Debating the Doctrine of jabr (Compulsion) 93
debate between a Jabrī and a Sunni. Written from the Sunni’s point
of view, chapter 19 presents two possible readings of Fakhr al-Dīn
al-Rāzī’s arguments for jabr within his theory of the human act: the
standard Ashʿarī reading, manifested in the narrative of the Jabrī, and
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya’s reading, manifested in the narrative of the
Sunni.
As a typical didactic piece, chapter 19 cannot be considered a record-
ing or restoration of real life polemics. However, the chapter demon-
strates the acceptance of al-Rāzī’s writings in the Damascene scholarly
circles of the 14th century. Al-Rāzī’s writings were enthusiastically read
and discussed by both the Ashʿarīs and the members of the Taymiyyan
circle. The Rāziyyan discourse and style which are present in almost
every sentence that the Jabrī and the Sunni utter, indeed authentically
reflect the real interests of the students of Islamic theology in Mamluk
Damascus.
The parallel established in this article between al-Rāzī’s al-Maḥṣūl
and chapter 19 of Shifāʾ al-ʿalīl is not based merely on common ideas or
identical lines of argumentation. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya placed in his
protagonists’ mouths exact citations from al-Maḥṣūl and other writ-
ings of al-Rāzī. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya also shaped his protagonists
as striving with the Rāziyyan text and toiling to interpret it. Reading
chapter 19 in itself without addressing al-Rāzī’s al-Maḥṣūl is bound to
leave a great deal of the picture in the shadow.
Chapter 19 also reflects Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya’s theological per-
ception of human actions. Adhering to the viewpoint of Ibn Taymiyya,
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya embraced certain arguments from Fakhr
al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s theory of the human act. In chapter 19, Ibn Qayyim al-
Jawziyya, in fact criticizes the Ashʿarīs for not understanding al-Rāzī’s
nuanced theory. This criticism is made explicit by both the ridiculous
presentation of the Jabrī and the Sunni’s well-structured interpretation
of al-Rāzī’s argumentations.
Chapter 19 demonstrates more than a clash between the Ashʿarī
theories of the human act and the so-called Sunni doctrine of the
human act: this chapter raises the possibility of reconciliation between
the Rāziyyan and Taymiyyan-Jawziyyan positions.
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