The Religions Book

276

WE CAN THINK ABOUT

GOD, BUT WE CANNOT

COMPREHEND HIM

THEOLOGICAL SPECULATION IN ISLAM

I

slam teaches that God is

transcendent, or beyond

human comprehension. While

this does not prevent Muslims from

thinking about God, and reflecting

on aspects of who he is and what

he does, they must never do so

in the expectation of being able

to understand his nature or his

actions. This was the conclusion

reached by Abu al-Hasan al-Ash’ari

in the 10th century, when Islam

entered a controversy stirred up

by philosophical speculation about

the nature of God.

In the 8th century, caliphs (civil

and religious heads of the Muslim

state) of the Abbasid dynasty

IN CONTEXT

KEY FIGURE

Abu al-Hasan al-Ash‘ari

WHEN AND WHERE

10th century, Arabia

BEFORE

c.990 CE Syrian philosopher

Abu al-‘Ala al-Ma‘arri uses

rationalism to reject religious

dogma, denouncing its

claims as “impossible.”

AFTER

11th century Ibn Sina

(known in the West as

Avicenna) attempts to

reconcile rational philosophy

with Islamic theology.

11th century Al-Ghazali

writes The Inconsistency

of the Philosophers on

the use of philosophy in

Islamic theology.

12th century Ibn Rushd

(known in the West as

Averroes) publishes a

response to al-Ghazali’s

work: The Inconsistency

of the “Inconsistency.”

We can think about God, but

we cannot comprehend him.

We do not know how,

or in what sense,

this is true.

Questioning it would

lead to innovation,

which is forbidden.

We are told that

all bounty is in

the hand of God.

We must just believe

and accept it.