Kalam

Ilm al-kalam ^[a] or ilm al-lahut,^[b] often shortened to kalam, is the scholastic, speculative, or philosophical study of Islamic theology (aqida).^[2] It can also be defined as the science that studies the fundamental doctrines of Islamic faith (usul al-din), proving their validity, or refuting doubts regarding them.^[3]

Some scholars state kalām was born out of the need to establish and defend the tenets of Islam against the philosophical doubters.^[4]^[5] This picture has been questioned by scholarship that attempts to show that kalām was, in fact, a demonstrative rather than a dialectical^[vague] science and was always intellectually creative.^[6] It is also important to note that the definition of kalām has changed depending on the time and context and who it was used by.^[4]

The term kalām means "speech", "word", or "utterance". There are many possible interpretations as to why this discipline was originally called so; one is that one of the widest controversies in this discipline, in the second and third centuries of Hijra, has been about whether the "Word of God" (Kalām Allāh), as revealed in the Quran, is an eternal attribute of God and therefore not created, or whether it is created words.^[4]^[7]

A scholar of kalam is referred to as a mutakallim (plural mutakallimun), a role distinguished from those of Islamic philosophers and jurists.^[8]

^ Abdel-Haleem, M. A. S. (2008). "Part I: Historical perspectives - Qur'an and hadith". In Winter, Timothy (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 19–32. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521780582.002. ISBN 9781139001816.
^ Mutahhari, Murtada; Qara'i, 'Ali Quli (translator). "An Introduction to 'Ilm al-Kalam". muslimphilosophy. Retrieved 29 March 2018. {{cite web}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
^ Mutahhari, Murtadha. "An Introduction to Ilm al-Kalam". Retrieved 2023-10-31. For a definition of 'ilm al-kalam, it is sufficient to say that, "It is a science which studies the basic doctrines of the Islamic faith (usul al-Din). It identifies the basic doctrines and seeks to prove their validity and answers any doubts which may be cast upon them."
^ ^a ^b ^c • Treiger, Alexander (2016) [2014]. "Part I: Islamic Theologies during the Formative and the Early Middle period - Origins of Kalām". In Schmidtke, Sabine (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 27–43. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696703.013.001. ISBN 9780199696703. LCCN 2016935488.
• Abrahamov, Binyamin (2016) [2014]. "Part I: Islamic Theologies during the Formative and the Early Middle period - Scripturalist and Traditionalist Theology". In Schmidtke, Sabine (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 264–279. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696703.013.025. ISBN 9780199696703. LCCN 2016935488.
^ Madeleine Pelner Cosman, Linda Gale Jones, Handbook to Life in the Medieval World, p. 391. ISBN 1438109075
^ Shihadeh, Ayman; Thiele, Jan (2020-05-06). Philosophical Theology in Islam: Later Ashʿarism East and West. Brill. p. 299. doi:10.1163/9789004426610. ISBN 978-90-04-42661-0. S2CID 216289385.
^ Gardet, Louis (1978). "Kalām". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. J.; Heinrichs, W. P.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch.; Dumont, C.; Paterson, M. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Vol. 4. Leiden: Brill Publishers. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0421. ISBN 978-90-04-16121-4.
^ Clinton Bennett, The Bloomsbury Companion to Islamic Studies, p. 119. ISBN 1441127887.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

[Abdel-Haleem_2008-1] Abdel-Haleem, M. A. S. (2008). "Part I: Historical perspectives - Qur'an and hadith". In Winter, Timothy (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 19–32. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521780582.002. ISBN 9781139001816.

[Mutahhari-intro-4] Mutahhari, Murtada; Qara'i, 'Ali Quli (translator). "An Introduction to 'Ilm al-Kalam". muslimphilosophy. Retrieved 29 March 2018. {{cite web}}: |first2= has generic name (help)

[5] Mutahhari, Murtadha. "An Introduction to Ilm al-Kalam". Retrieved 2023-10-31. For a definition of 'ilm al-kalam, it is sufficient to say that, "It is a science which studies the basic doctrines of the Islamic faith (usul al-Din). It identifies the basic doctrines and seeks to prove their validity and answers any doubts which may be cast upon them."

[Schmidtke_2016-6] • Treiger, Alexander (2016) [2014]. "Part I: Islamic Theologies during the Formative and the Early Middle period - Origins of Kalām". In Schmidtke, Sabine (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 27–43. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696703.013.001. ISBN 9780199696703. LCCN 2016935488.
• Abrahamov, Binyamin (2016) [2014]. "Part I: Islamic Theologies during the Formative and the Early Middle period - Scripturalist and Traditionalist Theology". In Schmidtke, Sabine (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 264–279. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696703.013.025. ISBN 9780199696703. LCCN 2016935488.

[7] Madeleine Pelner Cosman, Linda Gale Jones, Handbook to Life in the Medieval World, p. 391. ISBN 1438109075

[8] Shihadeh, Ayman; Thiele, Jan (2020-05-06). Philosophical Theology in Islam: Later Ashʿarism East and West. Brill. p. 299. doi:10.1163/9789004426610. ISBN 978-90-04-42661-0. S2CID 216289385.

[EncyclopediaofIslam-9] Gardet, Louis (1978). "Kalām". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. J.; Heinrichs, W. P.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch.; Dumont, C.; Paterson, M. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Vol. 4. Leiden: Brill Publishers. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0421. ISBN 978-90-04-16121-4.

[10] Clinton Bennett, The Bloomsbury Companion to Islamic Studies, p. 119. ISBN 1441127887.

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