THE INFLUENCE OF ZAHIRI THEORY ON IBN HAZM'S THEOLOGY : THE CASE OF HIS INTERPRETATION OF THE ANTHROPOMORPHIC TEXT "THE HAND OF GOD"

Al Makin, - (2020) THE INFLUENCE OF ZAHIRI THEORY ON IBN HAZM'S THEOLOGY : THE CASE OF HIS INTERPRETATION OF THE ANTHROPOMORPHIC TEXT "THE HAND OF GOD". In: Islamic Theological Discourses and the Legacy of Kalām: Gestation, Movements and Controversies. Gerlach Press, Berlin, Germany, pp. 112-120. ISBN 978-3-95994-049-8

Preview

Text The Influance_AL Makin.pdf - Published Version Download (831kB) | Preview

Abstract

Both the Bible and the Qur'an contain anthropomorphic passages, and so a theo­logical debate over their interpretation is very common in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In the Quran, there are several anthropomorphic texts which describe God as having bodily features like those of human beings. For instance, God is said to have a face, eyes, feet, and hands. Various attempts were made to interpret such texts, either literally by accepting the corporeality of God or metaphorically by avoiding the implication of anthropomorphic texts. It is interesting how lbn Hazm, who upheld Zahiri theory (maintaining the literal meaning), tried to interpret Qur. 38:76, 5:67, 48:10 and 36:70 where reference is made to "the Hand of God." On the one hand, he felt he should maintain the literal meaning, according to which god is supposed to have hands. On the other hand, he declared himself to be a defender of tawhid (the unity of God), which demanded that he reject all possibil­ity of similarities between God and any of his creatures. This paper will focus on lbn Hazm's argument by looking at his al-Fisal wa al-Mulal wa al-Nihal

Share this knowledge with your friends :

Actions (login required)

View Item