Murtakib al-Kabīra (Cardinal Sinner) and Takfīr (Excommunication) from the Perspective of Ibn Ḥaẓm: a Political and Theological Review
Journal Title: ULUM - Year 2019, Vol 2, Issue 1
Abstract
From the beginning of the first periods of Islamic theology, the concept of kufr is the most important amongst other terminology related to the judgement of murtakib al-kabīra(cardinal sinner) in this world and Hereafter. The purpose of this article is to focus on the problems in the use of takfīr(excommunication), which is the final judgement of murtakib al-kabīrarepresenting the very extremism itself, against other views of other theological readings within kalām methodology. Ibn Ḥaẓm is another major scholar who investigates the judgement of murtakib al-kabīrawithin the scope of faith in itself. Examining the understanding of takfīr in different kalam schools, Ibn Ḥaẓm also evaluates the use of this judgement in intellectual disputes. The relationship of īmānand ‘amal(faith and deed) in the debates of kalam schools, some concepts such as īmān, kufr, fisq, shirk, nifāqand al-manzila bayn al-manzilatayn, some mentioned in the Qur’ān and some not, are in constant use. It is observed that some of these discussions were institutionalized and transformed into a school in the process. Thus, takfīrwas not only a matter of only cardinal sins in later periods, but was also utilized for differences of opinions due to the different readings and interpretations arising from social and political factors. Thus, takfīrhas been the issue for both religious and political purposes, which are two separate areas. Therefore, takfīr has been studied relying on its political disputes in a theological paradigm and its major feature, being weaponized to silence and overpower the opponent, has been emphasized in this work.
Authors and Affiliations
Fikret Soyal
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP612347
- DOI 10.5281/zenodo.3355738
- Views 98
- Downloads 0
A Sufi’s Interpretation of Ḥadīth: The Case of Ibn ʿArabī and the Ḥadīths about Holding up the hands during the prayer (Raf‘ al-yadain)
This paper studies the understanding and interpretation of a specific ḥadīth by Muhy al-dīn Ibn ʿArabī . His view on the ḥadīthabout ‘holding up the hands during ṣalāh(raf‘ al-yadain)’ is explained in the light of his we...
Methods and Varieties of Guidance According to Imām Māturīdī
Māturīdī, one of the prominent Kalām scholar, is mostly considered to have played a significant role in the construction of a sustainable religious approach today. This recognition originates from his joint reference to...
The Influence of the 73 Sects Ḥadīth on the Classification of Theological Sects in Islamic Heresiographical Literature
This article deals with the influence of the “73 sects ḥadīth,” which states that Muslims will be separated into 73 sects, when Jews had 71 and Christians had 72 sects, and that only one of them will be saved whereas the...
A Postcolonial Reading on Eurocentrism, Otherization and Orientalist Discourse in Sociological Thought and Its Criticism
Modernity has long been a dominant paradigm in producing knowledge and in determining theoretical framework of the disciplines although it is in connivance with a Eurocentric ideology and conflict of paradoxes in itself....
Abū Ḥanīfa, Understandings about Abū Ḥanīfa, Māturīdiyya, Hanafī Theologians, Hanafī Jurists
The philosophy and the religion are the two different domains that are mainly addressed to find the most fundamental answers that we seek to lead our lives by attaching it a meaning that can satisfy us. For this reason,...