𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

29 November 2025 08:15

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Miracles and the Holy Spirit in the Sufi Metaphysics of ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Jīlī

By Fitzroy Morrissey, University of Oxford

In this paper, I analyze the account of miracles given by ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Jīlī (d. 811/1408), one of the major interpreters of the Sufi metaphysics of Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240). Al-Jīlī outlines his theory of miracles in chapter fifty of his major work, al-Insān al-kāmil fī maʿrifat al-awākhir wa-l-awāʾil, which is devoted to the Holy Spirit. Based on a close reading of this chapter and other relevant sections of al-Insān al-kāmil, I suggest that al-Jīlī’s interest in miracles reflects the miracle-saturated Yemeni environment in which he wrote, and find that he most often uses taṣarrufāt (“acts of free disposal”) to denote saintly miracles, rather than the more common karāmāt. Most significantly, I show how, based on his threefold categorization of humanity (into those dominated by their physical form, spiritual things, and divine things), he articulates a hierarchy of the miraculous, distinguishing between bodily miracles, which indicate the dominance of the Holy Spirit, and the higher level of creative speech acts, which reflect the dominance of God’s creative attributes. Finally, notwithstanding the fact that his account of miracles and the Holy Spirit chimes with certain Christian ideas, I show that miracles, in his view, point to the spiritual pre-eminence of the Prophet Muhammad.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111423

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Tags: #Miracles #Sufism #Religion

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

02 November 2025 14:55

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Between Fidelity and Reform: Muḥammad Qāsim Nanotvi's (1833–1880) Rearticulation of Waḥdat al-Wujūd

By Safaruk Chowdhury, Cambridge Muslim College

Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi (1833–1880) is primarily recognized as the founder of the Deoband seminary. His engagement with waḥdat al-wujūd reveals a neglected philosophical project that seeks to reconcile mystical intuition with rigorous metaphysical reasoning. Drawing on the intellectual legacy of Shāh Walīullāh al-Dihlawī and Ḥājī Imdādullāh Muhājir Makkī, Nanotvi affirms that all existence depends on God, yet rearticulates this within a theological structure that safeguards divine transcendence. This article examines Nanotvi's reinterpretation of waḥdat al-wujūd (the unity of being), a foundational yet contested concept in Islamic metaphysics and Sufi thought. Employing a historical-critical approach, this study reveals that Nanotvi does not fully endorse waḥdat al-wujūd but rearticulates it as the unity of the attribute of existence (ṣifāt al-wujūd), emphasizing that all existence depends on God while preserving divine transcendence and ontological distinctions between God and creation. By focusing on the attribute of existence, Nanotvi offers a systematic response to ontological debates, avoiding the controversies surrounding waḥdat al-wujūd, while maintaining the spiritual depth of this concept.

Link: https://doi.org/10.21580/tos.v14i1.27370

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Tags: #God #Islam #History #Theology

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

02 November 2025 14:40

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Ibn Taymiyya’s Fiṭralism and Alvin Plantinga’s Reformed Epistemology: A Comparative Study

By Safaruk Zaman Chowdhury, Cambridge Muslim College

Contemporary philosophers and epistemologists as well as scholars of Islamic studies have not failed to notice some striking similarities between aspects of the Islamic notion of the “fiṭra” (humanity’s archetypal nature) articulated by the medieval Hanbalī traditionalist jurist and theologian Ibn Taymiyya (d.728/1328) and the account of the sensus divinitatis (an innate, direct perception of God) espoused by the reformed philosopher Alvin Plantinga (1932–present). This article systematically compares both these notions and more by first situating them within the antecedent historical factors and developments leading up to their emergence in their respective intellectual milieu, the theological anthropology espoused by both thinkers and the religious epistemology of each respective thinker. The article will also discuss salient differences between each doctrine and their broader parent epistemologies and will examine major objections raised against them. The comparative study reveals not only a rich source of Islamic religious epistemology to be mined by diligent researchers but the exciting application of philosophical analysis to the thought of Ibn Taymiyya. Finally, the article argues that Ibn Taymiyya’s account of the fiṭra faces some problematic epistemological conundrums, one of which will be explored in detail.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111371

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Tags: #Fitra #IbnTaymiyya #Religion #Plantinga #God

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

02 November 2025 14:33

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Higher Objectives of Islamic Law (Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿa) in Substantiating Justice in Land Tax

By Öznur Özdemir, Bursa Uludag University; Mehmet Asutay, Durham University

This article discusses the relationship between the systemization of kharāj (land tax) and the higher objective of Islamic law or Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿa. After the conquest of Sawād region (located in modern-day southern Iraq), the First Caliph ʿUmar (634 - 644 CE) introduced a new approach to the distribution of ghanīmah (spoils of war), leaving the lands to their pre-conquest owners but demanding the payment of taxes for redistribution among community members. This system was strengthened through the establishment of dīwān (register). We claim that ʿUmar’s decision in this regard was influenced by his understanding of Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿa and that this historical example should also be considered in essentialising social justice in the making of contemporary Islamic economics theory and Islamic finance principles.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/muwo.70017

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Tags: #Islam #Law #Shariah #Economics

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

02 November 2025 14:27

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Divine Trials and Political Authority
Droughts and Plagues in al-Ṭabarī’s Tārīkh

By Ines Peta, Università di Bologna

This article examines the representation of natural catastrophes in al-Ṭabarī’s Tārīkh al-rusul wa-l-mulūk, focusing on droughts and plagues as central motifs through which divine will, moral order and political authority are articulated. By analysing selected episodes ranging from the prophetic narratives of ʿĀd and David to his account of the caliphate of ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb, as well as his reports on the Umayyad period, and the Abbasid rise and consolidation of power, this study highlights the multiplicity of interpretive functions ascribed to calamities — generally viewed as forms of divine punishment, moral trial, or ominous signs — and draws out the political implications that emerge from these readings, particularly their role as instruments of dynastic legitimisation or delegitimisation and as mechanisms for restructuring authority. The article emphasises al-Ṭabarī’s methodological strategy of embedding natural disasters within a broader, coherent ethical, theological and political framework. By situating al-Ṭabarī’s historiography within the wider context of Islamic intellectual traditions on catastrophe, the study sheds light on the enduring interplay between providence, governance and communal responsibility in early Islamic historical consciousness, highlighting the foundational framework on which later historians will base their own (re)interpretations of natural catastrophes.

Link: https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.12785

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Tags: #Islam #History #Politics

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

02 November 2025 14:21

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How to (Try to) Tame a Disaster?
Annotating Approaches to the Integration of Politics and Power Strategies into the Creation of a Disasters Database in Classical Arabic Sources

By Ilaria Cicola, University of Bologna

The Disasters Corpus in Classical Arabic Sources (DiCCAS) was conceived as a resource that would encompass a diverse range of materials, including the Qur’an and the ḥadīth collections Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Saḥīḥ Muslim, as well as several significant historical orks, such as al-Ṭabarī’s Kitāb Tārīkh al-rusul wa-l-mulūk and Ibn Taghrībirdī’s Kitāb al-Nujūm al-zāhira fī mulūk Miṣr wa-l-Qāhira. The corpus also incorporates adab texts by al-Jāhiẓ, notably his Rasāʾil, and Ibn al-Jawzī’s al-Mudhish. DiCCAS is designed to allow historians to compare different accounts and narratives of disasters in a variety of classical sources. While the breadth of this corpus is essential to fulfil the objectives of the ‘Environmental Anomalies & Political Legitimacy in Global Eurasia, 12th–14th Century’ project, it presents a formidable challenge for the digital humanist whose job is developing a structure capable of accommodating a variety of text types and their respective idiosyncrasies. This paper discusses the validity of the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) as an encoding language, on the basis that its inherent flexibility and adaptability make it an optimal tool for a project of such scope, and seeks to outline the methodological hurdles encountered in the creation of a historical corpus. Finally, it explores the potential for integrating contemporary technological tools with classical sources. In doing so, it aims to assess how these tools can facilitate the comparative analysis of multiple sources, allowing researchers to understand the political and power strategies employed during and after a disaster.

Link: https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.12791

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Tags: #Islam #History #Arabic

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

27 October 2025 16:27

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Idealizing the Qur’an: A Phenomenological Account of Early Islamic Scriptural Canonization

By Ramon Harvey, Cambridge Muslim College

This article addresses a lack of engagement between Husserlian phenomenology and Qur’anic studies by applying Edmund Husserl’s “historical reduction” in his “The Origin of Geometry” essay to early Qur’anic canonization. I start by summarizing recent findings in the field to characterize a basic outline of the “ʿUthmānī canonization event,” the historical occurrence by which the third Islamic caliph, ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān (r. 644–656), oversaw the production of the canonical consonantal skeleton that is the origin for copies of the Qur’an today. I then develop my argument by critically discussing Husserl’s concepts of “idealization,” “traditionalization,” and “reactivation” in dialogue with influential interpretations by David Carr and Jacques Derrida. Finally, I use Husserl’s ideas to recast the early canonization of the Qur’an in phenomenological terms as a “founding act,” showing how a focus on intersubjectivity shifts the terms of debate over the interpretation of minor so-called scribal errors in key early manuscripts.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfaf090

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Tags: #Islam #Quran #Phenomenology

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

27 October 2025 16:21

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Evil, Hiddenness, and Nonbelief in Abū al-Barakāt al-Baghdādī’s Commentary on Ecclesiastes:
A Contemporary Philosophical Reflection

By Bakinaz Abdalla, Nazarbayev University

The problem of evil has consistently challenged theistic belief. This challenge appears in both contemporary and medieval philosophical sources, including those written by Jewish and Muslim philosophers and theologians. Treatments of the problem vary across historical contexts. This study examines a significant, yet understudied, engagement with this problem by Abū al-Barakāt al-Baghdādī (a 12th-century Jewish philosopher who converted to Islam) in his commentary on Ecclesiastes, proposing to contribute to research on both intellectual history, within the realms of Islamic and Jewish philosophy and theology, and philosophy of religion. First, I reconstruct the problem of evil as presented in Abū al-Barakāt’s Judeo-Arabic commentary on Ecclesiastes (extant in manuscript form), highlighting the surrounding philosophical and theological trends that shaped its overall perspective. Second, reflecting a deeper philosophical dimension of the reconstructed problem of evil, I analyze it through the lens of contemporary philosophy of religion, particularly the evidential argument from evil and relevant aspects of the problem of divine hiddenness. I argue that Abū al-Barakāt’s formulation, distinct from customary articulations of the problem in his intellectual milieu, anticipates atheistic challenges posed by the evidential argument and divine hiddenness. Finally, I propose that potential complementary responses to these challenges can be developed by analyzing (1) Abū al-Barakāt’s conception of taqlīd (conformism) in light of Alvin Plantinga’s concept of the basicality of belief, and (2) his use of the Islamic doctrine of al-Qaḍāʾ wa al-Qadar (divine Decree and Predestination), which allows for a skeptical response.

Link: https://doi.org/10.14428/thl.v9i1.84943

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Tags: #Islam #PoE #Evil

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

27 October 2025 16:13

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Reinterpreting Theology: ‘Abd Al-Jabbar Al-Rifā’ī and Neo-Kalam Discourse

By Mujaddid, Universitas Islam Internasional ; Syed Mohammad Hilmi bin Syed Abdul Rahman, University of Malaya

In recent decades, the renewal of Islamic thought has attracted the attention of many Muslim intellectuals. This discourse emerged primarily in the 19th century and has continued to expand. The decline of the Muslim community has fostered awareness of the importance of theological renewal, neo-kalam has finally become one of the prevailing debates in modern Islamic discourse. ‘Abd al-Jabbār al-Rifā’ī is a prominent figure and deeply involved in neo-kalam, as seen by his numerous works and academic endeavours. However, efforts to reform the science of kalam have not yet reached clear formulations and concepts as a collective consensus. In this regard, this article examines the impact of neo-kalam al-Rifā’ī’s ideas on issues of contemporary Islamic thought. This study employs a qualitative approach. Data was collected through library research, which was analysed using historical, inductive, deductive and comparative methods. This study finds that the idea of neo-kalamintroduced by al-Rifā’ī emerged as part of a paradigm shift. Al-Rifā’ī’s neo-kalam project seeks to deconstruct Islamic thought through the lens of a modern social science approach. This effort began by going through the framework of the formation of classical kalam in the aspects of its ontology, epistemology and axiology. However, his endeavours have generated critique and appreciation in the realm of current Islamic intellectual discourse.

Link: https://doi.org/10.55831/ajis.v10i2.755

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Tags: #Islam #Kalam #Theology

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

20 October 2025 12:12

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Injustice in Contemporary Islamic Theology: Explanation, Punishment and the Hereafter

By Abdessamad Belhaj, University of Public Service

Since the 1980s, a theology of injustice has gained prominence in Islamic thought as a large body of literature has been written on the subject. One of the main tenets of this theology is the punishment of injustice in the afterlife, which emphasizes how unjust individuals will endure different punishments, including suffering in darkness on the Day of Resurrection. Some theologians use the divine punishment of unjust individuals in the hereafter as a rhetorical method of dissuasion from injustice in conjunction with warnings against the injustices that Muslims are currently facing or committing. Taking an ethical and normative stand, other theologians prohibit injustice, including violence against innocent people. Other Muslim theologians adopt an analytical perspective, developing concepts to understand the causes, effects, and ways to prevent injustice, including via God’s love. All theologians agree that God will punish the unjust on Earth and in the hereafter. This article discusses how injustice is explained in modern Muslim theology and closely examines and critically analyzes twelve contemporary theological Muslim texts in Arabic that have been produced in recent decades. In addition, I will place these modern theological discussions within the context of the development of modern Islamic thought and in relation to the ongoing discussions about theodicy, ethics, and the imagery of (after) death in modern society. This article argues that the theology of injustice has two purposes: it calls the unjust to accept responsibility and promises the victim delayed justice and retribution. I conclude that the punitive stance on injustice can be explained by the ongoing political and social struggles in the Muslim world as well as the spreading of traditionalist Islamic theology.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16101304

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Tags: #IslamicTheology #God #IslamicLaw

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

20 October 2025 12:04

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Love Potions and Love Letters
An Argument that Libertarian Free Will isn’t Necessary for Loving God

By Netanel Ron, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Some free-will defenses appeal to the intuition that the love of creatures who God causally determined to love him is less valuable than the love of creatures who chose to love God freely, in the libertarian sense. I challenge that intuition directly. I attempt to discredit the intuition in question by demonstrating that no analogies regarding human-related cases can support it. In each case I treat, I argue either that the case is disanalogous to God’s case, or that granting the lover libertarian free will wouldn’t make the love in question more valuable.

Link: https://doi.org/10.37977/faithphil.2025.41.3.2

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Tags: #FreeWill #God #Libertanism

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

17 October 2025 07:26

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Logic and Tradition: New Light on al-Farabi's Philosophy of Logic

By Seyyed Hosein Sajjadi, Islamic Azad University

In this paper I discuss the intricate relationship between logic and tradition and its crucial role in al-Farabi's political philosophy. An illustrative historical example of this relationship is Mattā–al-Sirāfi debate, particularly its focus on the conflict between logic and grammar and the problem of intelligibles. These issues are pivotal in my exposition of al-Farabi's philosophy of logic. The relation of logic to grammar possesses characteristics independent of specific traditions. To explain this, I introduce the concept of ‘meta-tradition’ where intelligibles and the path to attaining them, are situated. This path is depicted in the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle and, according to al-Farabi's view, both philosophers shared the same understanding of happiness, which is only attainable through the widespread adoption of philosophy. This requires an education system that al-Farabi's approach to logic and his articulation of it, provide the framework for such a system, enabling the propagation of philosophical thought throughout the virtuous city.


Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/01445340.2025.2550136

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Tags: #Islam #AlFarabi #Logic

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

02 October 2025 12:41

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Deconstructing Traditional Muslim Sexual Morality: Approaches to a New Understanding of Legal and Illegal Sex in Muslim Theology Based on the Principle of Sexual Autonomy

By Ali Ghandour, University of Hamburg

This paper offers a critical analysis of traditional Muslim sexual morality and questions its validity in the present. It focuses on two elements: (1) nikāḥ as a legal marriage contract characterized by asymmetrical gender roles and (2) historically permitted sexual relations with enslaved women, as well as Muslim positions on sexual intercourse with minors. After a conceptual clarification of sexual autonomy, I examine the positions of different legal schools and contextualize their norms within broader social and intellectual histories. Building on the approach of “overcoming the text,” I argue that foundational religious texts can no longer serve as the normative basis for a contemporary sexual ethic. Instead, I redefine the notion of “illegitimate sexuality” (zinā) based on the principle of sexual autonomy and show how modern legal and social frameworks (rule of law, welfare state, medical evidence) render earlier functions of sexual regulation obsolete. The Qurʾanic concept of maʿrūfserves as a dynamic ethical reference point. The goal is a paradigm shift toward a Muslim sexual ethic that centers autonomy, equality, and human dignity while critically dismantling inherited structures.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16091208

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Tags: #Ethics #Islam #Law

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

02 October 2025 12:36

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Ancient Allah: An Epigraphic Reconstruction

By Ahmad Al-Jallad, The Ohio State University

The identity of the pre-Islamic Arabian deity, Allāh, has been the subject of much scholarly debate. Opinions vary from regarding him as the primary creator deity of the pre-Islamic Arabs to seeing him as a minor, peripheral superbeing with no associated cult. While the epigraphic evidence confirms that Allāh was worshipped across pre-Islamic Arabia, the texts known until now offered limited information about his role in ancestral Arabian religion. This article presents the discovery of a new archaeological site from the northeastern Jordanian Ḥarrah (MH09), which comprises a mortuary installation and a considerable number of Safaitic inscriptions. One of these carvings provides our first glimpse into Allāh mythology among the nomads east of Ḥawrān roughly two thousand years ago. This complex text proffers strong evidence for Allāh's role as a light-giving creator deity, called upon to act against death, represented by darkness. After a detailed analysis of this inscription, key to interpreting a number of other challenging Safaitic expressions and terms, the article concludes with a discussion of how this text informs our understanding of ancestral Arabian cosmology and how the ancient Arabs might have received biblical ideas about creation in late antiquity.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/fgaf012

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Tags: #God #Islam #History

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

13 September 2025 16:28

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Reversing the problem of evil

By Yujin Nagasawa, University of Oklahoma

The problem of evil—particularly in the form that emphasizes the intense severity and unfair distribution of suffering in the world—is widely regarded as a major challenge to theistic belief in an omnipotent and perfectly good God. In this paper I discuss Richard Swinburne’s theistic response to this version of the problem. I argue that, drawing on Swinburne’s approach, we can “reverse” the problem of evil. That is, we can show that the existence of profound and unevenly distributed suffering poses a greater challenge to atheism than to theism.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-025-09971-3

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Tags: #PoE #Evil #God #Atheism

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

29 November 2025 08:11

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Is Ethics Without God Possible? An Answer, Plus Some Thoughts, About the Question

By Michael Tooley, University of Colorado

Is Ethics Without God Possible? In this article, I argue for the conclusion that ethics without God is possible. First, I begin by offering a brief overview of metaethics, outlining the main options concerning the nature of ethical statements. Next, I set out my argument. As it turns out, that argument does involve some philosophy of religion, but of a limited scope, since the only issue relevant to my argument is whether some version of the ontological argument for the existence of God is sound or not. Finally, having argued that ethics without God is possible—leaving aside the minor qualification mentioned above—I shall indicate why I think it is crucial to consider how philosophy of religion might bear upon the question initially posed, and thus why it is a mistake to address the question posed without considering how philosophy of religion might bear upon the question initially posed.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111426

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Tags: #God #Ethics #Religion

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

02 November 2025 14:43

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Sayyida al-Ḥurra: An Early Modern Decolonial Muslim Exemplar

By Jason Idriss Sparkes, Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University

Five centuries ago, the Gibraltar Strait was emerging as the border zone between the core and the periphery of the modern/colonial world-system—a liminal position it continues to occupy today. During this period, Muslims on the southern shore of the Strait resisted the Portuguese and Spanish imperialism which was supported by several other Western European powers as well as the Catholic Papacy. This paper examines the life of Sayyida al-Ḥurra (c. 1491–c. 1552), who played an active role in this resistance, as Governor of the city-state of Tétouan and eventually Queen of Morocco. It summarizes years of transdisciplinary research about her life, which draws upon historical sources and popular narratives, as well as fieldwork in Northern Morocco and Southern Spain. The main finding of this research is that Sayyida al-Ḥurra is an early modern Muslim decolonial exemplar who remains significant today. She embodied an alternate way of being a ruler, a warrior, a woman, and a Muslim. Remembering her life can inspire contemporary decolonial thought, since the very fact of her existence unsettles modern colonial formations of race, ethnicity, governance, war, gender, and religion.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111362

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Tags: #History #Islam #Religion

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

02 November 2025 14:37

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Islamic Environmentalism and Epistemic Waste

By Aysenur Cam, Princeton University

Environmental ethics is concerned with how humans use and relate to the environment, including its conservation and protection. In recent decades, works on Islamic environmentalism have increased multiplied with efforts to ground an ethics based on the resources of the Islamic scholarly tradition. In this article, I offer an approach to environmentalism that is based on a Qur’anic epistemology of divine names. Utilizing Said Nursi’s (d. 1960) Qur’anic commentary, the Risâle-i Nur, I argue that waste (isrāf) occurs when the epistemic meaning carried by all of creation is not engaged with or read. An Islamic environmental ethics should look to how one interacts with the physical world in light of its relation to the Creator and how it serves to convey meaningful speech content through the manifestation of divine qualities.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/jore.70009

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Tags: #Islam #Quran #Religion

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

02 November 2025 14:29

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Discussions of Drought in Premodern Ḥadīth Collections
Islamic Ethics and Attitudes to the Causes of and Responses to Natural Disasters

By Abdessamad Belhaj, University of Public Service

The subject of drought, or qaḥṭ, is extensively discussed in ḥadīth compilations, however very little research has been undertaken on their treatment of the subject. This paper thus proposes to investigate the treatment of drought in the ḥadīth literature in a systematic way. Our methodology consists in analysing the explanations offered by medieval Islamic ethics for drought, their discussions of the responses of political and religious authorities, the Prophet’s guidance on the subject, and the actions or behaviours they advocate to overcome the dangers and hardships drought presents. Drawing on sources from major Sunni ḥadīth compilations, this article aims to offer a comprehensive description and discussion of the treatment of drought in Islamic ethics discourse as found in these texts. It is argued here that this discourse links drought to political, social, and religious corruption, especially denial of religious truth, greed, and injustice.

Link: https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.12784

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Tags: #Islam #Hadith #Politics #Religion

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

02 November 2025 14:24

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Sobriety (zuhd) and Hunger (jūʿ)
Ethical Responses to Natural Disasters in al-Ghazālī’s (d. 505/1111) Theology of Creation

By Emmanuel Pisani, Institut Dominicain D’études Orientales

Although al-Ghazālī’s cosmology emphasises divine harmony and providential wisdom, natural calamities nonetheless pose a challenge to his theodicy. Al-Ghazālī resolves this tension by situating disasters within a providential design that integrates both time and space. While their ultimate purpose remains beyond human understanding, for al-Ghazālī, catastrophes function as divine signs—either as trials for believers or as punishments for the impious—that demand an ethical and spiritual response. The appropriate response required of the believer is made possible through the Sufi concepts of zuhd (ascetic detachment) and juʿ (voluntary hunger), which cultivate self-discipline, purify the soul and redirect the believer toward reliance on God. These practices not only prepare individuals to endure trials with patience and gratitude but also strengthen communal solidarity, particularly in times of crisis such as epidemics. By integrating theodicy with ascetic discipline, al-Ghazālī transforms adversity into a means of spiritual elevation, affirming that faith requires both intellectual adherence and transformative praxis.

Link: https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.12788

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Tags: #Islam #God #Ghazali

𝐈 𝐇 Rᴇᴘᴏsɪᴛᴏʀʏ

27 October 2025 16:31

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The Role of Ritual Prayer (Ṣalāh) in Self-Purification and Identity Formation: An Islamic Educational Perspective

By Adeeb Obaid Alsuhaymi and Fouad Ahmed Atallah, Jouf University

Ritual prayer (ṣalāh) is one of the most central and enduring practices in Islam, widely recognized for its spiritual significance. However, its educational and formative role in shaping the Muslim’s inner self and moral identity remains insufficiently explored in contemporary scholarship. This paper aims to examine ritual prayer as a core pedagogical tool within Islamic education, focusing on its transformative power in the processes of self-purification (tazkiyah) and identity formation. The study seeks to analyze the ethical and psychological dimensions of ṣalāh, drawing on classical Islamic sources, as well as integrating insights from contemporary critical philosophy—particularly Byung-Chul Han’s Vita Contemplativa—and Islamic virtue ethics, including perspectives such as those advanced by Elizabeth Bucar. Through this framework, the paper explores how prayer shapes inner dispositions like humility, mindfulness, sincerity, patience, and submission, reinforcing both spiritual awareness and communal belonging. Employing a descriptive-analytical methodology, the study engages Qur’anic verses, prophetic traditions, and traditional pedagogical literature to investigate how ṣalāh functions as a lived and repeated experience that cultivates the soul and molds ethical behavior. The discussion highlights how regular performance of prayer integrates belief with action and contributes to the formation of a reflective and morally grounded Muslim identity. This paper contributes to the field of Islamic Practical Theology by demonstrating how ritual prayer operates as a dynamic and holistic model for moral and spiritual development. It provides educators and scholars with a theoretical and applied vision for incorporating ṣalāh-based character education into Islamic curricula. Future research may explore how prayer interacts with modern lifestyles, digital spiritual practices, and intergenerational transmission of religious identity in diverse contexts.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111347

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Tags: #Islam #Pedagogy #Religion

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27 October 2025 16:24

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On Literary Miracles and Social Credibility: The Epistemology of an Islamic Argument

By Erkki V. R. Kojonen, University of Helsinki

The idea that the Qur’an is miraculous is common in Islamic apologetics, but has received little attention in Western philosophy of religion. Despite the common claim that the supposed miracle of the Qur’an is distinct in not requiring testimonial support, testimonial considerations are central for many claims about Qur’anic inimitability. This article clarifies and evaluates the logic of such arguments for the purpose of fostering inter-religious understanding and raising the intellectual level of discourse. The analysis focuses on three different versions of the literary miracle claim: (1) arguments from early Muslim history, (2) arguments from Muslim aesthetic experience, and (3) arguments from Qur’anic literary features. Using recent advances in social epistemology and critical Islamic studies, the article explores how religious testimonial inferences can be evaluated and the difficulties involved in arguing for a literary miracle.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16101319

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Tags: #Islam #Quran #Miracles #Epistemology

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27 October 2025 16:17

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Examining Ḥadīth on Women as a Source of Fitna: Thematic and Contextual Approaches

By Alwi Padly Harahap, Fadhilah Is and Juli Julaiha P, Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara

Ḥadīth that refer to women as a source of fitna(temptation) are often interpreted in a way that sparks controversy regarding the role of women in Islam. In modern society, such interpretations can lead to gender injustice and discrimination against women. This study examines ḥadīth using thematic and contextual approaches. The method involves thematic analysis to identify key patterns and meanings in ḥadīth that discuss fitna and women, along with a contextual approach to understanding the historical, cultural and social circumstances during the time of Prophet Muḥammad. The findings indicate that ḥadīth describing women as a source of fitna are not meant to diminish their value; rather, they highlight the importance of maintaining morality and healthy social interactions. The discussion emphasises that holistic and contextual comprehension of these ḥadīth can assist to eliminate gender bias and encourage a more inclusive perspective on women’s role in Islam. Consequently, thorough understanding of the ḥadīth text can help prevent misinterpretations and discrimination. This study underscores the necessity of adopting a more critical and contextual approach in ḥadīth studies to support the principle of gender justice that aligns with Islamic teachings.

Link: https://doi.org/10.55831/ajis.v10i2.745

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Tags: #Islam #Hadith #Women

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20 October 2025 12:17

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Rewriting Women's History in Islam: Hajar/Hagar as an Example

By Hatoon Ajwad AL-FASSI, University of Manchester

This paper is an attempt to reflect on the story of Hagar/Hajar, the Egyptian housemaid/slave of Sarah/Sarai, wife/concubine of Abraham/Ibrahim, the father of prophets, who became the mother of a nation and faith. It aims also at understanding what is beyond the narrative given by the Jewish and Islamic accounts of her life. Then the paper will re-read the significance of her representation and symbolism. The questions that this paper raises are: Where do we get Hajar’s voice from? What does she mean to women and Islamic culture at large? How did she participate in building Islam’s theology and practice as we know it today? How did she affect the way we imagine women’s power or submissiveness in Islam? Strengths and weaknesses, leadership, and obedience?
The answer may vary from one person to another, or one generation to the next, but here, the paper will try to give Hajar the voice she has been denied. It will explore the different aspects of the significance of her personality, life, heritage, and Herstory from as many angles as possible: the imagined, the symbolic, and the historical. The rest will be left to the readers to add what they find most touching to their hearts and souls.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16101304

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Tags: #Islam #History #Women

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20 October 2025 12:08

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Kant on the Ontological Argument for the Existence of God: Why Conceivability Does Not Entail Real Possibility

By Lucas Thorpe, Boğaziçi University; Zübeyde Karadağ Thorpe, Kadir Has University

In the ontological argument for the existence of God, Descartes famously argues that the idea of God is the idea of a perfect being. As such, the idea of God must combine all of the perfections. Now, as (necessary) existence is a perfection, God must exist. Leibniz criticized Descartes’ argument, pointing out that it rests upon the hidden assumption that God is possible. Leibniz argues, however, that God is really possible because realities cannot oppose one another, and so there could be no real opposition between the perfections. So, at least in the case of God, conceivability entails real possibility. Kant rejects this assumption and insists that the non-contradictoriness of an idea is not an adequate criterion for the real possibility of the object of the idea, for although predicates may be combined in thought to form a concept, this does not entail the properties they indicate may be so combined in reality. For this reason, Kant believes that it is impossible to prove the real possibility of God, and so the ontological argument is not sound. In this paper, I examine Kant’s reasons for reaching this conclusion. I pay particular attention to Kant’s argument in the Amphiboly, which deals with the concepts of agreement and opposition, and where Kant stresses the importance of the distinction between logical and real opposition. I will argue that this distinction plays a crucial role in Kant’s rejection of the ontological argument and rationalist Leibnizian–Wolffian metaphysics in general. I also show how Kant’s rejection of the possibility of what he calls the complete determination of a concept in the Ideal of Pure Reason, plays a role in his rejection of the conceivability entails real possibility principle.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16101309

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Tags: #Kant #God #Descartes #Metaphysics

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17 October 2025 07:31

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A Kantian Approach to Objective Morality and God’s Existence

By Anne Jeffrey and Kelsey Maglio, Baylor University

In this article, we explain how Kant upends the terms of the debate concerning the relationship between God’s existence and an objective morality by looking at his moral-teleological argument for God’s existence in the third Critique. We explain Kant’s rejection of external sources of moral normativity and his method of grounding moral authority in the normativity of practical reason. We then turn to Kant’s argument justifying a practical belief in God as the moral author of nature. Kant’s claims about how we must conceptualize organisms teleologically and, as a result, how reason seeks an unconditioned end of nature, brings together our moral purpose with a conception of nature as an organized whole. Since our teleological concepts of organisms seem to require that human beings serve as the final, unconditioned end of nature, but morality and nature might be incompatible and divergent, we must also believe in a moral author of nature. This belief guards against demoralization and creates a unified view of the human moral agent and the world she inhabits, which Kant thinks of as indispensable for our practical lives. Kant notoriously blurs the lines between theology and ethics in nonstandard ways. Although he rejects many traditional approaches to grounding ethics in a conception of divine commands or eternal law, he still devotes a considerable amount of time to discussing the role of religion as a bulwark of the moral life. The goal of this paper is to defend Kant’s relevance to a discussion of the relationship between an objective ethics and the existence of God; his contribution deserves our notice precisely for the ways in which it promises to shift the terms of the contemporary debate and complicate possible answers to the question of whether there can be an objective morality without God. In contemporary philosophical literature, Kant’s argument contending that we must hope in God from a practical point of view on pain of irrationality of acting from duty has enjoyed substantial discussion. Here, however, we focus on a lesser-known suite of arguments that in order to so much as cognize ourselves and other species as the sorts of natural beings they are, we must believe in a supersensible moral author of these natures. This set of arguments ultimately dovetail with the more well-known argument for theistic hope and operate in much the same way. But they touch on facets of Kant’s whole philosophical system, such as his account of teleological judgment and the unity and final end of all of nature. Our goal is to explicate these arguments and illuminate their relevance of these Kantian arguments to the debate about the relevance of God to objective morality. We will argue that while an objective ethics is possible without God due to the active role of practical reason in rational agents, belief in God’s existence strengthens the claims of morality, both for psychological reasons but also by providing a more unified conception of moral and natural reality.


Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16101268

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Tags: #Morality #God #Kant

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02 October 2025 12:45

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William Lane Craig’s “Biblical” Doctrine of the Trinity

By Thomas Gaston, Independent Researcher

This article critically examines William Lane Craig’s defence of what he terms the ‘biblical doctrine of the Trinity’ as presented in his contribution to One God, Three Persons, Four Views and his Systematic Philosophical Theology. Craig formulates this doctrine using two core propositions: (1) there is exactly one God; and (2) there are exactly three distinct persons properly called ‘God’. While Craig contends that his formulation represents a biblical justification for the Trinity, the paper argues that his case is ultimately unconvincing.
This article examines aspects of Craig’s argument, including his remarkable claim that the New Testament authors lacked the concept of the identity relation. I argue that whilst the New Testament authors affirmed one God, they did so in a sense different from that required for Craig’s ‘biblical’ doctrine of the Trinity. His second proposition is equivocal and his criteria for evaluation are not specified. The milieu and the pattern of usage within the New Testament mean that finding a maximum of eight texts to justify his second proposition is surprising and tells against his conclusions. Therefore, the prior probability weighs strongly in favour of the alternative explanations for these eight texts that scholars have proposed.


Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/heyj.70005

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Tags: #God #WLC #Trinity

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02 October 2025 12:38

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Recognizing Recognition: Maʿrifain Sufi Thought

By Mohammed Rustom, Carleton University

This article delves into the Arabic noun maʿrifa as employed in a range of Arabic and Persian Sufi texts. After unpacking the semantics of the ʿ–r–froot in the Qurʾān and ḥadīth literature and juxtaposing maʿrifa with ʿilm, the piece seeks to demonstrate how Sufi authors specifically conceived of maʿrifa as a type of recognition of oneself and of God. This recognition is activated by the practice of dhikr or the remembrance of God, which in the end leads the recognizer to self-forgetting, perplexity, and bewilderment.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jis/etaf036

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Tags: #God #Islam #Sufism #Hadith

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02 October 2025 12:33

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Rhetorical Transformation in the Qurʾān and Pre-Islamic Poetry: A Comparative Analysis of Space, Animal, and Natural Figures

By Samed Yazar, Bursa Uludağ University and İslam Batur, Şırnak University

This study examines how selected place names, animal figures, and natural elements are used rhetorically in the Qurʾān and pre-Islamic Arabic poetry. It explores the rhetorical strategies associated with these elements, their frequency in pre-Islamic poetry, and their transformation within Qurʾānic discourse. Particular attention is given to how the Qurʾān reinterprets such figures, whether it assigns them new semantic layers, and what depth of meaning these usages convey. The study focuses on the Qurʾān and the Mu’allaqāt—the most prominent collection of pre-Islamic odes—and identifies semantic differences rooted in rhetorical style between the two traditions. While the Qurʾān employs a metaphor- and simile-rich narrative style, pre-Islamic poetry tends toward a direct, descriptive mode of expression. The symbolic function of landscape, animal, and cosmic imagery is analyzed in this context. Pre-Islamic poetry typically portrays the world as it is, often grounding meaning in the immediacy of the desert environment. In contrast, the Qurʾān embeds similar elements within a broader metaphysical framework, imbuing them with theological significance. The central aim is to investigate how the Qurʾān engages with and transforms the literary legacy of pre-Islamic poetry, and what rhetorical mechanisms it employs in this process. Thus, the study contributes to understanding the Qurʾān’s rhetorical structure and narrative method considering its linguistic and cultural context.

Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16091186

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Tags: #Quran #Islam #History

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13 September 2025 16:24

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Limits on god, freedom for humans

By Nathan Huffine, University of Colorado

My plan has three parts. First, I address the concern that the problem between divine foreknowledge and free will is merely a pseudo-problem, arguing that it remains philosophically serious and warrants attention. To support this case, I consider Dennett’s dismissal of the divine foreknowledge-freedom problem, arguing that this dismissal is too hasty. Second, I argue that the eternity solution popularized by Stump and Kretzmann, and later defended by Rogers, Rota, Timpe, Diekemper, De Florio, and Frigerio, fails to respond to van Inwagen’s Freedom-Denying Prophetic Object thought experiment. Additionally, I offer an alternative explanation to van Inwagen’s for why even the mere possibility of divine prophecy threatens free will. Third, I defend van Inwagen’s limited foreknowledge approach by responding to recent critiques from Todd and Arbour and by addressing a uniquely Christian concern regarding Jesus as a freedom-denying prophetic object. The defense is not intended to defeat Todd and Arbour’s objections but only to neutralize them.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-025-09967-z

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Tags: #Christianity #God #Metaphysics