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170-638: After its first beginnings in the late Umayyad period , the Kalām experienced its rise in the early Abbasid period, when the Caliph al-Mahdi commissioned Mutakallimūn to write books against the followers of Iranian religions, and the Barmakid vizier Yahya ibn Khalid held Kalām discussions with members of various religions and confessional groups in his house. Until the 10th century, the Muʿtazilites were considered

340-583: A "member of the family" of Muhammad, without making explicit mention of the Abbasids. These missions met with success both among Arabs and non-Arabs ( mawali ), although the latter may have played a particularly important role in the growth of the movement. Around 746, Abu Muslim assumed leadership of the Hashimiyya in Khurasan. In 747, he successfully initiated an open revolt against Umayyad rule, which

510-543: A "speaker with a specific function". In the anonymous Aḫbār al-ʿAbbās wa-waladihī , which dates from the eighth century, it is reported that when Abu Muslim (d. 755) wanted to establish himself in Merv , he sent mutakallimūn from his followers into the city to win the population over to their cause and make it clear to them that they were following the Sunnah and acting according to the truth. Shlomo Pines has concluded that

680-469: A 5-volume book called ذم الكلام وأهله and Imam Ghazali wrote a book called تهافت الفلاسفة. Besides, Imam Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim, among other Muslim scholars have discussed in detail that 'Ilmul Kalam' and 'Falsafa' do not represent the correct Islamic belief. Similar sentiment were also stated by ʻUthmān ibn Jumʻah Ḍumayrīyah, an Islamic theology professor of University of Sharjah and Umm al-Qura University ; that kalam science inherently contradicts

850-828: A claim unrecognized outside of al-Andalus, he maintained that the Umayyad Caliphate, the true, authentic caliphate, more legitimate than the Abbasids, was continued through him in Córdoba . It was to survive for centuries. Some Umayyads also survived in Syria, and their descendants would once more attempt to restore their old regime during the Fourth Fitna . Two Umayyads, Abu al-Umaytir al-Sufyani and Maslama ibn Ya'qub, successively seized control of Damascus from 811 to 813, and declared themselves caliphs. However, their rebellions were suppressed. Previté-Orton argues that

1020-581: A collapse in revenue, the converts' lands would become the property of their villages and remain liable for the full rate of the kharaj . In tandem, Umar intensified the Islamization drive of his Marwanid predecessors, enacting measures to distinguish Muslims from non-Muslims and inaugurating Islamic iconoclasm . His position among the Umayyad caliphs is unusual, in that he became the only one to have been recognized in subsequent Islamic tradition as

1190-502: A decline in this discipline. The Ottoman-Turkish scholar İsmail Hakkı İzmirli (d. 1946), for example, complained that in his time there were very few people who really knew the Kalām problems and understood the Kalām riddles. There is hardly a Kalam scholar who understands more than the Kalam questions of a book, and the science of Kalam is limited to the study of the commentary on the ʿAqāʾid of Najm al-Dīn Abū Hafs an-Nasafī (d. 1142) and on

1360-538: A genuine caliph ( khalifa ) and not merely as a worldly king ( malik ). After the death of Umar II, another son of Abd al-Malik, Yazid II ( r.  720–724 ) became caliph. Not long after his accession, another mass revolt against Umayyad rule was staged in Iraq, this time by the prominent statesman Yazid ibn al-Muhallab . The latter declared a holy war against the Umayyads, took control of Basra and Wasit and gained

1530-495: A kneeling spear wall formation in battle, probably as a result of their encounters with Roman armies. This was radically different from the original Bedouin style of mobile and individualistic fighting. The Byzantine and Sassanid Empires relied on money economies before the Muslim conquest and that system remained in effect during the Umayyad period. Byzantine coinage was used until 658; Byzantine gold coins were still in use until

1700-698: A largely impenetrable region for earlier Muslim armies, between 705 and 715. Despite the distance from the Arab garrison towns of Khurasan, the unfavorable terrain and climate and his enemies' numerical superiority, Qutayba, through his persistent raids, gained the surrender of Bukhara in 706–709, Khwarazm and Samarkand in 711–712 and Farghana in 713. He established Arab garrisons and tax administrations in Samarkand and Bukhara and demolished their Zoroastrian fire temples . Both cities developed as future centers of Islamic and Arabic learning. Umayyad suzerainty

1870-466: A majority of the caliphate's population, and Jews were allowed to practice their own religion but had to pay the jizya ( poll tax ) from which Muslims were exempt. Muslims were required to pay the zakat , which was earmarked or hypothecated explicitly for various alms programmes for the benefit of Muslims or Muslim converts. Under the early Umayyad caliphs, prominent positions were held by Christians, some of whom belonged to families that had served

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2040-727: A monument of victory over the Christians that would distinguish Islam's uniqueness within the common Abrahamic setting of Jerusalem, home of the two older Abrahamic faiths, Judaism and Christianity. An alternative motive may have been to divert the religious focus of Muslims in the Umayyad realm from the Ka'aba in Zubayrid Mecca (683–692), where the Umayyads were routinely condemned during the Hajj. In Damascus, Abd al-Malik's son and successor al-Walid I ( r.  705–715 ) confiscated

2210-723: A more serious threat had arisen in Khorasan . The Hashimiyya movement (a sub-sect of the Kaysanites Shia ), led by the Abbasid family, overthrew the Umayyad caliphate. The Abbasids were members of the Hashim clan, rivals of the Umayyads, but the word "Hashimiyya" seems to refer specifically to Abu Hashim, a grandson of Ali and son of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya. According to certain traditions, Abu Hashim died in 717 in Humeima in

2380-414: A naval campaign against the city. The Byzantines destroyed the Umayyad fleets and defeated Maslama's army, prompting his withdrawal to Syria in 718. The massive losses incurred during the campaign led to a partial retrenchment of Umayyad forces from the captured Byzantine frontier districts, but already in 720, Umayyad raids against Byzantium recommenced. Nevertheless, the goal of conquering Constantinople

2550-980: A professor at the Muzafferiye madrassa of Hayreddin Halil in Taşköprü, Kastamonu . Taşköprülüzade received his first education from his father, Muṣliḥ al-Dīn Muṣṭafā, and his uncle, Kemaleddin Kasım, in Ankara and Bursa , and completed his studies in Istanbul . He was appointed to the Oruç Pasha Madrasah in Dimetoka in 1525, and then to the Hacı Hüseyinzade Madrasah in Istanbul. Later, he worked as

2720-438: A prophet and a mere pretender to prophethood. Argument could not be distinguished from deceit and proof could not be distinguished from apparent proof. The art of the Kalam was preferable to every other art and education , which is why it was made the standard for all philosophical speculation and the basis of every syllogism . It was only held in such high esteem because every scholar needed it and could not do without it. Until

2890-702: A report quoted by Ibn Babawayh , Yahya ibn Khalid used to hold a discussion group (maǧlis) at his place on Sundays, in which mutakallimūn from every sect (firqa) and religious community (milla) participated, who then debated with each other about their religions and put forward arguments against each other. This discussion group is also mentioned by al-Masʿūdī . According to his report, many Islamic mutakallimūn participated in this discussion, including Muʿtazilites such as Abu l-Hudhail , Ibrahim al-Nazzam and Bishr ibn al-Muʿtamir , Imamites such as Hisham ibn al-Hakam , one Kharijite and one Murjite each , as well as representatives of other worldviews and faiths, including

3060-487: A revolt against Umayyad rule from Iraq. An army mobilized by Iraq's governor Ibn Ziyad intercepted and killed Husayn outside Kufa at the Battle of Karbala . Although it stymied active opposition to Yazid in Iraq, the killing of Muhammad's grandson left many Muslims outraged and significantly increased Kufan hostility toward the Umayyads and sympathy for the family of Ali. The next major challenge to Yazid's rule emanated from

3230-546: A series of raids on coastal areas of the Visigothic Kingdom paved the way to the permanent occupation of most of Iberia by the Umayyads (starting in 711), and on into south-eastern Gaul (last stronghold at Narbonne in 759). Hisham's reign witnessed the end of expansion in the west, following the defeat of the Arab army by the Franks at the Battle of Tours in 732. Arab expansion had already been limited following

3400-542: A slightly modified form, this definition was also adopted by the Ottoman scholar Tashköprüzāde (d. 1561) and the Indian scholar at-Tahānawī (c. 1745). For al-Taftazani (d. 1390), Kalām is "the knowledge of religious dogmas based on certain evidence", for Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406) "a science that includes the disputation of the dogmas of faith with rational arguments" and for Morteza Motahhari (d. 1979) "a science that discusses

3570-567: A stalemate at the Battle of Siffin in early 657. Ali agreed to settle the matter with Mu'awiya by arbitration, though the talks failed to achieve a resolution. The decision to arbitrate fundamentally weakened Ali's political position as he was forced to negotiate with Mu'awiya on equal terms, while it drove a significant number of Ali's supporters, who became known as the Kharijites , to revolt. Ali's coalition steadily disintegrated and many Iraqi tribal nobles secretly defected to Mu'awiya, while

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3740-504: A summit of pro-Umayyad Syrian tribes, namely the Quda'a and their Kindite allies, organized by Ibn Bahdal in the old Ghassanid capital of Jabiya , Marwan was elected caliph in exchange for economic privileges to the loyalist tribes. At the subsequent Battle of Marj Rahit in August 684, Marwan led his tribal allies to a decisive victory against a much larger Qaysite army led by al-Dahhak, who

3910-438: A token portion of the provincial tax revenues to Damascus, the caliph let his governors rule with practical independence. After al-Mughira's death in 670, Mu'awiya attached Kufa and its dependencies to the governorship of Basra, making Ziyad the practical viceroy over the eastern half of the caliphate. Afterward, Ziyad launched a concerted campaign to firmly establish Arab rule in the vast Khurasan region east of Iran and restart

4080-527: A treatise entitled Dhamm al-Kalam where he criticized the use of kalam. Ibn al-Jawzi , 12th AD Hanbali scholar; has explained that that Ulama and Fiqh of his contemporary have considered kalam as "..useless discipline.." . He described the kalam scholars progression was at first "because they were exposed to foreign literatures about philosophy...", then in the end they established kalam, which in practice damaged their creed of Islam. Ibn Qudama , 13th AD Hanbali scholar; harshly criticized kalam as one of

4250-643: Is also found in the catalogue of the Ottoman Palace Library from the beginning of the 16th century, where the section containing the books on kalām was entitled "Section of the Books of the Science of the Foundations of Religion, i.e. the Science of Kalām". This classification probably also influenced the Ottoman scholars Taşköprüzade and Saçaklızāde (d. 1732), who also equated kalām science and

4420-521: Is based on Hindu and Greek philosophy. On the other hand, the main source of Tawheed is revelation. Moreover, Ilmul Kalam includes restlessness, imbalance, ignorance and doubt. That is why the Salaf Saleheen condemned Ilmul Kalam. And Tawheed is based on knowledge, conviction and faith,….. Another reason can be said that the foundation of philosophy is based on assumptions, false beliefs, imaginary thoughts and superstitious ideas". Imam Harawi wrote

4590-499: Is particularly evident in the philosophers al-Farabi (d. 950) and Abu al-Hassan al-Amiri (d. 992). The former sees it as a mental ability through which man can refute everything that contradicts the views and actions established by the founder of the religion, the latter as "the defence of religion with the tongue". In the definitions of the Ashʿarite scholar Adud al-Din al-Iji (d. 1355), the Ottoman scholar Taşköprüzade (d. 1561) and

4760-520: The kharaj (land tax). Since avoidance of taxation incentivized both mass conversions to Islam and abandonment of land for migration to the garrison cities, it put a strain on tax revenues, especially in Egypt, Iraq and Khurasan. Thus, "the Umayyad rulers had a vested interest in preventing the conquered peoples from accepting Islam or forcing them to continue paying those taxes from which they claimed exemption as Muslims", according to Hawting. To prevent

4930-558: The Battle of Dayr al-Jamajim in April. The suppression of the revolt marked the end of the Iraqi muqātila as a military force and the beginning of Syrian military domination of Iraq. Iraqi internal divisions, and the utilization of more disciplined Syrian forces by Abd al-Malik and al-Hajjaj, voided the Iraqis' attempt to reassert power in the province. To consolidate Umayyad rule after

5100-469: The Battle of Toulouse in 721. In 739 a major Berber Revolt broke out in North Africa, which was probably the largest military setback in the reign of Caliph Hisham. From it emerged some of the first Muslim states outside the caliphate. It is also regarded as the beginning of Moroccan independence, as Morocco would never again come under the rule of an eastern caliph or any other foreign power until

5270-524: The Byzantines . The employment of Christians was part of a broader policy of religious accommodation that was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, as in Syria. This policy also boosted Mu'awiya's popularity and solidified Syria as his power base. The Umayyad era is often considered the formative period in Islamic art . During the pre-Islamic period ,

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5440-616: The Holy Sanctuary of Mecca . Among the hundreds of Andalusi and Maghrebi pupils that Abu Dharr al-Harawi trained to become jurists and judges , and who helped Ash'arism expand to their home countries are Abu al-Walid al-Baji and Abu Imran al-Fasi . However, research shows that his students weren't the first to introduce Ash'arism as there were already known Ash'ari presence in the Tunisia such as Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani and Abu al-Hassan al-Qabisi . In al-Andalus, Ash'arism

5610-494: The Kitāb al-Maqāṣid by Saʿd ad-Dīn at-Taftāzānī , as a basis for teaching. The work contains an introductory chapter at the beginning in which the author discusses the definition, subject, utility, rank, problems and naming of the science of Kalām. At the end of the 14th century, Ibn Khaldun believed that the science of Kalam was no longer necessary for students of his time, because the heretics and innovators had since perished and it

5780-578: The Maghreb (western North Africa), conquering Tangier and Sus in 708/09. Musa's Berber mawla , Tariq ibn Ziyad , invaded the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula) in 711 and within five years most of Hispania was conquered . Al-Hajjaj managed the eastern expansion from Iraq. His lieutenant governor of Khurasan , Qutayba ibn Muslim , launched numerous campaigns against Transoxiana (Central Asia), which had been

5950-536: The Melbourne institute has stated Mulla Sadra philosophy was influenced by Avicenna and Ibn Arabi . Ruhollah Khomeini , Iranian Islamic revolutionary, politician, religious leader who served as the first Supreme Leader of Iran , founder of modern day Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian Revolution ; has used kalam to facilitate his socio-religious revival of moral spirit of

6120-668: The Muʿtazila . Historian Daniel W. Brown describes Ahl al-Kalām as one of three main groups engaged in polemical disputes over sources of authority in Islamic law during the second century of Islam: the Ahl al-Ra'y and Ahl al-Hadith being the other two. (Brown also describes the Muʿtazila as "the later ahl al-Kalām ", suggesting the ahl al-Kalām were forerunners of the Muʿtazilites.) In

6290-567: The Qadariya , with Wasil ibn Ata again playing the decisive role. However, neither Wasil ibn Ata nor any other persons mentioned here have recorded book titles or sayings that indicate that they themselves used the term kalām as a name for a particular science or knowledge culture. According to a report quoted by al-Masudi (d. 956) in his work The Meadows of Gold , the Abbasid CaliphateAbbasid caliph al-Mahdi (r. 775–785)

6460-591: The Qadariyya . In 744, Yazid III , a son of al-Walid I, was proclaimed caliph in Damascus, and his army tracked down and killed al-Walid II. Yazid III has received a certain reputation for piety and may have been sympathetic to the Qadariyya. He died a mere six months into his reign. Yazid had appointed his brother, Ibrahim , as his successor, but Marwan II (744–50), the grandson of Marwan I, led an army from

6630-594: The Umayyads or Banu Umayya were a leading clan of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca . By the end of the 6th century, the Umayyads dominated the Quraysh's increasingly prosperous trade networks with Syria and developed economic and military alliances with the nomadic Arab tribes that controlled the northern and central Arabian desert expanses, affording the clan a degree of political power in the region. The Umayyads under

6800-485: The early Muslim conquests during the reign of Caliph Umar. Al-Walid I's successor, his brother Sulayman ( r.  715–717 ), continued his predecessors' militarist policies, but expansion mostly ground to a halt during his reign. The deaths of al-Hajjaj in 714 and Qutayba in 715 left the Arab armies in Transoxiana in disarray. For the next twenty-five years, no further eastward conquests were undertaken and

6970-567: The largest empires in history in terms of area. The dynasty was toppled by the Abbasids in 750. Survivors of the dynasty established themselves in Córdoba which, in the form of an emirate and then a caliphate , became a world centre of science, medicine, philosophy and invention during the Islamic Golden Age . The Umayyad Caliphate ruled over a vast multiethnic and multicultural population. Christians, who still constituted

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7140-412: The "science of the foundations of religion" in their Arabic scientific encyclopedias. At-Tahānawī explains this equation by saying that the Kalām is the basis of the religious legal sciences and that they are based on it. Some later scholars defined the kalām science of dogmas. For Adud al-Din al-Iji (d. 1355), kalām is "the science of proving religious dogmas by citing arguments and removing doubts." In

7310-587: The 20th century. It was followed by the collapse of Umayyad authority in al-Andalus. In India , the Umayyad armies were defeated by the south Indian Chalukya dynasty and by the north Indian Pratiharas , stagnating further eastward Arab expansion. In the Caucasus , the confrontation with the Khazars peaked under Hisham: the Arabs established Derbent as a major military base and launched several invasions of

7480-632: The Ahl al-Tawhid wal-'Adl, or the "People of Divine Unity and Justice," were originally the dominant school of kalam, but by the tenth century, two madhabs—the Ash'ariyya and the Maturidiyya—rose in fierce opposition to the Mu'tazila. Each school bore the names of its founders, Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari and Abu Mansur al-Maturidi , and represented Ahl al-Sunnah (People of Prophetic ways). In the tenth and eleventh centuries,

7650-540: The Ansar and the Iraqis, while the bulk of the Quraysh was wary of his rule. The first challenge to his authority came from the Qurayshite leaders al-Zubayr and Talha, who had opposed Uthman's empowerment of the Umayyad clan but feared that their own influence and the power of the Quraysh, in general, would dissipate under Ali. Backed by one of Muhammad's wives, A'isha , they attempted to rally support against Ali among

7820-524: The Aqeedah studies "Ilmul Kalam" and the philosophers called "Al-Falsafa al-Islamiyyah" or Islamic philosophy, "Al-Ilahiyat" and "Metaphysics" (supernaturalism). About the latter names, Dr. Nasser al-Aql and many others say that it is not pure to call the Islamic Aqeedah by these names. Explaining the reason, Muhammad Ibrahim Al Hamad said, "Because the source of Ilmul Kalam is human intellect, which

7990-419: The Arab immigrants and troops who arrived during the conquest of Iraq in the 630s–640s , resented the transition of power to Syria. They remained divided, nonetheless, as both cities competed for power and influence in Iraq and its eastern dependencies and remained divided between the Arab tribal nobility and the early Muslim converts, the latter of whom were divided between the pro- Alids (loyalists of Ali) and

8160-774: The Arab tribes who originally served in the army of the Eastern Roman Empire in Syria. These were supported by tribes in the Syrian desert and in the frontier with the Byzantines, as well as Christian Syrian tribes. Soldiers were registered with the Army Ministry, the Diwan Al-Jaysh, and were salaried. The army was divided into junds based on regional fortified cities. The Umayyad Syrian forces specialised in close order infantry warfare, and favoured using

8330-420: The Arabs lost territory. The Tang Chinese defeated the Arabs at the Battle of Aksu in 717, forcing their withdrawal to Tashkent . Meanwhile, in 716, the governor of Khurasan, Yazid ibn al-Muhallab , attempted to conquer the principalities of Jurjan and Tabaristan along the southern Caspian coast. His Khurasani and Iraqi troops were reinforced by Syrians, marking their first deployment to Khurasan, but

8500-400: The Arabs' initial successes were reversed by the local Iranian coalition of Farrukhan the Great . Afterward, the Arabs withdrew in return for a tributary agreement. On the Byzantine front, Sulayman took up his predecessor's project to capture Constantinople with increased vigor. His brother Maslama besieged the Byzantine capital from the land, while Umar ibn Hubayra al-Fazari launched

8670-406: The Arabs' severe losses in the offensive against Constantinople, Umar drew down Arab forces on the caliphate's war fronts, though Narbonne in modern France was conquered during his reign. To maintain stronger oversight in the provinces, Umar dismissed all his predecessors' governors, his new appointees being generally competent men he could control. To that end, the massive viceroyalty of Iraq and

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8840-667: The Ash'arite theology as ineffective against philosophical doubts. Al-Albani , prominent figure of Salafism and modern era Hadith scholar; considered kalam doctrine as misguided in the Islamic creed due to their Ta'til methodology, which consequently divesting the Names of God in Islam . Al-Albani stated the notable example was the rejection of kalam scholars of the al-ʿAliyy (Most highest) attribute of God. Manzoor Elahi, 21th century AD Bangladeshi Salafi scholar and academic; has stated in his book "The Importance of Right Aqeedah in Reforming Society" edited by Abubakar Muhammad Zakaria says about Ilmul Kalam, The Mutaqallimin called

9010-481: The Berbers of Ifriqiya, where the Umayyad governor was assassinated by his discontented Berber guards. Warfare on the frontiers was also resumed, with renewed annual raids against the Byzantines and the Khazars in Transcaucasia . The final son of Abd al-Malik to become caliph was Hisham ( r.  724–743 ), whose long and eventful reign was above all marked by the curtailment of military expansion. Hisham established his court at Resafa in northern Syria, which

9180-434: The Byzantine Empire and raids into Syria by the Byzantines' Mardaite allies compelled him to sign a peace treaty with Byzantium in 689 which substantially increased the Umayyads' annual tribute to the Empire. During his siege of Circesium in 691, Abd al-Malik reconciled with Zufar and the Qays by offering them privileged positions in the Umayyad court and army, signaling a new policy by the caliph and his successors to balance

9350-425: The Egyptian dīwān in 705/06. Arabic ultimately became the sole official language of the Umayyad state, but the transition in faraway provinces, such as Khurasan, did not occur until the 740s. Although the official language was changed, Greek and Persian-speaking bureaucrats who were versed in Arabic kept their posts. According to Gibb, the decrees were the "first step towards the reorganization and unification of

9520-425: The Hejaz where Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr , the son of al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and grandson of Abu Bakr, advocated for a shura among the Quraysh to elect the caliph and rallied opposition to the Umayyads from his headquarters in Islam's holiest sanctuary, the Ka'aba in Mecca. The Ansar and Quraysh of Medina also took up the anti-Umayyad cause and in 683 expelled the Umayyads from the city. Yazid's Syrian troops routed

9690-400: The Indian scholar at-Tahānawī (around 1745), who worked in Iran, kalām has the task of averting doubts from religious dogmas or truths. Against the background of such definitions, the French orientalist Louis Gardet judged that the function of kalām as a defensive "apology" could not be overestimated. The view that the "fundamental character" of the Kalām consists of "defensive apology" is also

9860-533: The Islamic creed of al-Burooj Quran   85:16 chapter regarding the attribute of God's name as omnipotent (al-Jabbār) ; which contain the attribute of capability to perform any wills (yurīd). ʻUthmān views that kalam's doctrine omitted such attribute by human's logic only. Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire ( UK : / uː ˈ m aɪ j æ d / , US : / uː ˈ m aɪ æ d / ; Arabic : ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة , romanized :  al-Khilāfa al-Umawiyya )

10030-427: The Islamic dogmas [...] in such a way that it explains, proves and defends them". In Arabic , the term Kalām generally means "speech, conversation, debate." There are different theories as to why this term came to be used to describe the discipline that deals with the rational justification of one's own religious doctrines: According to Josef van Ess , the many explanations given by Arab scholars "clearly demonstrate

10200-408: The Islamic world. Later schools of Kalam like the Kullabis , Asharites and Matuiridis representing as Sunni Islam would develop systems that would defend the core orthodox creedal points of Islam completely on rational grounds, and were open to engaging in kalam in accordance to the Quran and Sunnah . This was unlike the Mutazilites , whose kalam instead prioritised reason over revelation to

10370-401: The Kalam (aṣḥāb al-kalām) in Basra : the two Muʿtazilites Amr ibn Ubayd and Wasil ibn Ata , the poet Bashshar ibn Burd , Salih ibn Abd al-Quddus and Abdul Karim bin Abi Al-Awja', and a man from the tribe of Azd who was inclined towards Sumanīya, an Indian doctrine, and who made his house available to the group for their meetings. Since Wāsil died around 748, the Kalām must have existed in

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10540-402: The Kalam, since the sole purpose of the Kalam was to silence the adversary and bring the stubborn to their knees. The great Mutakallimūn, on the other hand, drew their doctrines solely from the "lamp of prophethood". Such statements can also be found in al-Ghazali . Thus, in his work Jawahir al-Qur'an (The Jewels of the Qur'an ), he judged that the purpose of the science of kalam was "to protect

10710-536: The Kharijites, who followed their own strict interpretation of Islam. The caliph applied a decentralized approach to governing Iraq by forging alliances with its tribal nobility, such as the Kufan leader al-Ash'ath ibn Qays , and entrusting the administration of Kufa and Basra to highly experienced members of the Thaqif tribe, al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba and the latter's protege Ziyad ibn Abihi (whom Mu'awiya adopted as his half-brother), respectively. In return for recognizing his suzerainty, maintaining order, and forwarding

10880-406: The Khorasani Arabs rose sharply after the losses suffered in the Battle of the Defile in 731. In 734, al-Harith ibn Surayj led a revolt that received broad backing from Arabs and natives alike, capturing Balkh but failing to take Merv . After this defeat, al-Harith's movement seems to have been dissolved. The problem of the rights of non-Arab Muslims would continue to plague the Umayyads. Hisham

11050-542: The Maturidites flourished in Khurasan and Central Asia, while the Ash'arites posed a threat to Mu'tazila hegemony in central Iraq and Iran. Both schools use kalam to defend what we now refer to as "orthodox Islam" or traditionalist Islamic theological doctrine. Mu'tazalism would eventually fall because of this. This is noted by Western historians, who label the Mu'tazila as a heterodox theological movement and extreme rationalists. The group would continue to exist and primarily follow Shia and Ibadi . The most influential work of

11220-434: The Medinans at the Battle of al-Harra and subsequently plundered Medina before besieging Ibn al-Zubayr in Mecca . The Syrians withdrew upon news of Yazid's death in 683, after which Ibn al-Zubayr declared himself caliph and soon after gained recognition in most provinces of the caliphate, including Iraq and Egypt. In Syria Ibn Bahdal secured the succession of Yazid's son and appointed successor Mu'awiya II , whose authority

11390-450: The Middle Ages. After the Kalām science in the early modern period was essentially limited to the study of manuals and commentaries, from the late 19th century onwards various reform thinkers appeared in British India and the Ottoman Empire who called for the founding of a "new Kalām". According to several of the definitions given above, kalām has an apologetic function: it serves to defend one's own religious views. This apologetic function

11560-477: The Mobed of the Zoroastrians . The Caliph al-Ma'mun also distinguished himself by promoting the Kalam. Al-Yaʿqūbī reports that he openly professed the "People of Monotheism and Justice" (Ahl al-Tawhid wal 'Adl), that is, the Muʿtazila, attracted Mutakallimūn to his court and paid them maintenance so that their numbers increased. Each one, explains al-Yaʿqūbī, wrote books to defend his own doctrine and to refute his opponents. Al-Jahiz (d. 869), who wrote one of

11730-453: The Muslim conquests in the surrounding areas. Not long after Ziyad's death, he was succeeded by his son Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad . Meanwhile, Amr ibn al-As ruled Egypt from the provincial capital of Fustat as a virtual partner of Mu'awiya until his death in 663, after which loyalist governors were appointed and the province became a practical appendage of Syria. Under Mu'awiya's direction, the Muslim conquest of Ifriqiya (central North Africa)

11900-498: The Second Fitna, the Marwanids launched a series of centralization, Islamization and Arabization measures. To prevent further rebellions in Iraq, al-Hajjaj founded a permanent Syrian garrison in Wasit , situated between Kufa and Basra, and instituted a more rigorous administration in the province. Power thereafter derived from the Syrian troops, who became Iraq's ruling class, while Iraq's Arab nobility, religious scholars and mawālī became their virtual subjects. The surplus from

12070-453: The Umayyad Caliphate reached its greatest territorial extent. The war with the Byzantines had resumed under his father after the civil war, with the Umayyads defeating the Byzantines at the Battle of Sebastopolis in 692. The Umayyads frequently raided Byzantine Anatolia and Armenia in the following years. By 705, Armenia was annexed by the caliphate along with the principalities of Caucasian Albania and Iberia , which collectively became

12240-453: The Umayyads by awarding them command roles in the Muslim conquest of Syria . One of the appointees was Yazid , the son of Abu Sufyan, who owned property and maintained trade networks in Syria. Abu Bakr's successor Umar ( r.  634–644 ) curtailed the influence of the Qurayshite elite in favor of Muhammad's earlier supporters in the administration and military, but nonetheless allowed

12410-569: The Umayyads to pay the Empire an annual tribute of gold, horses and slaves. Mu'awiya's main challenge was reestablishing the unity of the Muslim community and asserting his authority and that of the caliphate in the provinces amid the political and social disintegration of the First Fitna. There remained significant opposition to his assumption of the caliphate and to a strong central government. The garrison towns of Kufa and Basra, populated by

12580-470: The agriculturally rich Sawad lands was redirected from the muqātila to the caliphal treasury in Damascus to pay the Syrian troops in Iraq. The system of military pay established by Umar, which paid stipends to veterans of the earlier Muslim conquests and their descendants, was ended, salaries being restricted to those in active service. The old system was considered a handicap on Abd al-Malik's executive authority and financial ability to reward loyalists in

12750-458: The allegiance of the Iraqis. The recognition of Mu'awiya in Kufa, referred to as the "year of unification of the community" in the Muslim traditional sources, is generally considered the start of his caliphate. With his accession, the political capital and the caliphal treasury were transferred to Damascus , the seat of Mu'awiya's power. Syria's emergence as the metropolis of the Umayyad Caliphate

12920-483: The army. Thus, a professional army was established during Abd al-Malik's reign whose salaries derived from tax proceeds. In 693, the Byzantine gold solidus was replaced in Syria and Egypt with the dinar . Initially, the new coinage contained depictions of the caliph as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community and its supreme military commander. This image proved no less acceptable to Muslim officialdom and

13090-523: The beliefs of the masses from disruption by innovators". On the other hand, this science was never about "revealing the truths". Several Muslim authors defined kalām by its relationship to the "fundamentals of religion" (Uṣūl al-Dīn). For example, Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (d. 1023) described the science of kalām as "a way of contemplating the fundamentals of religion in which deliberation is based on reason alone." Abu al-Yusr al-Bazdawi (d. 1099) defined it as "the explanation of those questions which constitute

13260-540: The cathedral of St. John the Baptist and founded the Great Mosque in its place as a "symbol of the political supremacy and moral prestige of Islam", according to historian Nikita Elisséeff. Noting al-Walid's awareness of architecture's propaganda value, historian Robert Hillenbrand calls the Damascus mosque a "victory monument" intended as a "visible statement of Muslim supremacy and permanence". Under al-Walid I

13430-742: The city who were carrying heavy loads on their heads or backs and at the same time arguing about the interpretation of the Quran and questions of the Kalam. During the course of the 10th century, the Kalam also spread more widely to the eastern regions of the Islamic Empire. One of the early Kalam scholars representing the Mu'tazila in Khorasan was Abū al-Qāsim al-Balkhī (d. 931). Other Kalam scholars such as Al-Qadi Abd al-Jabbar (d. 1024) settled in Rayy . In

13600-774: The death of Mu'awiya II. Al-Dahhak in Damascus, the Qays tribes in Qinnasrin (northern Syria) and the Jazira, the Judham in Palestine, and the Ansar and South Arabians of Homs all opted to recognize Ibn al-Zubayr. Marwan ibn al-Hakam, the leader of the Umayyads expelled to Syria from Medina, was prepared to submit to Ibn al-Zubayr as well but was persuaded to forward his candidacy for the caliphate by Ibn Ziyad. The latter had been driven out of Iraq and strove to uphold Umayyad rule. During

13770-477: The declared leitmotif of the French handbook Introduction à la théologie musulmane , co-authored by Gardet and M.M Anawati in 1948. The Indian scholar ʿAbd an-Nabī al-Ahmadnagarī (d. 1759) even believed that the value of the Kalam was limited to this apologetic function alone. The great Mutakallimūn, he explains in his encyclopedia Dustūr al-ʿulamā, never justified or authenticated their doctrines with arguments from

13940-416: The development of Arabic terminology itself". Louis Gardet and M.-M. Anawati considered the first possibility of derivation mentioned by Ibn at-Tilimsānī to be the most likely and suspected that kalām initially meant "speech about..." and then, through antonomasia, became "discourse" per se (about the things of God). W. Montgomery Watt took a similar path of explanation to Ibn Taymiyyah when he wrote about

14110-566: The diverse tax-systems in the provinces, and also a step towards a more definitely Muslim administration". Indeed, it formed an important part of the Islamization measures that lent the Umayyad Caliphate "a more ideological and programmatic coloring it had previously lacked", according to Blankinship. In 691/92, Abd al-Malik completed the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. It was possibly intended as

14280-656: The early 10th century, the Kalam was essentially limited to Iraq and Greater Khorasan . A very important center of the Kalam culture was the Muʿtazilite stronghold of ʿAskar Mukram in Khuzistan , the place of work of Al-Jubba'i and his son Abu Hashim al-Jubba'i . The geographer Ibn Hauqal (d. 977) reports that members of the common people also practiced the Kalam method here and achieved such mastery that they could compete with scholars from other cities. Ibn Hawqal reprots in his book Surat Al-Ard that he saw two porters in

14450-491: The east was broken up. Umar's most significant policy entailed fiscal reforms to equalize the status of the Arabs and mawali , thus remedying a long-standing issue which threatened the Muslim community. The jizya (poll tax) on the mawali was eliminated. Hitherto, the jizya, which was traditionally reserved for the non-Muslim majorities of the caliphate, continued to be imposed on non-Arab converts to Islam, while all Muslims who cultivated conquered lands were liable to pay

14620-707: The east, where his armies attempted to subdue both Tokharistan , with its centre at Balkh , and Transoxiana , with its centre at Samarkand . Both areas had already been partially conquered but remained difficult to govern. Once again, a particular difficulty concerned the question of the conversion of non-Arabs, especially the Sogdians of Transoxiana. Following the Umayyad defeat in the " Day of Thirst " in 724, Ashras ibn 'Abd Allah al-Sulami, governor of Khurasan , promised tax relief to those Sogdians who converted to Islam but went back on his offer when it proved too popular and threatened to reduce tax revenues. Discontent among

14790-522: The end of the Second Fitna and the reunification of the caliphate under Abd al-Malik's rule. Iraq remained politically unstable and the garrisons of Kufa and Basra had become exhausted by warfare with Kharijite rebels. In 694 Abd al-Malik combined both cities as a single province under the governorship of al-Hajjaj, who oversaw the suppression of the Kharijite revolts in Iraq and Iran by 698 and

14960-563: The family, their burgeoning alliance with the powerful Banu Kalb tribe as a counterbalance to the influential Himyarite settlers in Homs who viewed themselves as equals to the Quraysh in nobility, or the lack of a suitable candidate at the time, particularly amid the plague of Amwas which had already killed Abu Ubayda and Yazid. Under Mu'awiya's stewardship, Syria remained domestically peaceful, organized and well-defended from its former Byzantine rulers. Umar's successor, Uthman ibn Affan ,

15130-475: The feud between Syria and Iraq further weakened the empire. The first four caliphs created a stable administration for the empire, following the practices and administrative institutions of the Byzantine Empire which had ruled the same region previously. These consisted of four main governmental branches: political affairs, military affairs, tax collection, and religious administration. Each of these

15300-426: The first treatises on the kalam, praised the art of the kalam as a "precious jewel" (juhar tamīn), as "the treasure that never perishes" (al-kanz allaḏī lā yafnā wa-lā yablā) and as the "companion who does not bore and does not deceive". It is the standard for every other art, the rein for every expression, the scales with which one can clarify the lack or excess of every thing, and the filter with which one can recognize

15470-410: The former Byzantine territories of Syria and Egypt. In Medina, he relied extensively on the counsel of his Umayyad cousins, the brothers al-Harith and Marwan ibn al-Hakam . According to the historian Wilferd Madelung , this policy stemmed from Uthman's "conviction that the house of Umayya, as the core clan of Quraysh, was uniquely qualified to rule in the name of Islam". Uthman's nepotism provoked

15640-399: The former Qurayshite elite and take control of the Muslim state. The Muhajirun gave allegiance to one of their own, the early, elderly companion of Muhammad , Abu Bakr ( r.  632–634 ), and put an end to Ansarite deliberations. Abu Bakr was viewed as acceptable by the Ansar and the Qurayshite elite and was acknowledged as caliph (leader of the Muslim community). He showed favor to

15810-480: The fundamentals of religion, which it is an individual duty to learn." Ibn al-Athir (d. 1233) in his book al-Lubāb fī Tahḏīb al-Ansāb was the first to define kalām science as "the science of the foundations of religion" (ʿilm Uṣūl al-Dīn). Ibn Khallikan (d. 1282) and Siraj al-Din Urmavi (d. 1283) even equated kalām science with the foundations of religion itself. The equation of ʿilm al-kalām and ʿilm uṣūl al-dīn

15980-432: The growing foothold of Abu Sufyan's sons in Syria, which was all but conquered by 638. When Umar's overall commander of the province Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah died in 639, he appointed Yazid governor of Syria's Damascus , Palestine and Jordan districts. Yazid died shortly after and Umar appointed his brother Mu'awiya in his place. Umar's exceptional treatment of Abu Sufyan's sons may have stemmed from his respect for

16150-466: The hands of the Quraysh, as opposed to Ali's determination to diffuse power among all of the Muslim factions. From early in his reign, Uthman displayed explicit favouritism to his kinsmen, in stark contrast to his predecessors. He appointed his family members as governors over the regions successively conquered under Umar and himself, namely much of the Sasanian Empire , i.e. Iraq and Iran, and

16320-511: The historian Hugh N. Kennedy , Uthman was killed because of his determination to centralize control over the caliphate 's government by the traditional elite of the Quraysh, particularly his Umayyad clan, which he believed possessed the "experience and ability" to govern, at the expense of the interests, rights and privileges of many early Muslims. After Uthman's assassination, Ali was recognized as caliph in Medina, though his support stemmed from

16490-513: The house of Muhammad ibn Ali, the head of the Abbasid family, and before dying named Muhammad ibn Ali as his successor. This tradition allowed the Abbasids to rally the supporters of the failed revolt of Mukhtar , who had represented themselves as the supporters of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya. Beginning around 719, Hashimiyya missions began to seek adherents in Khurasan. Their campaign was framed as one of proselytism ( dawah ). They sought support for

16660-566: The important aspect of literal meanings, while it kept al-Ghazali busy with irrelevant semantic argumentations. Al-Shawkani , a 18th AD Atharism, Zahiri scholar, early Salafi movement figure, and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab contemporary; has expressed his view for literal theological interpretation and opposition to kalam (speculative theology) Siddiq Hasan Khan , 19th AD North Indian Salafi scholar, co-founder of Ahl-i Hadith movement, and also Nawab (viceroy) of Bhopal State ; has rejected kalam as he regards it as "full of speculations". It

16830-508: The innquisition against the Sunnis be released. According to Al-Shahrastani , the golden age of the science of kalam began with the caliphs Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809), al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833), al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842), al-Wathiq (r. 842–847) and al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861) and ended in the time of Sahib ibn Abbad , who served as vizier of the Buyids of Ray from 979 to 995. One of

17000-539: The interests of the Qays and Yaman in the Umayyad state. With his unified army, Abd al-Malik marched against the Zubayrids of Iraq, having already secretly secured the defection of the province's leading tribal chiefs, and defeated Iraq's ruler, Ibn al-Zubayr's brother Mus'ab , at the Battle of Maskin in 691. Afterward, the Umayyad commander al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf besieged Mecca and killed Ibn al-Zubayr in 692, marking

17170-540: The ire of the Ansar and the members of the shura . In 645/46, he added the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) to Mu'awiya's Syrian governorship and granted the latter's request to take possession of all Byzantine crown lands in Syria to help pay his troops. He had the surplus taxes from the wealthy provinces of Kufa and Egypt forwarded to the treasury in Medina, which he used at his personal disposal, frequently disbursing its funds and war booty to his Umayyad relatives. Moreover,

17340-641: The late 10th century, the two renowned Ash'ari Kalam scholars, Ibn Furak and Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini (d. 1027) having studied in Baghdad arrived to teach in Khurasan at this time. Some of the prominent Shafi'i families in Nishapur took up the cause of Ash'arism and it became well-established in the city, which developed into the main hub of Shafi'ite learning in the East. Ash'arism swiftly proliferated throughout Iran's other Shafi'ite communities. It developed into

17510-408: The late Umayyad period if this report is authentic. In two narrations cited by Abdullah Ansari (d. 1089), Amr ibn Ubayd is identified as the one who "invented these innovations of kalām". Abu Hanifa is said to have cursed ʿAmr ibn ʿUbaid for "opening the way for people to speak (kalām) about what it is not their business to speak about." Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328), on the other hand, believed that

17680-596: The latter's ally Amr ibn al-As ousted Ali's governor from Egypt in July 658. In July 660 Mu'awiya was formally recognized as caliph in Jerusalem by his Syrian tribal allies. Ali was assassinated by a Kharijite dissident in January 661. His son Hasan succeeded him but abdicated in return for compensation upon Mu'awiya's arrival to Iraq with his Syrian army in the summer. At that point, Mu'awiya entered Kufa and received

17850-477: The leadership of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb were the principal leaders of Meccan opposition to the Islamic prophet Muhammad , but after the latter captured Mecca in 630, Abu Sufyan and the Quraysh embraced Islam. To reconcile his influential Qurayshite tribesmen, Muhammad gave his former opponents, including Abu Sufyan, a stake in the new order. Abu Sufyan and the Umayyads relocated to Medina , Islam's political centre, to maintain their new-found political influence in

18020-516: The local government workers in conquered provinces to keep their jobs under the new Umayyad government. Thus, much of the local government's work was recorded in Greek , Coptic , and Persian . It was only during the reign of Abd al-Malik that government work began to be regularly recorded in Arabic. The Umayyad army was mainly Arab, with its core consisting of those who had settled in urban Syria and

18190-453: The lucrative Sasanian crown lands of Iraq, which Umar had designated as communal property for the benefit of the Arab garrison towns of Kufa and Basra , were turned into caliphal crown lands to be used at Uthman's discretion. Mounting resentment against Uthman's rule in Iraq and Egypt and among the Ansar and Quraysh of Medina culminated in the killing of the caliph in 656. In the assessment of

18360-581: The mainstream Shafi'ite ideology in the Islamic world during the Seljuk era . In the Maghreb and al-Andalus, on the other hand, the Kalam was not yet a topic of discussion until the early 11th century. Al-Baqillani a Maliki jurist contributed to the propagation of Ash'arism within the Maliki circles in North Africa. One of his students, Abu Dharr al-Harawi was the first to introduce the Ash'ari doctrine to

18530-674: The masses from studying it and that only the most able do so. Despite the dominance of kalam as an intellectual tradition within Islam, some scholars were critical of its use. For example, Hanbali school and followers of Ahmed Ibn Hanbal would generally avoid kalam and philosophical talk all together, seeing it as an innovation . The same sentiments is also found within the Zahiri school.; The modern Wahhabi and Salafi movements generally consider kalam to be an innovation and reject its usage. The Hanbali Sufi , Khwaja Abdullah Ansari wrote

18700-442: The masses or common people. The early Muslim scholar al-Shafi'i held that there should be a certain number of men trained in kalam to defend and purify the faith, but that it would be a great evil if their arguments should become known to the mass of the people. Similarly, the Islamic scholar al-Ghazali held the view that the science of kalam is not a personal duty on Muslims but a collective duty. Like al-Shafi'i, he discouraged

18870-421: The masses. As he formulate the revolutionary system on his states building, Khomeini's political thoughts was closely linked with kalam discourse. Including: Although seeking knowledge in Islam is considered a religious obligation, the study of kalam is considered by Muslim scholars to fall beyond the category of necessity and is usually the preserve of qualified scholars, eliciting limited interest from

19040-457: The military of the Byzantine Empire and their Ghassanid client kings, were "more accustomed to order and obedience" than their Iraqi counterparts, according to the historian Julius Wellhausen . Mu'awiya relied on the powerful Kalbite chief Ibn Bahdal and the Kindite nobleman Shurahbil ibn Simt alongside the Qurayshite commanders al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri and Abd al-Rahman , the son of

19210-557: The monetary reforms c.  700 . In addition to this, the Umayyad government began to mint its own coins in Damascus, which were initially similar to pre-existing coins but evolved in an independent direction. These were the first coins minted by a Muslim government in history. Ta%C5%9Fk%C3%B6pr%C3%BCzade Taşköprüzade or Taşköprülüzade Ahmet ( Arabic : طاشكبري أحمد ), pseudonym of Aḥmad ibn Muṣṭafá ibn Khalīl Ṭāshkubrīʹzādah ( Arabic : أحمد بن مصطفى بن خليل طاشكبري ; Bursa , 3 December 1495 – Istanbul , 16 April 1561),

19380-467: The months following the battle, the inter-tribal strife undermined the foundation of Umayyad power: the Syrian army. In 685, Marwan and Ibn Bahdal expelled the Zubayrid governor of Egypt and replaced him with Marwan's son Abd al-Aziz , who would rule the province until his death in 704/05. Another son, Muhammad , was appointed to suppress Zufar's rebellion in the Jazira. Marwan died in April 685 and

19550-536: The most important promoters of kalam discussions in the early Abbasid period was the Barmakid Yahya ibn Khalid , who served as vizier under Harun al-Rashid . Al-Yaʿqūbī (d. after 905) reports that he loved kalam and discussion (Naẓar), and that in his days the mutakallimūn became numerous and they debated with each other and wrote books. Al-Yaʿqūbī cites Hisham ibn al-Hakam and Dirar ibn Amr (d. 815) as examples of mutakallimīn of this period. According to

19720-535: The nascent Muslim community. Muhammad's death in 632 left open the succession of leadership of the Muslim community. Leaders of the Ansar , the natives of Medina who had provided Muhammad safe haven after his emigration from Mecca in 622, discussed forwarding their own candidate out of concern that the Muhajirun , Muhammad's early followers and fellow emigrants from Mecca, would ally with their fellow tribesmen from

19890-523: The northern Caucasus, but failed to subdue the nomadic Khazars. The conflict was arduous and bloody, and the Arab army even suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Marj Ardabil in 730. Marwan ibn Muhammad, the future Marwan II, finally ended the war in 737 with a massive invasion that is reported to have reached as far as the Volga , but the Khazars remained unsubdued. Hisham suffered still worse defeats in

20060-624: The northern frontier and entered Damascus in December 744, where he was proclaimed caliph. Marwan immediately moved the capital north to Harran , in present-day Turkey . A rebellion soon broke out in Syria, perhaps due to resentment over the relocation of the capital, and in 746 Marwan razed the walls of Homs and Damascus in retaliation. Marwan also faced significant opposition from Kharijites in Iraq and Iran, who put forth first Dahhak ibn Qays and then Abu Dulaf as rival caliphs. In 747, Marwan managed to reestablish control of Iraq, but by this time

20230-524: The office of the caliph into a kingship. The act was met with disapproval or opposition by the Iraqis and the Hejaz-based Quraysh, including the Umayyads, but most were bribed or coerced into acceptance. Yazid acceded after Mu'awiya's death in 680 and almost immediately faced a challenge to his rule by the Kufan partisans of Ali who had invited Ali's son and Muhammad's grandson Husayn to stage

20400-486: The one hand and "divine justice" on the other (some asserting that to be punished for what is beyond someone's control is unjust). Also Kalam sought to make "a systematic attempt to bring the conflict in data of revelation (in the Quran and the Traditions ) into some internal harmony". Other factors that might have led the establishment of kalam was an effort by some Islamic scholars to oppose the thoughs of Zandaqa in

20570-535: The people. Indeed, I love to speak with the Shia ." The fact that the verb kallama is used here for "to speak with", from which the word kalām is derived, is seen by Josef van Ess as an indication that the specifically theological meaning of the kalām concept may have already developed at this time. According to a report quoted in the Kitab al-Aghani by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani (d. 967), there were six representatives of

20740-465: The perplexity of native philologists and theologians when faced with the term kalām ". As for Western scholarship, Tjitze de Boer and Duncan Black MacDonald suggested that the term kalām was derived from the Greek word logos. Arent Jan Wensinck , on the other hand, rejected the view that the term kalām could have anything to do with logos or its derivatives in 1932, and argued that it had arisen "through

20910-418: The point where the Quran and hadith would only be accepted if it aligned with their interpretation of rationalism. The Hanbali school and followers of Ahmed Ibn Hanbal would generally avoid kalam and philosophical talk all together, seeing it as an innovation, and only address it out of necessity. However, Ahmad ibn Hanbal also provided an episode of long feud of Mu'tazila Quran creationism doctrine opposed by

21080-685: The post-classical Kalām was the Kitāb al-Mawāqif by the Iranian Shafi'i theologian Adud al-Din al-Iji (d. 1355). It received a total of five commentaries and 32 supercommentaries and became part of the Dars al-Nizāmī curriculum in the South Asian madrasas . The book also played an important role in Ottoman schools . The Ottoman scholar Sāčaqlızāde recommended it to scholars in the Kalām section of his encyclopedia Tartīb al-ʿulūm , together with

21250-474: The prominent general Khalid ibn al-Walid , to guarantee the loyalty of the key military components of Syria. Mu'awiya preoccupied his core Syrian troops in nearly annual or bi-annual land and sea raids against Byzantium, which provided them with battlefield experience and war spoils, but secured no permanent territorial gains. Toward the end of his reign the caliph entered a thirty-year truce with Byzantine emperor Constantine IV ( r.  668–685 ), obliging

21420-468: The province of Arminiya . In 695–698 the commander Hassan ibn al-Nu'man al-Ghassani restored Umayyad control over Ifriqiya after defeating the Byzantines and Berbers there. Carthage was captured and destroyed in 698, signaling "the final, irretrievable end of Roman power in Africa ", according to Kennedy. Kairouan was firmly secured as a launchpad for later conquests, while the port town of Tunis

21590-415: The purity or impurity of every thing. All scholars depend on it, and it is the tool and model for every acquisition. What could be more important than something without which one cannot prove the glory of God or prophethood, and without which one cannot distinguish the true argument from the false argument and the proof from the false proof. The kalam makes it possible to distinguish the community (jama'a) from

21760-603: The real "masters of the Kalām". Later, two important Sunni Kalām schools emerged: the Ashʿariyya and the Maturidiyya . They positioned the Kalām particularly against the growing Neoplatonic and Aristotelian philosophy and elevated the "Kalām science" (ʿilm al-kalām) to the highest ranking science in Islam. Some of the arguments of the Mutakallimūn also found their way into Jewish and Christian theological discussions in

21930-402: The reason for the decline of the Umayyads was the rapid expansion of Islam. During the Umayyad period, mass conversions brought Persians, Berbers, Copts, and Aramaic to Islam. These mawalis (clients) were often better educated and more civilised than their Arab overlords. The new converts, on the basis of equality of all Muslims, transformed the political landscape. Previté-Orton also argues that

22100-403: The rejection that their discipline experiences in society, and for even being willing to accept the sacrifice of poverty and lack of career opportunities as a Qadi . In another writing, al-Jahiz stated that without the Kalam, there would be no religion for God and no one would be distinguished from the heretics . There would be no difference between falsehood and truth and no separation between

22270-421: The remainder each year being sent to the central government in Damascus. As the central power of the Umayyad rulers waned in the later years of the dynasty, some governors neglected to send the extra tax revenue to Damascus and created great personal fortunes. As the empire grew, the number of qualified Arab workers was too small to keep up with the rapid expansion of the empire. Therefore, Muawiya allowed many of

22440-625: The said matter about the nature of Quran. The Hanbali scholars and followers of Ahmad ibn Hanbal rarely mention about kalam in their teaching, as they consider it as bid'ah (heresy). After the longtime persecution of Mihna towards the Ahl a-Hadith since the time of his great-grandfather, caliph al-Mutawakkil changed the caliphate policy by restoring them to favor, while abandoning Mu'tazilites led by Ahmad ibn Abi Du'ad. The caliph also attempted to reconcile with Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and finally, in March 852, he ordered that all prisoners held on account of

22610-471: The scripturalists (Atharism) doctrine that Quran as shifat (attribution) of God which championed by Ahmad ibn Hanbal , the founder of Hanbali school . Ibn Battah has recorded in his work, Al-Ibāna , that Ahmad ibn Hanbal has instructed his students of total academic boycott against the scholars of kalam. Furthermore, Ahmad ibn Hanbal also recorded engaged in long debates against the leading Mu'tazilite and qadi of caliphate, Ahmad ibn Abi Du'ad regarding

22780-491: The sect (firqa) and the Sunnah from the Bid'ah . Al-Jahiz also compares the kalam to a border fortress, the defence of which requires great personal commitment. It is like a border fortress because all people are hostile towards its followers. Whoever gives this science its due can expect a corresponding reward. [ 85 ] Al-Jāhiz praises the Mutakallimūn for remaining loyal to their discipline out of conviction of its high value, despite

22950-431: The seventh chapter of his book, Mi'yar Al-'Ilm , Ibn Taymiyyah wrote that although he recognized that al-Ghazali's intention are not inherently bad in his attempt to describe the limit of human's mind in metaphysical and esoterical concepts, as it was aimed to oppose the core idea of kalam scholars that everything must be grasped by logic; although he still held that such discourse are moot as it only distract al-Ghazali from

23120-523: The special type of argumentation that characterizes the Kalam first appeared at the beginning of the second Islamic century with Jaʿd ibn Dirham (d. 724) and Jahm bin Safwan (d. 746). From them it then reached Amr ibn Ubayd and Wasil ibn Ata . According to the Ottoman scholar Taşköprüzade (d. 1561), the spread of the Kalam began as early as the year 100 of the Hijra (= 718/19 AD) through the Muʿtazila and

23290-533: The succession resulted in the Second Fitna , and power eventually fell to Marwan I , from another branch of the clan. Syria remained the Umayyads' main power base thereafter, with Damascus as their capital. The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests , conquering Ifriqiya , Transoxiana , Sind , the Maghreb and Hispania ( al-Andalus ). At its greatest extent, the Umayyad Caliphate covered 11,100,000 km (4,300,000 sq mi), making it one of

23460-429: The support of the Kufan elite. The caliph's Syrian army defeated the rebels and pursued and nearly eliminated the influential Muhallabids , marking the suppression of the last major Iraqi revolt against the Umayyads. Yazid II reversed Umar II's equalization reforms, reimposing the jizya on the mawali , which sparked revolts in Khurasan in 721 or 722 that persisted for some twenty years and met strong resistance among

23630-412: The term mutakalli : "Undoubtedly this was once a derisive name, perhaps creating the image of people 'who talk forever.' Eventually, however, it became accepted as a neutral term." In fact, the origins of the kalām are obscure. This is also due to the fact that the specifically theological meaning of the words kalām and mutakallim was very slow to gain acceptance. Mutakallim initially only referred to

23800-506: The term originally arose in Abū Muslim's army and referred to political and religious propagandists such as the Dawah . However, there are reports that indicate that the culture of kalām existed before this. The Arab historian Abu Zakariya al-Azdi (d. 945) cites a report according to which the Umayyad caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (r. 717–720) is said to have said: "I have argued and spoken with

23970-473: The times of the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258 CE), the discipline of Kalām arose in an "attempt to grapple" with several "complex problems" early in the history of Islam , according to historian Majid Fakhry. One was how to rebut arguments "leveled at Islam by pagans, Christians and Jews". Another was how to deal with (what some saw as the conflict between) the predestination of sinners to hell on

24140-492: The tombs of the Umayyads in Syria, sparing only that of Umar II , and most of the remaining members of the Umayyad family were tracked down and killed. When Abbasids declared amnesty for members of the Umayyad family, eighty gathered to receive pardons, and all were massacred. One grandson of Hisham, Abd al-Rahman I , survived, escaped across North Africa, and established an emirate in Moorish Iberia ( Al-Andalus ). In

24310-522: The troops of Basra, prompting the caliph to leave for Iraq's other garrison town, Kufa, where he could better confront his challengers. Ali defeated them at the Battle of the Camel , in which al-Zubayr and Talha were slain and A'isha consequently entered self-imposed seclusion. Ali's sovereignty was thereafter recognized in Basra and Egypt and he established Kufa as the caliphate's new capital. Although Ali

24480-547: The two forces met in the Battle of the Zab , and the Umayyads were defeated. Damascus fell to the Abbasids in April, and in August, Marwan was killed in Egypt. Some Umayyads in Syria continued to resist the takeover. The Umayyad princes Abu Muhammad al-Sufyani , al-Abbas ibn Muhammad, and Hashim ibn Yazid launched revolts in Syria and the Islamic–Byzantine frontier around late 750, but they were defeated. The victors desecrated

24650-432: The worst of all heresies. He characterized their scholars, the mutakallimūn , as innovators and heretics who had betrayed and deviated from the simple and pious faith of the early Muslims. Al-Dhahabi, 14th AD Hanbali scholar and historian; has made his derogatory statement towards kalam scholar by comparing them with Abu Jahl , the reviled figure in Islam during the time of Muhammad. Ibn Taymiyya, 14th AD Hanbali scholar;

24820-440: The ʿAqāʾid of ʿAdud al-Dīn al-Īji (d. 1355). Mulla Sadra, 17th AD Twelver Shia philosopher and mystic; has felt that he owed to the greek philosophy, for the development of kalam as Islamic discourse. Modern philosopher Federico Campagna has suspected the similarity between the unique cosmological kalam philosophy taught by Mulla Sadra with Hindu Vedic Upanishads philosophy. In retrospect, Muhammad Kamal from Islamic studies at

24990-475: Was a wealthy Umayyad and early Muslim convert with marital ties to Muhammad. He was elected by the shura council, composed of Muhammad's cousin Ali , al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam , Talha ibn Ubayd Allah , Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas and Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf , all of whom were close, early companions of Muhammad and belonged to the Quraysh. He was chosen over Ali because he would ensure the concentration of state power into

25160-421: Was able to replace Uthman's governors in Egypt and Iraq with relative ease, Mu'awiya had developed a solid power-base and an effective military against the Byzantines from the Arab tribes of Syria. Mu'awiya did not claim the caliphate but was determined to retain control of Syria and opposed Ali in the name of avenging his kinsman Uthman, accusing the caliph of culpability in his death. Ali and Mu'awiya fought to

25330-632: Was an Ottoman Turkish historian and chronicler living during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent , who was famous for his great biographical encyclopedia titled Al-Shaqāʾiq al-Nuʿmāniyya fī ʿUlamāʾ al-Dawla al-ʿUthmāniyya ( Arabic : الشقائق النعمانية في علماء الدولة العثمانية , lit.   'The Anemones , on the Scholars of the Ottoman Era';). The family was known as Taşköprülüler because Ahmet's grandfather had been

25500-549: Was carried out under the sign of the black flag . He soon established control of Khurasan, expelling its Umayyad governor, Nasr ibn Sayyar , and dispatched an army westwards. Kufa fell to the Hashimiyya in 749, the last Umayyad stronghold in Iraq, Wasit , was placed under siege , and in November of the same year Abul Abbas as-Saffah was recognized as the new caliph in the mosque at Kufa. At this point Marwan mobilized his troops from Harran and advanced toward Iraq. In January 750

25670-415: Was closer to the Byzantine border than Damascus, and resumed hostilities against the Byzantines, which had lapsed following the failure of the last siege of Constantinople. The new campaigns resulted in a number of successful raids into Anatolia , but also in a major defeat (the Battle of Akroinon ), and did not lead to any significant territorial expansion. From the caliphate's north-western African bases,

25840-560: Was constantly busy reading, copying and teaching Kalam books. The Kalām was also promoted among the Volga-Ural Tatars in Russia . At the end of the 18th century, it became an integral part of madrasa scholarship in villages and small towns, even if it was limited to commentaries and glosses. However, the early modern period was a phase of "frozen conservatism" for Kalām science, as Louis Gardet writes. Muslim scholars also diagnosed

26010-465: Was effectively abandoned, and the frontier between the two empires stabilized along the line of the Taurus and Anti-Taurus Mountains , over which both sides continued to launch regular raids and counter-raids during the next centuries. Contrary to expectations of a son or brother succeeding him, Sulayman had nominated his cousin, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz , as his successor and he took office in 717. After

26180-477: Was flourishing since the time of the theologian-philosopher Ibn Hazm (d. 1064). The theologian Abu Bakr al-Baqillani's works were widely circulated in the region, which helped fostered the growth of Ash'arite theology and sparked debates. Eventually, Mu'tazilite beliefs in the region were subdued. Shortly after, the Ash'ari theology became the mainstream doctrine of the Maliki school. The Mu'tazila , also known as

26350-567: Was founded and equipped with an arsenal on Abd al-Malik's orders to establish a strong Arab fleet. Hassan ibn al-Nu'man continued the campaign against the Berbers, defeating them and killing their leader, the warrior queen al-Kahina , between 698 and 703. His successor in Ifriqiya, Musa ibn Nusayr , subjugated the Berbers of the Hawwara , Zenata and Kutama confederations and advanced into

26520-446: Was further subdivided into more branches, offices, and departments. Geographically, the empire was divided into several provinces, the borders of which changed numerous times during the Umayyad reign. Each province had a governor appointed by the caliph. The governor was in charge of the religious officials, army leaders, police, and civil administrators in his province. Local expenses were paid for by taxes coming from that province, with

26690-621: Was launched by the commander Uqba ibn Nafi in 670, which extended Umayyad control as far as Byzacena (modern southern Tunisia), where Uqba founded the permanent Arab garrison city of Kairouan . In contrast to Uthman, Mu'awiya restricted the influence of his Umayyad kinsmen to the governorship of Medina, where the dispossessed Islamic elite, including the Umayyads, was suspicious or hostile toward his rule. However, in an unprecedented move in Islamic politics, Mu'awiya nominated his own son, Yazid I , as his successor in 676, introducing hereditary rule to caliphal succession and, in practice, turning

26860-425: Was likely restricted to Damascus and Syria's southern districts. Mu'awiya II had been ill from the beginning of his accession, with al-Dahhak assuming the practical duties of his office, and he died in early 684 without naming a successor. His death marked the end of the Umayyads' Sufyanid ruling house, called after Mu'awiya I's father Abu Sufyan. Umayyad authority nearly collapsed in their Syrian stronghold after

27030-650: Was notable for his bold stance against the doctrines of Mutakallimin in his works such as ar-Radd 'ala al-mantiqiyyın (Refutation of the Rationalists), and bayan muwafaqat al-'aql al-sarih li al-Naql as-Sahiha . Ibn Taymiyya even further criticize Ash'arite rationalists such as al-Ghazali, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi , and al-Shahrastani for their method in discourses by abandoning the scripturalism way. In general, Ibn Taymiyya has detailed his criticism in Ar-Radd 'ala al-Mantiqiyyin . Regarding al-Ghazali in particular, Through

27200-403: Was replaced in 696 or 697 with image-less coinage inscribed with Qur'anic quotes and other Muslim religious formulas. In 698/99, similar changes were made to the silver dirhams issued by the Muslims in the former Sasanian Persian lands of the eastern caliphate. Arabic replaced Persian as the language of the dīwān in Iraq in 697, Greek in the Syrian dīwān in 700, and Greek and Coptic in

27370-409: Was secured over the rest of conquered Transoxiana through tributary alliances with local rulers, whose power remained intact. From 708/09, al-Hajjaj's kinsman Muhammad ibn al-Qasim conquered northwestern South Asia and established out of this new territory the province of Sind . The massive war spoils netted by the conquests of Transoxiana, Sind and Hispania were comparable to the amounts accrued in

27540-410: Was slain. Not long after, the South Arabians of Homs and the Judham joined the Quda'a to form the tribal confederation of Yaman . Marj Rahit led to the long-running conflict between the Qays and Yaman coalitions. The Qays regrouped in the Euphrates river fortress of Circesium under Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi and moved to avenge their losses. Although Marwan regained full control of Syria in

27710-418: Was stated by himself that his opposition towards kalam were influenced by the thoughts of Al-Shawkani, Al-San'ani and Ibn Taymiyya. Rashid Rida , 19th century AD reformer of Islamics school; in his later years of life has perceived the Athari theology as more rational than Kalam and actively condemning Kalam, as he view the Athari methodology had stronger religious foundations of Islam. Furthermore, he also saw

27880-491: Was subsequently given authority over the rest of the eastern caliphate. Resentment among the Iraqi troops towards al-Hajjaj's methods of governance, particularly his death threats to force participation in the war efforts and his reductions to their stipends, culminated with a mass Iraqi rebellion against the Umayyads in c.  700 . The leader of the rebels was the Kufan nobleman Ibn al-Ash'ath , grandson of al-Ash'ath ibn Qays. Al-Hajjaj defeated Ibn al-Ash'ath's rebels at

28050-447: Was succeeded by Al-Walid II (743–44), the son of Yazid II. Al-Walid is reported to have been more interested in earthly pleasures than in religion, a reputation that may be confirmed by the decoration of the so-called "desert palaces" (including Qusayr Amra and Khirbat al-Mafjar ) that have been attributed to him. He quickly attracted the enmity of many, both by executing a number of those who had opposed his accession and by persecuting

28220-452: Was succeeded by his eldest son Abd al-Malik . Although Ibn Ziyad attempted to restore the Syrian army of the Sufyanid caliphs, persistent divisions along Qays–Yaman lines contributed to the army's massive rout and Ibn Ziyad's death at the hands of the pro-Alid forces of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi of Kufa at the Battle of Khazir in August 686. The setback delayed Abd al-Malik's attempts to reestablish Umayyad authority in Iraq, while pressures from

28390-420: Was sufficient to study what the Sunni imams had written to defend themselves against them. However, the science of Kalam experienced a revival in the 17th and 18th centuries in what is now Mauritania . A particularly zealous follower of the Kalam was the Ash'arite scholar Muhammad ibn 'Umar al-Bartallī (d. 1696) in Walatah . A West African biography collection reports that he was one of the famous Mutakallimūn and

28560-432: Was the first ruler to commission Mutakallimūn representing Islam to write books against Mulhid from the circle of the Manichaeans , Bardesanites and Marcionites and to refute their arguments. The reason for this was that at that time writings of these groups had spread and were being translated from New Persian and Middle Persian into Arabic. In early Islam, the Ahl al-Kalām or "Kalamites" essentially referred to

28730-465: Was the result of Mu'awiya's twenty-year entrenchment in the province, the geographic distribution of its relatively large Arab population throughout the province in contrast to their seclusion in garrison cities in other provinces, and the domination of a single tribal confederation, the Kalb-led Quda'a , as opposed to the wide array of competing tribal groups in Iraq. The long-established, formerly Christian Arab tribes in Syria, having been integrated into

28900-435: Was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty . Uthman ibn Affan , the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member of the clan. The family established dynastic, hereditary rule with Mu'awiya I , the long-time governor of Greater Syria , who became caliph after the end of the First Fitna in 661. After Mu'awiya's death in 680, conflicts over

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