Ibn Taymiyya's theodicy of perpetual optimism / by Jon Hoover.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hoover, Jon.

Series:

Islamic philosophy, theology, and science ; v. 73.

Islamic philosophy, theology, and science, 0169-8729 ; v. 73

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

God (Islam)--History of doctrines.

God (Islam).

Good and evil--Religious aspects--Islam.

Good and evil.

Islam--Doctrines.

Islam.

Optimism.

Theodicy.

Ibn Taymīyah, Aḥmad ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥalīm, 1263-1328.

Ibn Taymīyah, Aḥmad ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥalīm.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 270 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2007.

Language Note:

Text in English.

Summary:

The Muslim jurist Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328) is famous for polemic against Islamic philosophy, theology and rationalizing mysticism, but his positive theological contribution has not been well understood. This comprehensive study of Ibn Taymiyya’s theodicy helps to rectify this lack. Exposition and analysis of Ibn Taymiyya’s writings on God’s justice and wise purpose, divine determination and human agency, the problem of evil, and juristic method in theological doctrine show that he articulates a theodicy of optimism in which God in His essence perpetually wills the best possible world from eternity. This sets Ibn Taymiyya’s theodicy apart from Ashʿarī divine voluntarism, the free-will theodicy of the Muʿtazilīs, and the essentially timeless God of other optimists like Ibn Sīnā and Ibn ʿArabī.

Contents:

Preliminary Material

Introduction

Chapter One: Worship, Religious Epistemology and Theological Jurisprudence

Chapter Two: God’s Wise Purpose, Perpetual Activity and Self-Sufficiency

Chapter Three: God’s Creation and God’s Command

Chapter Four: God’s Creation of Acts in the Human Agent

Chapter Five: The Wise Purpose and Origin of Evil

Chapter Six: The Justice of God and the Best of All Possible Worlds

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Creative Commons NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/http://www.oapen.org/download/?type=document&docid=613314

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (viewed on 10/25/2020)

Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph.D.--University of Birmingham, 2002) under the title: An Islamic theodicy : Ibn Taymiyya on the wise purpose of God, human agency, and problems of evil and justice.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-282-39708-7

9786612397080

90-474-2019-5

OCLC:

647841942

Publisher Number:

10.1163/ej.9789004158474.i-270 DOI

Access Restriction:

Unrestricted online access