beliefs as members of a religious community is a
basic definition of theology. This subject is most
commonly identified with Christianity, where it
was once regarded as the “queen of the sciences.”
In addition to treating the nature of God, theology
also involves learned reflection about humanity,
creation, and God’s relation to both. Jews and
Muslims developed their own theological tradi-
tions, often in conversation with Christians, but
they have not as a rule given theology the same
prominence that Christians have. Jewish rabbis
and the Muslim Ulama have been more concerned
with religious practice and jurisprudence, for
which ample evidence can be found in the tal-
mudic writings and fiqh literature of each group
respectively.
Kalam (Arabic: speech) is the term used for
Islamic theology. It is more correctly translated as
“dialectical theology,” because the writings in this
area of Islamic learning were originally composed
as a set of pro and con arguments concerning dis-
puted matters of doctrine. In a theological treatise
it was customary for a theologian, known as a
mutakallim, to make a theological claim, and then
rationally to defend its truth against rival views
by pointing out their logical contradictions and
substantive errors. Modern Islamic studies scholars
differ among themselves about the origins of kalam.
Some think it was influenced by Greek philosophy
and Christian theology. Others say it originated
within the Muslim community as a result of reli-
gio-political disputes that occurred in the seventh
and eighth centuries. Most likely the formation
of kalam was due to both, beginning within the
Muslim community, then developing as a result of
increased contact with Middle Eastern traditions of
Greek philosophy and Christian theology. Irrespec-
tive of the origins of the Islamic theological tradi-
tion, all its practitioners based their arguments on
revelation—the qUran and hadith.
Muslim theologians, Sunnis and Shiis, were
concerned with a common set of issues: the status
of sinners, God’s unity (tawhid), God’s JUstice, pre-
determinism versus human free will, the created-
ness of the Quran, and eschatology. Additionally,
the Shia were concerned with defending doctrines
concerning the unique qualities of their Imams,
as well as their redemptive role in human history
and eschatology. The earliest known theological
traditions appeared in Iraq. These included the
mUrJia (from the Arabic irjaa, to suspend judg-
ment) of the seventh century, who maintained that
a Muslim could not be condemned as a disbeliever
(kafir), no matter how serious the transgression
committed. The Murjia were opposed to the kha-
WariJ (secessionists) who felt that even the caliph
could be condemned and killed as an unbeliever
for offenses against God’s law. Another early group
were the Qadaris, eighth-century proponents of
the doctrine of human free will and responsibility
against the predeterminists, who argued that God
(allah) was the cause of all acts. Qadari doctrines
were adopted later by the mUtazili school, which
flourished in Iraq during the early abbasid caliph-
at e. The Mutazilis took a rationalist approach to
theological issues, but they grounded their argu-
ments in revelation nevertheless. Their doctrines
about the createdness of the Quran and meta-
phorical nature of God’s attributes (for example,
his seeing, hearing, and knowing) inflamed Sunni
traditionists, such as ahmad ibn hanbal (d. 855),
who considered any diminution of God’s power
and divinity to be heretical. For them, the Quran
was uncreated and God’s attributes were real, not
figures of speech.
Abu al-Hasan al-Ashari (d. 935), a former
student of Mutazilism, took up the tradition-
ist cause and conducted a refutation of Mutazili
truth claims, using their own methods, combined
with philosophical reasoning. The ashari school
of kalam that bears his name became the leading
Sunni tradition of theology, providing faith with
a rational basis for defense against philosophers,
innovators, heretics, and the theological claims of
other Abrahamic religions. It affirmed the unity
of God and the reality of his attributes, the eternal
nature of the Quran, and God’s omnipotence—his
power to determine all things, whether good orK 668 theology