewed by the students of Abu Amr and checked with
the Ibadhi sources and the original sources of Arabic. Then it
was examined twice, first by Abu Muhammad Abdullah b. Sajmiman,
al-Mu'izz b. Janawin and Abu al-Futuh, then given a final review
by Abu Nuh Salih b. Ibrahim.277
The book contains detailed and elaborate answers to more than
ninenty questions covering subjects such as the unity of God,
Profession of the faith, walayah and baraah, command and
prohibition, matters which must not remain unknown, as well as
basic dogmas of religion (usual al-din), nine of which form the
items of the Ibadhi creed, were pointed out.278
The third
scholar in this group is Abu Ya’qub Yusuf b. Ibrahim al-Warijlani
(d. 570 H.). He studied in Cordova in Spain and became one of
the outstanding scholars in different fields of knowledge.279
In
scholastic theology, his main contribution was his well known
book K. al-Dalil li Ahli al-uqul,280
which consists of general introduction on schisms within the
Muslim community, and three parts as follows:
In part I
the author set out the proofs for the rightness of his school,
and discussed the Ash'ari views on the attributes, promise and
threat, and the creation of the Qur’an. He included in this
part his answers to a question sent from Abd al-Wahhab al-Ansari
to Abu Ammar Abd al-Kafi who had died before he could deal with
it.
Part II
contains discussions on the subject of what must not remain
unknown of the religion (ma la yasau jahluhu). The author after
interpreting the opinions reported on this topic from Abu
al-Rabi Sulaiman b. Yakhalaf al-Mazati, went on to discuss the
distinctive views on different matters as held by ten Ibadhi
Imams in the following order: Jabir b. Zaid, Azzan b. al-Saqr,
Lawwab b. Sallam, al-rabi b. Habib, Aflah b. Abd al-Wahhab,
Amrus b. Fath, Abu al-Qasim Yazid b. Mukhallad, Abu Khazr Yaghla
b. Zaltaf, Muhammad b. Mahbub, and Massalah b. Yahya, which
section he concluded with a brief study on logic, and even some
notes on arithmetic and geometry.
Part III
consists of six long responses to questions addressed to the
author. The first response is concerned with the question of
God's pleasure and wrath (al-rida wa al-sukht);
ii) Ali's
acceptance of arbitration; whether it was religious or arose
from mundane motives.
iii) The
question of God's promise to answer prayer (dua), whether it
relates to Muslims only or applies to infidels as well?.
iv) A
response concerning a Tradition reported in K. zahar al-uyun of
Ibn Qutaibah.
v) On the
question of whether sound is a 'body' (jism).
vi)
Finally, a response to people of Jabal Nufusah on the three
following topics:
a)
Walayah and baraah;
b)
Defaming the Ibadhi faith;
c) The
attributes of God.
In addition
to this book, the author recorded information of theological
opinions and arguments in his K. al-Adl wa al-insaf fi usul al-fiqh
wa al-ikhtilaf. (three volumes).281
Although this book is devoted mainly to the study of the bases
of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh), the author also treated some
theological questions. Perhaps this was because the book was
written before K. al-Dalil, and he wanted to be explicit on
certain theological matters, his views on which are to be found
mainly in Parts I and III. In part I, there is a detailed
discussion on the question of the Proof and preaching of the
message of God,282 and
a detailed account with a refutation of the views of al-Batiniyah,
the extremist Shi'is (ghulat) and the Qarmatians.282
In Part III, there is also a detailed account of the Ibadhi
views on faith and Islam,284 infidelity,
hypocrisy and polytheism,285 revolt
(khuruj)286 and
heresies.287
Late commentaries: a bibliographical summary. |
