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Mubīn and Its Cognates in the Qurʾān
By Devin Stewart, Emory University
This study investigates the meaning of the term mubīn and its cognates in the Qurʾān. It examines the debate over whether mubīn has the basic meaning of “clear” or “clarifying,” weighing the various arguments that have been made for the two sides. Consideration of the requirements of qurʾānic end-rhyme and the distribution of the adjectives bayyin (masc.) and bayyinah (fem.) “clear” suggest that mubīn means “clear” and not “clarifying.” The meanings of the other cognates of mubīn are examined as well. It is argued that the feminine singular mubayyinah, an anomalous form that occur three times in the reading of Ḥafṣ, might instead be rendered bayyinah or mubīnah, both attested variants meaning “clear.” It is also suggested that a possible way to resolve the anomaly of the feminine plural mubayyināt, which also occurs three times in the reading of Ḥafṣ, would be to emend it to the feminine plural bayyināt “clear,” which occurs frequently in very similar contexts.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1515/jiqsa-2023-0004
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Tags: #Quran #Islam #Exegesis
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The Shifting Ontology of the Qurʾān in Ḥanafism: Debates on Reciting the Qurʾān in Persian
By Omar Qureshi, University of Southern California
A review of the works of the most authoritative Ḥanafī theologians and jurists shows that the later madhhab taught that its eponym, Abū Ḥanīfah (d. 150/767), held the Qurʾān to be the uncreated and eternal speech of God. According to this understanding, he and his followers believed the linguistic composition of the Qurʾān in Arabic to be a component of its miraculous nature. However, a closer examination of Ḥanafī sources leads one to conclude that the claim that Abū Ḥanīfah believed Arabic to be integral to the Qurʾān’s composition is not without contention. Abū Ḥanīfah permitted recitation of the Qurʾān within ritual prayer in Persian, which later Ḥanafī jurists used as a basis to argue that the Qurʾān, for Abū Ḥanīfah, consisted only of its meaning, not its expression in Arabic. After the Miḥnah, Abū Ḥanīfah’s permissive position became associated with the newly heterodox view of the “Created Qurʾān,” placing pressure on later Ḥanafī jurists to ensure that Abū Ḥanīfah was not associated with heresy. Whereas earlier Ḥanafīs contended that the Qurʾān was miraculous solely in its meaning and guiding capacities, later Ḥanafīs, when faced with scandal, condemned the earlier view and reinterpreted Abū Ḥanīfah’s views. The characterization of the miraculous nature of the Qurʾān as inhering in its canonized Arabic expression allowed the Qurʾān to serve as evidence of the prophethood of Muḥammad. This article traces the shift within Ḥanafism on the connection between language and the ontology of the Qurʾān to align with the Sunnī orthodoxy of the uncreated and fully inimitable Arabic Qurʾān. Although some aspects of the roles of Abū Ḥanīfah and Ḥanafism in this evolution have been studied by other scholars, I focus here on an overlooked figure, the proto-Ḥanafī Abū ʿIṣmah Nūḥ b. Abī Maryam (d. 173/789). This case study on the recitation of the Qurʾān in Persian examines and explores the impact of the understudied aspects of this evolution.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1515/jiqsa-2023-0007
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Tags: #Quran #Islam #Exegesis #Metaphysics
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The Qurʾān and the Putative pre-Islamic Practice of Female Infanticide
By Ilkka Lindstedt, University of Helsinki
In this article, I take issue with one alleged characteristic of pre-Islamic Arabia: namely, the notion that the Arabians frequently, and disturbingly, practiced female infanticide by burying their daughters alive. This is what the Islamic-era religious scholars inferred on the basis of two qurʾānic passages (Q Naḥl 16:57–59 and al-Takwīr 81:8–9). However, I will argue that the classical Muslim scholars’ interpretation of these verses is highly tendentious. By analyzing the specific qurʾānic passages and comparing the crucial word al-mawʾūdah (Q 81:8), usually translated as “the daughter buried alive,” with early Arabic poetry, I conclude that the conventional understanding of it is unlikely.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1515/jiqsa-2023-0005
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Tags: #Quran #History #Exegesis
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On the Relation of Public Opinion and Religion: Theoretical Considerations
By Zoltán Hidas, Pázmány Péter Catholic University
Facing the modern expectations about publicity and the high esteem of public opinion, it can be challenging to disclose the sources of these expectations. After sketching the origin of the idea and reality of publicity from the 18th century onward, practical and theoretical concerns about public opinion are discussed alongside the criticism of Walter Lippmann, evoking seminal conceptions of collectivity and of the crowd. It was the German philosopher Ferdinand Tönnies who, from a sociologically informed perspective, systematically analyzed the idea of public opinion. As a stakeholder of religious demands, public opinion is a metaphysical instance. Publicity seems to be socially centered around public intellectuals peculiarly legitimized by scientific knowledge, who have an immense influence on the shape of public opinion through social imagineries (Charles Taylor). The challenge of having a religious relationship with the world has changed due to the public, but self-transcendent need specific responsibilities even in modern circumstances.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14121473
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Tags: #Religion #Sociology #Secularism
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Alchemical tafsīr: Qur’anic Hermeneutics in the Works of the Twelfth-Century Moroccan Alchemist Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs
By Richard Todd, University of Birmingham
Beside the codenames and esoteric symbols inherited from Graeco-Egyptian antiquity, the later Arabic alchemical tradition also adopted motifs drawn from the Qur’an: from the blessed olive tree of the famous Light Verse (Q 24.35) to the burning bush and Moses’ staff. This interweaving of scripture and alchemical theory is especially noticeable in one of the major works of the post-Jābirian corpus, Shudhūr al-dhahab (Shards of Gold) by the Moroccan poet Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs (fl. sixth/twelfth century), as well as in Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs’s self-penned commentary, Ḥall mushkilāt al-Shudhūr (The Solution to the Obscurities in the ‘Shards’).
But was the use of such motifs simply a literary device or did Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs claim to discern a hidden alchemical meaning embedded in the qur’anic text? Focusing on this unexplored strand of the Islamic exegetical tradition, this article examines the premises put forward by Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs in support of an alchemical reading of scripture.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2023.2283677
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Tags: #Islam #Quran #Exegesis #Hermeneutics
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Is God a Substance? Avicenna on Essence, Being, and the Categories
By Nathaniel B. Taylor, The Catholic University of America
Avicenna scholars unanimously agree that Avicenna takes the position that God is not classifiable according to the Aristotelian scheme of the ten categories. However, Avicenna scholars are in little agreement about precisely why God evades categorial classification. Scholars report numerous and, at times, mutually inconsistent arguments purportedly made by Avicenna. In this study, I argue that Avicenna has only one argument as to why God is not in the category of substance—the Essence-Being Distinction Argument—and that he makes this argument consistently throughout his major philosophical encyclopediae. Having clarified this argument, two consequences follow. First, we can study this argument to learn not only about God in Avicenna’s philosophical theology but also about the nature and structure of the categories in Avicenna’s metaphysics. I argue that Avicenna’s Essence-Being Distinction Argument reveals a route by which one may arrive at a real distinction between essence and being from a philosophical, rather than a theological premise. Second, Avicenna’s Essence-Being Distinction Argument, along with the prevalence and consistency thereof, suggests that God has an essence for Avicenna and that texts, wherein Avicenna denies that God has an essence, are exceptional and should not govern our broader interpretation of Avicenna’s philosophical theology.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14121469
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Tags: #Avicenna #God #Metaphysics
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A Dilemma in Pawline Christology
By Jc Beall, University of Notre Dame
A longstanding problem confronting Christian theology and its doctrine of incarnation is the apparent contradiction that it faces. For example, to be divine, in the relevant sense, is to have the limitlessness of God. To be human, in the relevant sense, is to have the limitations of humans. The incarnation (in the person of Jesus per Christian doctrine) is to be both divine and human. Many theologians and sympathetic philosophers have attempted to ‘consistentize’ (i.e., make consistent) incarnation. Timothy Pawl has been one of the latest to do so. In this paper, I concisely note a dilemma for Pawl’s approach.
Link: doi.org/10.22091/JPTR.2023.9856.2941
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Tags: #Christianity #Incarnation #Logic #God
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The Islamic Humanist Hermeneutics: Definition, Characteristics, and Relevance
By Alina Isac Alak, University of Vienna
The present article is constructed as an argument for Islamic humanist hermeneutics. In the first part of the article, I propose a more comprehensive, multidimensional definition than has previously been set out of ‘humanist hermeneutics’, i.e. any theory and methodology of interpretation that recognizes and asserts the inherent presence of the human factor and/or limitation of human comprehension on any part of the following levels: the source of the revelation, the process of the revelation, the product of the revelation, and the interpretation of the qur’anic text. In the second part of the article, I explore the nature of humanist hermeneutics, offering a condensed explanation of its main characteristics. The whole article brings into discussion the interdependency that exists between theories of revelation and the epistemologies that determine various types of hermeneutics.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2023.2282842
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Tags: #Islam #Quran #Exegesis #Hermeneutics
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Muslim Women Travelling Alone
By Sahin Baykal, Queen Mary University of London
Whether women can travel alone has been debated for centuries in Islamic law. This article examines the Islamic legal principles concerning women travelling alone, whether it be for Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) or any journeys. Despite the explicit Quranic order about the duty of Hajj for all believers, depending upon the fulfilment of specific conditions, Sunni scholars have introduced additional criteria, particularly related to women, which have led to the establishment of gender-specific regulations. These interpretations are based on the ḥadīth of the Prophet rather than explicit verses from the Qur’an. The view that prevents women from travelling alone has gained dominance among Sunni scholars, and a maḥram (a male relative) becomes a requirement for a journey. However, Ibn Ḥazm of Cordoba (d. 1064) presents an opposing perspective that significantly differs from this consensus. Ibn Ḥazm believes that women can travel and participate in the Hajj without a maḥram, emphasising the importance of Hajj as a personal responsibility in terms of the religious obligation. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the ḥadīth concerning women’s travel alone, the varying opinions of Sunni scholars, and the distinctive position adopted by Ibn Ḥazm. The text explains that Ibn Ḥazm’s analysis mainly based on a preference for reasonable arguments and egalitarian principles, prioritising them over literal interpretations of the ḥadīths regarding the topic.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14121456
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Tags: #Quran #Islam #History #Shariah
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Sīrah Philosophy: A Modern Trajectory for Sīrah Studies
By Suleyman Sertkaya, Charles Sturt University
Prophet Muhammad is a central figure in Islam. Systematic exploration of his life and biography as a central discourse for sīrah studies remains timeless and relevant. This has made his life a focal point for study among Muslim and Western scholars for centuries, resulting in the emergence of fresh approaches in modern times. This paper delves into the concept of “sīrah philosophy,” which is vigorously advocated by Fethullah Gülen, a prominent Muslim scholar, as a novel and essential perspective for sīrah studies in modern times. Gülen’s amalgamation of the Prophet’s life and contemporary challenges underscores the enduring significance of sīrah in guiding modern discourse. Sīrah philosophy, at its core, provides a framework rooted in the Prophet’s life to draw inspiration for addressing contemporary issues. The article unpacks the practical application of sīrah philosophy through the Hudaybiya incident, a pivotal moment in the Prophet’s life during his time in Medina. From conflict resolution and peacebuilding to interfaith dialogue, Gülen’s approach leverages sīrah to propose solutions for complex contemporary problems, offering a dynamic way to engage with present-day predicaments. In essence, this article emphasises how sīrah, as envisioned by Muslim scholars like Gülen, transcends historical and contextual boundaries, enriching present-day discourse. As sīrah studies evolve, this pioneering exploration of a modern trajectory fosters a deeper appreciation of the Prophet’s legacy, facilitating comprehensive understanding for diverse audiences. This article argues that this approach is groundbreaking and innovative, paving the way for new perspectives to read and interpret sīrah in a contemporary world for a modern audience.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10892-023-09456-3
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Tags: #Islam #Seerah #History #Prophet #Modernism
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The Dialogical Paths with Islam in the East: Homage to Arabic Christian Theology
By Evi Voulgaraki-Pissina, National and Capodistrian University of Athens
This is an opinion article, based on a lifelong syncretic study of the dialogical paths taken by Eastern theologians, Greeks and Arabs. At the crossroads of three continents, in direct relation with the Byzantine and Syriac traditions, with the Mediterranean and its Greco-Roman culture, but also with the Asian and African hinterland, Arab and Arabic-speaking Christian theologians have formed a culture of dialogue. They managed to engage with Islam in shapes and forms that are of very great interest and could point the way to a different approach to Islam today. The article, written by a Greek author, proposes a better integration of Arabic Orthodox theology as an enrichment to Orthodox theology as a whole, serving at the same time a broader connection between the Greek and Arab worlds. The article also proposes that discovering the heritage of the Orthodox East is interesting for Christian theology on a global scale. In primarily Christian/Western academia, one should be open to a genuine encounter with the Islamic world beyond geopolitics and other concerns extrinsic to religion; this is an encounter that would open up paths beyond the “clash of civilisations” impasse and allow for the rediscovery of the humanizing factor of religion. This is of interest to Christian and Muslim theologians as well as serving humanity and creation as a whole.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14111439
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Tags: #Religion #Islam #Christianity #Theology #Arabic
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PHENOMENOLOGY OF DIVINE REVELATION: THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY IN DIALOGUE
By Junghyung Kim, Yonsei University
Although the relationship between theology and philosophy is a perennial issue in the history of thought, recent debates surrounding the so-called theological turn of continental phenomenology have created a new space in which it can be explored from a fresh perspective. In this vein, I propose three theses concerning the relationship between theology and philosophy of religion, with particular focus on the phenomenon of divine revelation. First, a philosophy of religion that ignores theology's claim about divine self-revelation will remain incomplete and unsatisfactory, at least from the perspective of a Christian theology which begins with the faith in God's self-revelation in one particular human person. Second, a theology that does not acknowledge the possibility of philosophical reflections on the human aspect of divine revelation will not be able to escape blind dogmatism, but rather will isolate itself from the academic community. Third, and finally, despite the concerns of both parties, a dialogue between theology and philosophy centred on the phenomena of revelation can develop into mutually critical and mutually constructive interactions.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/heyj.14275
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Tags: #Theology #Phenomenology #God
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The Early Sufi Tradition in Hamadān, Nahāwand, and Abhar
Stories of Devotion, Mystical Experiences, and Sufi Texts
By Fateh Saeidi, Soran University
Research on the early Sufis of Hamadān, Nahāwand, and Abhar holds immense significance in comprehending the development of Sufism in the Jibāl region. This article provides an in-depth exploration of the initial stages of Sufism’s formation, focusing on the analysis of significant early Sufi texts. Specifically, the study investigates the treatises Karāmāt Sheikh abī ʻalī al-Qūmsānī, Ādāb al-fuqarāʼ, and Rawḍat al-murīdīn, authored by Ibn Zīrak al-Nahāwandī (d. 471/1078), Bābā Jaʻfar al-Abharī (d. 428/1036), and Ibn Yazdānyār al-Hamadānī (d. 472/1079), respectively. Despite their profound significance, the role of these texts in shaping Sufism within the Islamic world has received limited attention in Sufi studies. Consequently, this study contributes valuable insights into the development of Iraqi-based Sufism in Hamadān and its neighboring centers, spanning from the third/ninth century to the fifth/eleventh century. Notably, some Sufis in this region were disciples of Abū ʻAlī al-Nahāwandī al-Qūmsānī (d. 387/997), playing a pivotal role in the institutionalization of Sufism through the establishment of khāneqāhs in the area.
Link: https://doi.org/10.35632/ajis.v40i3-4.3210
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Tags: #Sufism #History #Islam
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Factors Influencing the Choice of a Child’s Name and Its Relationship with the Religiosity of Interfaith Marriages: Orthodox (Slavic) and Muslim
By Banu Güzelderen, Ünsal Yılmaz Yeşildal and Fatih Düzgün, Akdeniz University
Names symbolize an individual’s identity, highlighting their unique attributes and representing their religious and cultural background. Names often serve as initial indicators of individuals’ cultural identities and beliefs. In the context of interfaith marriages, the names given to children can offer symbolic insights; however, a comprehensive exploration of the religious, national, and cultural factors underlying such naming choices is required. In many cases, the social environment of interfaith couples exerts pressure on the couple to choose a name aligning with their religion and identity, whether willingly or unwillingly. Antalya, a Turkish province that initially attracted a substantial Slavic population for tourism but subsequently witnessed a significant influx of permanent residents due to the ample employment prospects in the tourism sector, is notably distinguished by its increased Slavic demographic relative to other Turkish urban centers. In this context, Antalya garners notice because of the prevalence of interfaith marriages. This study investigates the preferences of Orthodox (Slavic) and Muslim (Turkish) couples within the region in terms of how they name their children and the factors influencing their preferences. This study systematically gathers and assesses the factors influencing the naming choices of children of these interfaith couples, particularly their correlation with religiosity. To accomplish this, a semi-structured interview prepared by the researchers was employed for data collection, and the data were subsequently analyzed using document analysis.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14111424
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Tags: #Religion #Islam #Sociology
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Maktab education: a community imperative and the making of Muslim ambassadors
By Imran Mogra, Birmingham City University
Contemporary discourse on Muslims and Islam has included a reassessment of traditional educational institutions; makātib and madāris. Hitherto, understanding insider aspirations and anxieties appear to be rare. To this end, the perspectives of Muslim female teachers in makātib (supplementary schools for Muslims, sometimes known as ‘mosque schools’) in England were surveyed. This original article attends to their views regarding the aims of this educational provision. Bourdieu’s theory of social reproduction is used to rationalise their perspectives. The findings reveal their professional aspirations and suggestions to better the learning processes. They expose a changing phenomenon. Furthermore, through their services, they challenge stereotyped assumptions about makātib and their functions. The data de-mystifies the visions they hold for Muslim children and the wider society.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2023.2278129
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Tags: #Pedagogy #Islam #Muslims
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Are these Nothing but Sorcerers? – A linguistic analysis of Q Ṭā-Hā 20:63 using intra-Qurʾānic parallels
By Marijn van Putten, Leiden University
The seemingly ungrammatical wording of Q Ṭā-Hā 20:63 ʾinna hādhāni la-sāḥirāni has been cause for much debate, both in traditional Muslim sources as well as in modern discussion. This paper sets out to reevaluate the grammar of the various reading that are present by comparing them not against the normative grammar as it is established by the medieval grammarians, but rather by comparing its grammar to other, comparable construction in the Qurʾān. By analyzing this Qurʾānic verse within its intra-Qurʾānic parallels it is argued that the minority reading ʾin hadhāni la-sāḥirāni is the original intended reading of the ʿUthmānic text, while the grammatically problematic majority reading ʾinna hādhāni la-sāḥirāni is to be understood as an approximation to popular non-ʿUthmānic readings. Through the comparison with other verses, it is also shown that we may gain deeper understanding into verses of constructions of the type found in Q al-Ṭāriq 86:4 (wa-ʾin kullu nafsin la-mā ʿalayhā ḥāfiẓun) and shed light on some of the competing canonical readings in these verses.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1515/jiqsa-2023-0002
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Tags: #Quran #Islam #Exegesis #Linguistics
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Worship (dīn), Monotheism (islām), and the Qurʾān’s Cultic Decalogue
By Mohsen Goudarzi, Harvard University
The first part of this study presents evidence from the Qurʾān and early Arabic writings to argue that dīn in the Qurʾān often means “worship” instead of “religion” and that islām means exclusive worship of the One God rather than “submission” to Him. Specifically, I show that the noun dīn and the verb dāna frequently convey the ideas of “service” and “servitude” in early Arabic texts, a usage that underlies the qurʾānic meaning of dīn as “service” or “worship” offered to God. Moreover, in line with strong indications from the Qur’an, several early works of exegesis and lexicography understand islām as exclusive devotion to and monotheistic worship of God instead of submission to His will. In the second part, the study reinterprets the three verses that use the terms dīn and islām (Q 3:19, 3:85, and 5:3). It focuses on Q 5:3, which prohibits ten animal food items, announces the completion of the Believers’ dīn, and identifies this dīn as islām. As I argue, the new food restrictions of this verse are not simply dietary but also cultic, as their goal is to distinguish the Believers’ way of worship from that of the mushrikūn (“pagans”). In particular, the “cultic decalogue” of Q 5:3 bans the meat of animals that die violently (during hunting or otherwise), in order to ensure that the Believers eat meat only from animals that are slaughtered properly. Such slaughter involves the explicit and exclusive invocation of Allāh’s name, an act that showcases and safeguards the Believers’ adherence to monotheistic worship, namely, islām.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1515/jiqsa-2023-0006
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Tags: #Quran #Islam #Exegesis #Monotheism
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God and Being
By Nathan Lyons, Notre Dame University
This Element examines how the Western philosophical-theological tradition between Plato and Aquinas understands the relation between God and being. It gives a historical survey of the two major positions in the period: (a) that the divine first principle is 'beyond being' (e.g. Plato, Plotinus, and Pseudo-Dionysius), and (b) that the first principle is 'being itself' (e.g. Augustine, Avicenna, and Aquinas). The Element argues that we can recognise in the two traditions, despite their apparent contradiction, complementary approaches to a shared project of inquiry into transcendence.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009026413
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Tags: #Metaphysics #God #Avicenna #Aquinas
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Analytic theology
By Aaron Brian Davis, University of St Andrews
Analytic theology is often described as something like the application of analytic philosophy's tools to theological studies, but what this means can be unclear. In this paper, I offer a primer on analytic theology which clarifies this common description of the field. Particularly, following Sarah Coakley, I sketch an account of analytic theology on which it consists of a relation of familial resemblance. That is, analytic theologians are those who investigate theological loci in ways akin to those seen in contemporary analytic philosophy. In so doing, I also briefly describe how analytic theology is conceptually distinct from both philosophical theology and analytic philosophy of religion. I then provide a threefold typology for understanding analytic theology's literary landscape whereby its practitioners can generally be understood to produce works which are either philosophically-inclined, theologically-inclined, or mixed in their inclination. Finally, I offer a brief survey of new frontiers being explored by analytic theologians.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/rec3.12481
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Tags: #AnalyticalTheology #Theology #Religion
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God and the Problems of Love
By Kelly James Clark, Ibn Haldun Universitesi
Religious believers are often commanded to love like God. On classical accounts, God seems a poor model for human beings: an immutable and impassable being seems incapable of the kind of episodic emotion (sympathy, empathy) that seems required for the best sorts of human love. Models more conducive to human love, on the other hand, are often rejected because they seem to limit God's power and glory. This Element looks first at God and then divine love within the Abrahamic traditions—Islam, Christianity and Judaism. It will then turn to love and the problem of hell, which is argued as primarily a problem for Christians. The author discusses the kind of love each tradition asks of humans and wonders, given recent work in the relevant cognitive and social sciences, if such love is even humanly possible. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009269131
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Tags: #Islam #Chriatianity #Judaism #God #Metaphysics
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God and Human Genetic Engineering
By David Basinger, Roberts Wesleyan College
Science and Religion have often intersected on issues. However, no set of current scientific advances is more promising and problematic for religious (or non-religious) individuals than those that fall under the heading of Human Genetic Engineering, as these advances have the potential not only to cure human disease, remove undesirable human traits, and enhance desirable human traits but to pass on these modifications to future generations. This Element is an introductory overview of these advances, the ethical issues they raise, and the lines of reasoning, including religious lines of reasoning, used to support or challenge these advances. The author's goal is to suggest a way of assessing these advances that will give us, whether religious or not, a solid basis for deciding these issues for ourselves and engaging in respectful, constructive dialog with others.
Link: doi.org/10.1017/9781009269360
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Tags: #Science #Religion #God #Ethics
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Constructive Comparative Philosophy of Religion: Translations of Christianity and Islam and a Case Study of Ibn Tufayl and Ralph Cudworth
By Charles Taliaferro, St. Olaf College; Christophe Porot, Cambridge University
We point out how some Christian-Muslim comparative philosophies of religion may be enhanced with certain translations or interpretations of Christianity: a modalist view of the trinity and a high Christology. While perhaps of only limited significance, we argue in more detail that a comparison of two leading philosophers, one Islamic, the other Christian, can bring to light a shared philosophy of innate ideas or nativism, grounding moral and theological views of goodness and the divine.
Link: doi.org/10.22091/JPTR.2023.9885.2946
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Tags: #Islam #Christianity #Monotheism #Trinity
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Islam's Encounter with Modern Science
A Mismatch Made in Heaven
By Taner Edis, Truman State University
Within Muslim populations, debates about the compatibility between science and religion tend to be framed by the long-standing competition between modernizing reformers, particularly westernizers, and theological conservatives. Much like their liberal Christian counterparts, reformers propose to embrace technical knowledge and reinterpret traditional beliefs undermined by modern science. Conservatives are more open to challenging the content of science, especially when science appears to support materialist views. Islamists promote an alternative, non-western style of modernity, nurturing a more pious professional class that contrasts with westernized elites. By scientific standards, westernizers appear to have the upper hand, especially as conservative apologetics is drawn toward distortions of science such as creationism, or fruitless attempts to Islamize science. But conservatives can also point to some success in defusing tensions between scientific and religious institutions without adopting the full secularization of science seen in post-Christian countries.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009257473
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Tags: #Islam #Science #ConflictThesis
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Religion as a Determinant of Relationship Stability
By Christopher Boulis and Benno Torgler, Queensland University of Technology
There is a burgeoning literature that investigates the effects of religion on relationship dissolution. This study is distinguished from prior scholarship in three broad areas: The investigation estimates the effect of religion on relationship stability using multiple measures of religious affiliation and religious observance; it is based on information of the respondent and their partner for both cohabiting and marital relationships; and it is performed using multiple waves of a large-scale nationally representative panel data set, the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. It addresses key limitations, such as: the use of a single measure of religion, a tendency to only use married individual data, and an overreliance on cross-sectional data. The results indicate that intrafaith couples tend to have a higher degree of relationship stability than other couple types; although, once other factors are controlled for, this effect is no longer statistically significant. We also find religiosity, in particular, religious attendance has a large positive effect on stability in intrafaith couples but can lower stability in interfaith and mixed couples.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12896
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Tags: #Religion #Faith #History #Sociology
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What Makes Work “Good” in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Islamic Perspectives on AI-Mediated Work Ethics
By Mohammed Ghaly, Hamad Bin Khalifa University
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are increasingly creeping into the work sphere, thereby gradually questioning and/or disturbing the long-established moral concepts and norms communities have been using to define what makes work good. Each community, and Muslims make no exception in this regard, has to revisit their moral world to provide well-thought frameworks that can engage with the challenging ethical questions raised by the new phenomenon of AI-mediated work. For a systematic analysis of the broad topic of AI-mediated work ethics from an Islamic perspective, this article focuses on presenting an accessible overview of the “moral world” of work in the Islamic tradition. Three main components of this moral world were selected due to their relevance to the AI context, namely (1) Work is inherently good for humans, (2) Practising a religiously permitted profession and (c) Maintaining good relations with involved stakeholders. Each of these three components is addressed in a distinct section, followed by a sub-section highlighting the relevance of the respective component to the particular context of AI-mediated work. The article argues that there are no unsurmountable barriers in the Islamic tradition against the adoption of AI technologies in work sphere. However, important precautions should be considered to ensure that embracing AI will not be at the cost of work-related moral values. The article also highlights how important lessons can be learnt from the positive historical experience of automata that thrived in the Islamic civilization.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10892-023-09456-3
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Tags: #Religion #Islam #AI #Ethics
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On a body-switching argument in defence of the immateriality of human nature
By Pirooz Fatoorchi, Independent Scholar
In an earlier paper in Theoria, I discussed an argument based on the idea of “soul-switching” that attempted to undermine the immaterialist account of human beings. The present paper deals with a parity argument against that argument in which the idea of “body-switching” plays a pivotal role. I call these two arguments, that have been reported by Razi (d. 1210), respectively “the soul-switching argument” and “the body-switching argument”. After some introductory remarks, section 2 of the paper describes the structure of the latter argument. Section 3 considers some philosophical discussions in the ancient, modern, and contemporary eras in which the idea of body-switching (or some similar conception) plays a major role. In the following section 4, some criticisms of the argument are discussed and a general response that is meant to cover a broad range of objections is considered. This paper shows that the body-switching argument reported by Razi is a methodological antecedent of several contemporary arguments in defence of substance dualism.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/theo.12505
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Tags: #Dualism #Razi #materialism
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Rethinking the Concept of Fiṭra
Natural Disposition, Reason and Conscience
By Syamsuddin Arif, Universitas Darussalam Gontor
Little attention has been given to the role of innate human nature or fiṭra in the motivation behind human action. This article examines the views of contemporary Western thinkers to creatively rethink the concept of fiṭra, not only from a theological perspective but also a scientific perspective. Drawing upon Islamic scholarship and previous research on the subject that explore the wide spectrum of connotations couched in the Islamic term fiṭra in comparison with Western perspectives, this study offers a fresh look at, and approach to, the concept of human disposition or primordial nature, giving special attention to the biological, epistemological, and ethical dimensions, while most studies of fiṭra focus mainly on the theological and spiritual sides. It is hoped that this conceptual analysis will serve as a stepping stone towards a more nuanced understanding of fiṭra not only as (i) a natural tendency to act or think in a particular way, but also as (ii) the religious instinct, (iii) the power of the mind to think and understand in a logical way, and (iv) the inner voice or conscience of what is right and wrong in one’s conduct or motives that drives the individual towards right action.
Link: https://doi.org/10.35632/ajis.v40i3-4.3189
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Tags: #Fitrah #CSR #Islam
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Rethinking the Prophethood of Muhammad in Christian Theology
By Mehraj Din, Istanbul Zaim University
In the modern world, there is an incessant amount of research on religions and interfaith interaction. Yet, too much of our theological activities remain shockingly intramural. Instead of allowing an inherent energy to launch us into the larger reality of global religiosity, we insist on protecting our theology from the threat of contamination. Among many points of agreement, the centrality of Muhammad’s prophethood remains key among the contentious issues between Islam and Christianity. Anna Bonta Moreland’s Reconsidering Muhammad takes us on a journey into the reception of Muhammad in Christian Theology. Engaging Islam from deep within the Christian tradition by addressing the question of the prophethood of Muhammad, Anna Bonta Moreland calls for a retrieval of Thomistic thought on prophecy. Moreland sets the stage for this inquiry through an intertextual reading of the key Vatican II documents on Islam and on Christian revelation. This review will retrace the historical reception of Muhammad in early European tradition and also how Moreland’s work is a pathbreaking introduction to one of the least talked about theological puzzles between Islam and the Christian tradition.
Link: https://doi.org/10.35632/ajis.v40i3-4.3055
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Tags: #Prophet #Seerah #Islam #Christianity #Aquinas
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God’s necessary existence: a thomistic perspective
By Åke Wahlberg, Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology
There are strong reasons for assuming that Thomas Aquinas conceived of God’s existence in terms of logical necessity in a broad sense. Yet this seems to stand in some tension with the fact that he excludes the possibility of a priori arguments for the existence of God. One apparently attractive way of handling this tension is to use a two-dimensional framework inspired by Saul Kripke. Against this, this article demonstrates that a Kripke-inspired framework is inapt in this context because it allows for the conceivability of God’s non-existence, thereby rendering his non-existence possible in some important, and for Aquinas inacceptable, sense. Drawing on David Chalmers, the article submits that the existence of God can only be necessary if God’s non-existence is ideally inconceivable. On the basis of Aquinas’ own understanding of God, however, the article argues further that God’s non-existence in fact is inconceivable. The alleged conceivability of God’s non-existence is ultimately due to our (human) inability to grasp the nature of being, whereas creatures who grasp the nature of being are unable to conceive of God’s non-existence. This removes God’s non-existence from the realm of relevant conceivability and, therefore, from the range of possible worlds.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-023-09894-x
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Tags: #God #Thomism #Aquinas
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Masculine God Imagery and Sense of Life Purpose: Examining Contingencies with America's “Four Gods
By Laura Upenieks and Rebecca Bonhag, Baylor University
Though God imagery has been extensively studied within sociological and psychological traditions, much less attention has been paid to gendered God concepts and their connections to well-being. Previous work has suggested that God images may reflect ontological assumptions that inform interpretations of the world as well as one's place within it. We argue that the relationship between masculine God imagery and a sense of life purpose may vary by gender and depend on further contingencies of other God images held by individuals’ images of God as engaged, angry, critical, and distant. Drawing on nationally representative data from the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey (n = 415 men and n = 577 women), our results suggest that stronger masculine God imagery was associated with greater life purpose for men, and lower life purpose for women. We also observed that stronger beliefs in an engaged God appeared to weaken the association between masculine God imagery and lower life purpose for women, while men who did not support masculine gender ideology reported lower life purpose if they endorsed stronger beliefs in an angry or critical God. We interpret our results by drawing on research at the intersection of gender, religion, and theology, and suggest several directions for future work.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12881
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Tags: #God #Religion #Sociology #Psychology
