The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology

by Sabine Schmidtke (Editor)

Within the field of Islamic Studies, scientific research of Muslim theology is a comparatively young discipline. Much progress has been achieved over the past decades with respect both to discoveries of new materials and to scholarly approaches to the field. The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology provides a comprehensive and authoritative survey of the current state of the field. It provides a variegated picture of the state of the art and at the same time suggests new directions for future research.

Part One covers the various strands of Islamic theology during the formative and early middle periods, rational as well as scripturalist. To demonstrate the continuous interaction among the various theological strands and its repercussions (during the formative and early middle period and beyond), Part Two offers a number of case studies. These focus on specific theological issues that have developed through the dilemmatic and often polemical interactions between the different theological schools and thinkers. Part Three covers Islamic theology during the later middle and early modern periods. One of the characteristics of this period is the growing amalgamation of theology with philosophy (Peripatetic and Illuminationist) and mysticism. Part Four addresses the impact of political and social developments on theology through a number of case the famous mihna instituted by al-Ma'mun (r. 189/813-218/833) as well as the mihna to which Ibn 'Aqil (d. 769/1367) was subjected; the
religious policy of the Almohads; as well as the shifting interpretations throughout history (particularly during Mamluk and Ottoman times) of the relation between Ash'arism and Maturidism that were often motivated by political motives. Part Five considers Islamic theological thought from the end of the early modern and during the modern period.

Genres: Islam, Theology, Philosophy, Religion, History

832 pages, Paperback

First published May 24, 2018

About the author

Sabine Schmidtke is a scholar of Islamic intellectual history whose pioneering research has transformed perspectives on the interrelations and connections among different strands of intellectual inquiry, across time, place, religions, and philosophical schools. She has played a central role in the exploration of heretofore unedited and unknown theological and philosophical writings. Schmidtke has applied rigorous study to the edition and critical analysis of manuscripts in Arabic, Judeo-Arabic, and Persian, and her work extends from Arabic-speaking countries to Israel, Iran, Russia, and Turkey. Schmidtke is currently working on the history of Islamic thought in the post-classical period (thirteenth to nineteenth century), with a focus on reconstructing the textual heritage and the intellectual import of the Islamic intellectual world, from Iran and Central Asia to Turkey and Yemen. She is also engaged in a comprehensive study of the Muslim reception of the Bible, a topic on which she has published extensively over the past yea

Reviews

[Arman Firman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blown away by the book! Amazing resource.

This book discusses every important thing connected with Islamic theology. Since Ash'arism is the predominant theology in Islam, the book has several chapters on it. It contains roughly two chapters on Maturidism and Atharism. Discusses modern Muslim theology to an extent. It discusses non-sunni theologies as well such as mutazilism, karramism, shi'ism. Studying mutazilites is important to understand the Sunni theologies but other non-Sunni theologies can be skipped.

First it starts with the basics. In these chapters, they first study the sources - which is unfamiliar to us Muslims. So it may get a little monotonous. But this kind of study is very important. The book always gives some background and then starts discussing the main thing. For Ash'arism, it has a full chapter on pre-Asharites.

Then it goes on to discuss some of the main topics discussed in the medieval Muslim world (e.g. occasionalism). Then comes later traditions, some trends (like mihna) and finally modern Muslim thought.

I think this the most comprehensive book on Islamic theology in any language. It was a great journey through this.

[عبد الله القصير · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب مرجعي رائع لغير المتخصص مثلي. وزاده روعة جودة الترجمة وتمكن المترجم من موضوع الكتاب

[Abu Kamdar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps the most comprehensive work in English on the topic of Islamic Theology. Highly academic and not for beginners though.

[Imed Ben Touati · Rating 4 out of 5]

الحمد لله أكملت قراءة الجزء الأول من هذا الكتاب بعد ان تم توفيره pdf
بارك الله في من صوره
الجزء الأول دسم جدا وما أعجبني الأفكار والبحوث الغير متداولة حتى في الأواسط الجامعية،
أفكار جديدة ف مسائل علم الكلام تدل على ان هذا العلم لازال بكرا لم يوفى حقه من البحث ...

[Abdullah · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب مرجعي رائع.
ترجمات مركز نماء دائما تحاول أن تبرز لنا أفضل ما بحثه الغربيون في التراث الإسلامي. وهذا الكتاب من تلك الترجمات المهمة التي يحتاج إليها كل دارس حصيف. وقد ترجمه الأستاذ أسامة شفيع السيد (رحمه الله وغفر له وأسكنه فسيح جناته) وهي ترجمة واعية لمضامين الكتاب. قدم الأستاذ حسن الشافعي للكتاب مقدمة فيه رصد تاريخي للترجمة من الإنجليزية إلى العربية.
ينقسم الكتاب إلى خمسة أقسام: القسم الأول يركز على نشأة المذاهب الكلامية. والقسم الثاني يبرز أمام القارئ أربعة صور من التفاعل بين المذاهب الكلامية. ثم القسم الثالث وهو أهم وأوعب قسم في رأيي: بيان المذاهب الكلامية في أواخر الحقبة الوسيطة وبداية الحقبة الحديثة. القسم الرابع من الكتاب يبرز جانبا مهما وهو تأثير الاجتماع والسياسة في علم الكلام. والقسم الأخير يهتم بالفكر الكلامي من أوائل مطلع العصر الحديث إلى العصر الحاضر.
الكتاب يحتوي على مقالات متعددة تتفاوت من حيث الجودة والعرض. بعض المقالات تمتاز بالسرد التاريخي الجميل، كما أن هناك بعض المقالات التي فيها وعورة. وترجع هذه الصعوبة والوعورة إلى الموضوع وطريقة عرض المصنف.
في بعض المقالات أخطاء كما نبه عليها المترجم. وهذا يدل على قصور فهم بعض المستشرقين والباحثين الغربيين لنصوص التراث. ولذا لا أنصح بقراءة الكتاب الأصلي (الإنجليزي) لمن يستطيع أن يقرأ العربية ويفهمها بشكل جيد.
يقع الكتاب في ألف وثلاثمائة صفحة. ويحتاج القارئ إلى وقت طويل وتركيز تام لقراءة مثل هذا الكتاب.
مهم للباحثين في المجال العقدي والقراء الذي يبحثون عن كتاب شامل لتاريخ علم الكلام والصراع بين التيارات الكلامية.

[Mills College Library]

297.2 O984 2016