Research Article

The Historical Account Of ʿabd Al-Jabbār Al-Hamadani’s Physicalist Conception Of Human Soul

Number: 48 June 20, 2020
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The Historical Account Of ʿabd Al-Jabbār Al-Hamadani’s Physicalist Conception Of Human Soul

Abstract

This study aims to go through Muʿtazilite understandings of a man briefly and expounds on Qadi ʿAbd al-Jabbār al-Hamadani’s (d. 1025) strong rejection of any non-physicalist view of man and his soul. Amongst the Mu'tazilite school prevailed three distinct views on man, hence of the soul; the non-physicalist tradition represented by Ibrāhīm b. Sayyār an-Naẓẓām (d. 836) who claimed that man is the dwelling soul in the human corpse. The dualist view as advocated by Muʿammar b. ʿAbbād (d. 830) who understood man as a combination of the material body and immaterial soul. The third view is the so-called materialist stance on the human being. Qadi ʿAbd al-Jabbār as one of the advocates of this view argues that man does not possess any immaterial or immortal soul. This paper proposes that such a peculiar view of man was the natural outcome of ʿAbd al-Jabbār’s cosmological setting and his sensitivity towards legal matters (talkif). ʿAbd al-Jabbār’s image of man does not need other; a soul, to make him will or capable of certain actions, for man is this corporeal body which could be seen in its actuality, and experienced in its totality. Therefore, he defines man (šaẖs) as a living being (ḥayy), having volition (murid), capable of acting voluntarily (qādir) and consequently entitles him with the responsibility for moral and religious obligations (al-mukallaf). It could be widely observed that Qadi, though admits the presence of soul in the body for its being alive, does not consider it to be living in itself or eternal. The soul, however, is the contingent breath, by which lightweight bodies (air) are inhaled and exhaled. It is an integral part of a living human being such as his flesh, blood or body structures.

Keywords

Thanks

I would like to thank the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) for their generous funding of bideb 2205, without which this paper would have never completed.

References

  1. Majid Fakhry, ‘The Muʿtazilite View of Man’, Recherches d’islamologie: Recueil d’articles offert á Georges C. Anawati et Louis Gradet par leur collègues et amis, (Leuven, 1977) pp. 107-121. J. Meric Pessagno, ‘Irada, Ikhtiyar, Qudra, Kasb the View of Abu Mansur al-Maturidi’, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 104, No. 1, Studies in Islam and the Ancient Near East Dedicated to Franz Rosenthal (Jan. – Mar., 1984), pp. 177-191.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

-

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Publication Date

June 20, 2020

Submission Date

January 7, 2020

Acceptance Date

April 15, 2020

Published in Issue

Year 2020 Number: 48

APA
Zafar, A. (2020). The Historical Account Of ʿabd Al-Jabbār Al-Hamadani’s Physicalist Conception Of Human Soul. Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 48, 483-504. https://doi.org/10.17120/omuifd.671352
AMA
1.Zafar A. The Historical Account Of ʿabd Al-Jabbār Al-Hamadani’s Physicalist Conception Of Human Soul. OMUIFD. 2020;(48):483-504. doi:10.17120/omuifd.671352
Chicago
Zafar, Abdulbasit. 2020. “The Historical Account Of ʿabd Al-Jabbār Al-Hamadani’s Physicalist Conception Of Human Soul”. Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, nos. 48: 483-504. https://doi.org/10.17120/omuifd.671352.
EndNote
Zafar A (June 1, 2020) The Historical Account Of ʿabd Al-Jabbār Al-Hamadani’s Physicalist Conception Of Human Soul. Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 48 483–504.
IEEE
[1]A. Zafar, “The Historical Account Of ʿabd Al-Jabbār Al-Hamadani’s Physicalist Conception Of Human Soul”, OMUIFD, no. 48, pp. 483–504, June 2020, doi: 10.17120/omuifd.671352.
ISNAD
Zafar, Abdulbasit. “The Historical Account Of ʿabd Al-Jabbār Al-Hamadani’s Physicalist Conception Of Human Soul”. Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi. 48 (June 1, 2020): 483-504. https://doi.org/10.17120/omuifd.671352.
JAMA
1.Zafar A. The Historical Account Of ʿabd Al-Jabbār Al-Hamadani’s Physicalist Conception Of Human Soul. OMUIFD. 2020;:483–504.
MLA
Zafar, Abdulbasit. “The Historical Account Of ʿabd Al-Jabbār Al-Hamadani’s Physicalist Conception Of Human Soul”. Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, no. 48, June 2020, pp. 483-04, doi:10.17120/omuifd.671352.
Vancouver
1.Abdulbasit Zafar. The Historical Account Of ʿabd Al-Jabbār Al-Hamadani’s Physicalist Conception Of Human Soul. OMUIFD. 2020 Jun. 1;(48):483-504. doi:10.17120/omuifd.671352

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