Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Tables and Maps
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Cover Image
- A Note on Transliteration and Dating
- Maps
- Introduction
- Section 1Theology
- 1‘Adl (Rational Divine Justice)
- 2Imāmate (Legitimate Leadership)
- Section 2Origins
- Section 3Constructing Shī‘ism
- Section 4Shī‘ism in the Modern World
- AppendixVerses Mentioned in the Argument from Qur’ānic Expectations in Chapter 3
- Index
- References
1 - ‘Adl (Rational Divine Justice)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2014
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Tables and Maps
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Cover Image
- A Note on Transliteration and Dating
- Maps
- Introduction
- Section 1Theology
- 1‘Adl (Rational Divine Justice)
- 2Imāmate (Legitimate Leadership)
- Section 2Origins
- Section 3Constructing Shī‘ism
- Section 4Shī‘ism in the Modern World
- AppendixVerses Mentioned in the Argument from Qur’ānic Expectations in Chapter 3
- Index
- References
Summary
All Muslims believe that God is just. They differ, however, about the meaning and implications of this simple, succinct statement. The dominant Sunnī position (adopted from Ash‘arī theology) defines justice through God's actions and commands. These actions and commands are not bound by any human understanding of justice and can be understood only through revelation. Although it is possible to forward a rationale for a given divine command, such an endeavor is speculative, and its results are entirely conjectural. If a command seems reasonable, this is the product of mere coincidence. In the end, God is just by definition, and His actions and commands need not accord with human reason.
By contrast, most of the Shī‘a (relying on Mu‘tazilī theology) contend that God is just in a manner that can be rationally understood by human beings. It is possible to ascertain the reasons for God's actions because they must align with human notions of justice. Divine commands must likewise accord with the basic postulates of reason. Cases in which explanations are not evident result from a failure to apply reason in an adequate manner. God is just, and this justice is rationally intelligible.
Information
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- Chapter
- Information
- Shi'i IslamAn Introduction, pp. 18 - 30Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014
References
For a wide-ranging discussion of enjoining good and forbidding wrong, see , Commanding Right and Forbidding Wrong in Islamic Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000). For the Mu‘tazila and Shī‘ī groups, see chapters 9–11.Google Scholar
For a general discussion of political authority and the institution of the Imāmate, see , God's Rule (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004), chapters 6, 9, 10, and 15.Google Scholar
, “Mu‘tazilah,” in The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012).Google Scholar
, “The Origins of the Controversy Concerning the Creation of the Koran,” in Religious Schools and Sects in Medieval Islam (London: Variorum, 1985), .Google Scholar
For a very basic introductory discussion on Muslim theology, see , The Flowering of Muslim Theology, translated by (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006).Google Scholar
For the epistle of Ibn Ṭufayl, see Ibn Ṭufayl's Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān, translated by (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008).
Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “‘Ilm al-Kalām” (Gardet).
Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Zaydiyya” (Madelung).
, “Imāmism and Mu‘tazilite Theology,” in Religious Schools and Sects in Medieval Islam (London: Variorum, 1985), chapter 7.Google Scholar
, “The Shiite and Khārijite Contribution to Pre-Ash‘arite Kalām,” in Religious Schools and Sects in Medieval Islam (London: Variorum, 1985), chapter 8.Google Scholar
(d. 1325), Al-Bāb al-ḥādī ‘ashar: A Treatise on the Principles of Shī‘ite Theology (London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1928), with commentary by Miqdād Fil al-Ḥillī (d. late fourteenth/early fifteenth century) and translated by William McElwee Miller.Google Scholar
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