Introduction

This long article is a part of Martyr Murtada Mutahhari’s book Ashna’i ba ‘ulum-e Islami (An Introduction to the Islamic Sciences).

The book consists of seven parts:

1. Logic;

2. Philosophy;

3. al-kalam (Muslim scholastic philosophy);

4. ‘irfan (Islamic mysticism);

5. usul-e fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence);

6. fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence);

7. hikmat-e ‘amali’ (practical philosophy or practical morality).

All the seven parts together serve both as a comprehensive survey of the fundamentals of different branches of Islamic sciences and a general and comprehensive perspective for the proper understanding of the basic teachings of Islam along with the main points of difference among various sects of Muslims. This work of Martyr Mutahhari is the best introduction to Islamic philosophy and jurisprudence. From this view, Ashna’i ba ‘ulum-e Islami deserves to be prescribed as the basic text for all the students of Islamic studies. It is also very useful for non-specialists who wish to acquaint themselves with Islam. All the introductory books written so far are either by the Orientalists and are naturally biased and fail to give true picture of the development of different Islamic sciences or are written by Muslim scholars who consciously or unknowingly incorporate in the body of books certain misleading notions propagated by the Western scholars of Islam about Muslirn philosophy and its various branches. It also can be said with some justification that no other available introductory text in this field covers all Muslim sects and their specific views. Martyr Murtada Mutahhari’s exposition and evaluation of various theories is objective and unbiased, which is the most essential condition for a book to be prescribed as an introductory text.

{In this part, dealing with ‘ilm al-kalam; the author has discussed the main doctrines of kalam and their subsequent modifications with special reference to Mu’tazilah, Asha’irah and Shi’ah schools of kalam. But he has not ignored other schools and has referred to their relevant doctrines wherever it was necessary for the full understanding of the problem under discussion}.

‘Ilm al-kalam is one of the Islamic sciences. It discusses the fundamental Islamic beliefs and doctrines which are necessary for a Muslim to believe in. It explains them, argues about them, and defends them.

The scholars of Islam divide Islamic teachings into three parts:

1. Doctrines ‘aqa’id): These constitute the issues which must be understood and believed in, such as, the Unity of God, the Divine Attributes, universal and restricted prophethood, etc. However, there are certain differences between Muslim sects as to what constitutes the basic articles of faith (usul al-Din) in which belief is necessary.

2. Morals (akhlaq): These relate to the commands and teachings relating to the spiritual and moral characteristics of human beings, such as, justice, God-fearing (taqwa), courage, chastity, wisdom, endurance, loyalty, truthfulness, trustworthiness, etc., and prescribe ‘how’ a human being should be.

3. The Law (ahkam): Here the issues relating to practice and the correct manner of performing acts, such as, prayers (salat), fasting (sawm), hajj, jihad, al- ‘amr bil ma’ruf wa al-nahy ‘an al-munkar, buying, renting, marriage, divorce, division of inheritance and so on, are discussed.

The science which deals with the first of the above-mentioned is ‘ilm al-kalam. The study of the second is ‘ilm al-‘akhlaq (ethics). The study of the third is called ‘ilm al-fiqh (the science of jurisprudence). That which is subjected to division in this classification is the corpus of Islamic teachings; that is, those things which constitute the content of Islam. It does not include all those Islamic studies which form the preliminaries for the study of Islamic teachings, such as, literature, logic, and occasionally philosophy.

Secondly, in this classification the criterion behind division is the relationship of Islamic teachings to the human being: those things which relate to human reason and intellect are called ‘aqa’id; things which relate to human qualities are called akhlaq; and those things which relate to human action and practice are included in fiqh.

As I shall discuss in my lectures on ‘ilm al-fiqh, although fiqh is a single discipline from the viewpoint of its subject, it consists of numerous disciplines from other viewpoints.

In any case, ‘ilm al-kalam is the study of Islamic doctrines and beliefs. in the past, it was also called “usul al-Din” or “‘Ilm al-tawhid wa al-sifat”.