A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The name of al-Qadariyyah , the Libertarian sect, refers to qudrah , the human power, to act and choose.  Some hold that it refers to al-qadr , the determination, which they deny Allah ( s.w.t. ) and affirm for humans.  Some writers hold them to be aptly described by their opponents as corresponding to the hadits , “those who deny Allah’s Measuring Out are the fire worshippers of this community.”  The strongest opinion as to their name is that the word, “ al-Qadariyyah ” generally encompasses the Mu’tazilah and the Jahmiyyah and more specifically refers to the latter.   The most important Jahmiyyah leader, Ma’bad ibn Khalid al-Juhani, preached his school in Iraq and was killed by Abu Muhammad al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ats-Tsaqafi in the uprising of ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash’ats and Ghilan ibn Muslim ad-Dimashqi, who had been debated by Hadhrat ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ( r.a. ) and was spectacularly killed by Hisham ib...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ In the time after the Rightly Guided caliphs, when the ummah began to splinter into sects, the Umayyads provided the majority of the supporters of the two sects of al-Jabr , Determinism, and al-Irja’ , Deferral, to the extent that it was said, “ al-jabr wa al-irja’ din al-muluk ,”  “Determinism and Deferral is the religion of the kings,” referring to the Umayyad kings.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The theological issues discussed by the Mu’taziliyyah , such as free will and predestination, the relationship between the Divine Attributes and the Essence of Allah ( s.w.t. ), were also debated by some Muslim thinkers during the Umayyad period prior to the rise of the Mu’taziliyyah .  These thinkers can be divided into two groups.  The first group included al-Ja’ad ibn Dirham, al-Mughirah ibn Sa’id al-‘Ajali, and Jahm ibn Swafwan, who rejected the Reality and Eternity of the Divine Attributes and also believed in the createdness of the Qur’an.  al-Ja’ad ibn Dirham was from Damascus.  He was arrested and sent to Iraq by Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik, the Umayyad caliph.  He was beheaded by the Iraqi ruler, Khalid ibn ‘Abdullah al-Kisri, who was the uncle of Hisham, in 742 CE.  al-Mughirah ibn Sa’id al-‘Ajali was killed by the ruler of Iraq, Khalid ibn ‘Abdullah al-Kisri, in 737 CE.  Jahm ibn Swafwan was killed in 745 ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is taken from “An Introduction to Kalam , Islamic Theology” by Shaykh Nur ad-Din Abu ‘Ubadah ‘Ali ibn Juma’ah.   This brief treatise comprises an introduction to the study of the science of kalam , one of the most important disciplines of Islamic knowledge.   It will suffice to introduce its major branches and comprehend some of the problems it seeks to address, and then note the positions of certain scholars and schools on these problems.   In the linguistic sense, “ kalam ”, “speech”, denotes a word indicating a certain meaning.   In its technical sense, “ kalam ” denotes the theoretical consideration of matters of religious creed, or theology.   Shaykh Wali ad-Din ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Khaldun ( r.a. ) said, “It is the discipline comprised of disputation over credal beliefs with rational proofs.”   Imam al-‘Ayhi ( r.a. ) said, “ Kalam is the discipline that enables one to affirm credal ...