Die lebenden menschen sind wohl fur uns menschen sehr wichtige und interessante asthetische gegenstande. aber menschensein unterscheidet sich von alles anders sein in seinem vernunftig-sittlichen charakter, so muss es auffallen, dass unter der modernen asthetik, die vor allem die autonomie des schonen behauptet hat, die menschen kaum in mittelpunkt der erorterung gestanden hat. (edited).

Although Dirār b. ʿAmr is the most important mutakallim of the second century, he is unfortunately one of the unjustified names in the history of kalām. Dirâr is a mutakallim whose name is rarely mentioned in theological publications published in both Turkish and foreign languages until recently, and his importance and position are still not noticed. As a matter of fact, Josef van Ess and W. Montgomery Watt, who are famous orientalists, discovered this tragic fact and tried to make up (...) for this deficiency to some extent with their studies. Dirâr wrote a refutation of Aristotle's theory of substance and accident, opened a new way with his understanding of existence based on accidents and led Ash'ari with the theory of kasb and Ebu'l-Huzayl al-‘Allaf with his kalām accumulation. Undoubtedly, one of the things that makes Dirār important is that he had views that went beyond his time and caused him to contradict his contemporaries as early as the second century in terms of the history of Islamic thought. Considering the list of works that have not survived, except for one, in such a period when the mainstream sects were not yet formed and they were on the eve of their formation, Dirār was generally in a critical dialogue with the Islamic and non-Islamic movements he encountered and knew. For this reason, it is almost impossible to place him in any religious sect mentioned in his period. Because he often preferred to follow his own ideas rather than the opinions of others on many issues. Naturally, this makes it difficult to place Dirār in a certain school and frees him from all kinds of bonds. Yes, in the sources we come across many allegations, accusations and slanders that Dirār is a Cahmi/Jabri, he is a Mu‘tazili, he is an innovator with malignant ideas, he is an infidel to put a bounty on his head. Understanding the reasons for these depends on getting to know Dirār, understanding his ideas, and determining his position. If we say in the context of our study, the position of Dirār is actually a state of non-position, and we think that the concept that best expresses this situation in a new interpretation is "nawābit". In the light of our analysis, we see that, with the exception of a name, nawābit is used as a concept with a negative content and connotation in both theology and philosophy. The exceptional person is the famous philosopher Ibn Bājja (Avempace) from Andalusia, the contemporary of Ibn Rushd (Averroes). While Mu‘tazili mutakallims use nawābit to humiliate groups such as Ahl-i hadith and Hashviyye, which adopt the narration-oriented line that puts reason and acumen to the second place, Al-Fārābī also uses the fault types and the sick characters in his virtuous city that he has constructed to describe. Ibn Bājja, on the other hand, considers the people called nawābit within his project to be equivalent to the "mutawahhid" (alone human) whose "precaution" he aims; this usage which corresponds with the context of the concept in the study. Because, in our study, nawābit is not considered as an identity, but as a representation of a character. (shrink)

Al-Maʾmūn, the Inquisition, and the Quest for Caliphal Authority. By John Abdallah Nawas. Resources in Arabic and Islamic Studies, vol. 4. Atlanta: Lockwood Press, 2015. Pp. xvi + 340. $45.

This study deals with al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī’s conception of morality, how he bases this conception on hadiths and how he interprets hadiths according to his own Sufi disposition. al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī is one of the foremost Sufis who resorted to the Qur'an and the Sunnah to prove his views on the issues of Sufism and morality. The study aims to analyze his handling of hadiths and the way he resorted to hadiths while grounding moral issues within the framework of his work Nawādir (...) al-Uṣūl. The study reveals that al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī revealed the theoretical framework of the moral issue, determined the relationship between morality and related concepts such as wisdom and ingenuity, and read the hadiths with a moral perspective. In addition, it was concluded that al-Ḥakīm, who deals with the issue of morality from a different perspective, deals with and evaluates different issues that are frequently discussed in works of ethics and touches on the issue of practical ethics. Therefore, we can say that it represents a clear trend in the issue of ethics. However, it should be pointed out that he never touched the authenticity of the hadiths. (shrink)

This article focuses on ḥadīth al-nawāfil, which is one of the most quoted traditions in Islamic mystical literature. The tradition describes how the believer may draw close to God and gain His love by performing supererogatory works, to such an extent that her organs become divine. The article discusses the significance of the nawāfil tradition in various mystical writings composed in the formative and classical periods of Islamic mysticism, with special attention given to the writings of the influential mystic Muḥyī (...) l-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī. The article likewise attempts to demonstrate the relevance of certain Shii conceptions to the understanding of ḥadīth al-nawāfil and its interpretations in Sunni mysticism. (shrink)