ABD AL-JABBAR (935–1025)

ABD AL-JABBAR (935–1025)
Abd al-Jabbar was a Mu
tazilite theologian and Shafi
itejurist, known as Qadi
Abd al-Jabbar b. Ahmad al-Hamadani.He was born in Asadabad in Iran about 935, studied kalamwith Abu Ishaq al-
Ayyash in Basra, and associated with theprominent Mu
tazilite scholar Abu
Abdullah al-Basri inBaghdad.
Abd al-Jabbar was appointed as chief judge of Rayywith a great authority over other regions in northern Iran bythe Buyid wazir Sahib b.
Abbad in 977. Following hisdismissal from the post after the death of Ibn
Abbad, hedevoted his life to teaching. In 999 he made a pilgrimage toMecca through Baghdad, where he spent some time. Hetaught briefly in Kazvin (1018–1019) and died in 1025 in Ray.As the teacher of the well-known Mu
tazilites of theeleventh century, such as Abu Rashid al-Nisaburi, IbnMattawayh, Abu ’l-Husayn al-Basri, and as the master ofMu
tazilism in its late period,
Abd al-Jabbar elaborated andexpanded the teachings of Bahshamiyya, the subgroup namedafter Abu Hashim al-Jubbai. He synthesized some of theMu
tazilite views with Sunni doctrine on the relation ofreason and revelation, and came close to the Shi
ite positionon the question of leadership (imama). He is also a significantsource of information on ancient Iranian and other monotheisticreligions.
Abd al-Jabbar wrote many works on kalam, especially onthe defense of the Quran, and on the Prophet of Islam. Someof his books, including most of his twenty-volume work al-Mughni, have been published. Commentaries on two of hislost books, Sharh al-usul al-khamsa by Qiwam al-Din Mankdimand al-Muhit bi’l-taklif by Ibn Mattawayh, are also available.See also Kalam; Mutazilites, Mutazila.BIBLIOGRAPHYFrank, Richard M. “The Autonomy of the Human Agentin the Teaching of
Abd al-Gabbar.” Le Museon 95(1982): 323–355.Heemskerk, M. T. Suffering in the Mu
tazilite Theology: Abdal-Jabbar’s Teaching on Pain and Divine Justice. Leiden:Brill, 2000.Hourani, George F. Islamic Rationalism: The Ethics of Abd al-Jabbar. Oxford, U.K.: Clarendon Press, 1971.Peters, J. R. T. M. God’s Created Speech: A Study in theSpeculative Theology of the Mu
tazili Qadi l-Qudat Abul-Hasan
Abd al-Jabbar bn Ahmad al-Hamadani. Leiden:Brill, 1976.M. Sait Özervarli