The Muslim Creed

Its Genesis and Historical Development

A J Wensinck

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN:
  9781135030094
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Teologia islamica

Originally published in 1932. This volume is a comprehensive study of the historical development of Muslim dogmatics and consists of translations and commentaries on the creed in its various forms.

Chapter I
Introduction

A creed may take various forms: it may consist only of a few words or may be a whole treatise; it may be a doxology, a short phrase, or a work on dogmatics. This is as true of Islam as it is of Christianity; moreover, in both religions the short formula is anterior to the creed, which in its turn is anterior to the treatise on dogmatics.

This sequence is based on the historical development of the two religions. Apart from the various brief expressions in which the fervour of the earliest Christians and Muslims was embodied, formulae were required by the Faithful not for their own private use, but to distinguish them from the surrounding world; they were needed as a confession of faith, a challenge, and an invitation. To those in whom sympathy with the new faith had been kindled, this formula was the confession by means of which they could proclaim their new-born feelings. Creeds, on the other hand, that is, enumerations of the articles of belief, are not in the first place addressed to the world of non-believers, but to the dissenting children of the mother church; they owe their origin to the necessity, felt by the orthodox community, of vindicating the truth in the face of sects and heretics, and it is only when the theoretical foundations of the faith have been prepared by discussions and controversy that theologians begin to write treatises in which they expound the creed of the community, exposing the roots of scripture, tradition or reasoning, which underlie it.

Generally speaking, the earliest type of the Muslim confession of faith, namely, the phrase or sentence, is found in Tradition (ḥadīth), that is, the literature which has assumed the form of Logia Muhammadis, though it is, in fact, a mirror of the history of Muslim ideas during the first Century A.H. In Tradition we find the earliest discussions and definitions of faith and Islam, of faith in its relation to works, of the pillars of Islam, of eschatology.

Tradition also contains the germs of the second type, namely, the collections of the articles of belief, which in the history of Christianity are called creeds. Just as in Christianity some articles of the creed originated in the controversies with heretical bodies or sects, so in Islam, in which councils were unknown, the views held by Khāridjites, Murdjites, Ḳadarites, Mu‘tazilites, Djahmites and Djabrites, gave rise to discussions, which, when the atmosphere had cleared, were Condensed by the doctors of the church into summaries of the orthodox faith; these in their turn served as bases of commentaries by later doctors. We possess several of the so-called ‘aḳida’s (creeds) and also commentaries upon them. Of special importance is the collection printed in Haidarabad in 13 21 a.h., which contains (a) the Fiḳh Akbar I, ascribed to Abū Ḥanīfa, with a commentary; (b) the Fiḳh Akbar II, also ascribed to Abū Ḥanīfa, with a commentary by Abu’l-Muntahā; (C) the Testament (Waṣīya) of Abū Ḥanīfa, with a commentary by Mollā Ḥusain ibn Iskandar al-Ḥanafī; (d) the Ibāna ‘an Uṣūl al-Diyāna of al-Ash‘arī, with three appendices by later authors.

These works are of special importance, since in their background we can discern the discussions with the sects and the relations with the dogmatics of Christianity and with Hellenistic philosophy; here we are at the fountain-head of that Muhammadan scholasticism, which for centuries was destined to supply the wants of medieval and post-medieval thought, and to be rejected by very few, if any, thinkers of the period.

After the first half of the tenth Century A.D., in which the Fiḳh Akbar II probably originated, several doctors composed creeds of a more or less varying structure. Gradually the polemical side, which at the outset was directed against heresies, disappears to make room for scholastics. Such was the origin of the type of the popular catechisms like those by Abū Ḥafs ‘Umar al-Nasafī, Abu’l-Barakāt al-Nasafī and al-Sanūsī.

al-Ash‘arī’s Ibāna, the fourth important work in the collection just mentioned, forms a transition from the creed to the dogmatic treatise. It contains an exposition of the orthodox faith,¹ followed by a number of chapters on separate questions, in which the orthodox view is defended against deviations to the left as well as to the right. This work, probably the earliest of its kind, is the forerunner of larger works by well-known theologians such as al-Ghazālī. al-Baiḍāwī, al-Idjī and al-Sanūsī.

Besides the Ibāna, al-Ash‘arī wrote another work which was destined to become a primer, having a distinct character of its own; this was the Maḳālāt al-Islāmīyīn, a work on Muhammadan sects, which was followed by similar works from the pens of later writers such as ‘Abd al-Ḳāhir al-Baghdādī, Ibn Ḥazm and al-Shahrastāni.

It may be asked why no reference has been made to the Kuran as a source of information on this subject. An answer cannot be given in a few words, but it can be given in a negative form: the Kuran does not proclaim a compendium of faith that could serve as a characteristic description of Islam, either in contrast with other religions, or as a means of distinction from the peculiar doctrines of the sects. In the same way the creeds of the Christian church could not be directly taken from the New Testament. Nevertheless, the Kuran contains the elements of the shahāda.’²

It must be remembered that Judaism, Christianity and Islam, in presenting themselves before an unbelieving world, emphasized, each in its turn, the unity of God and the resurrection of the dead. These are the points which are foremost in the records of the Jewish martyrs who suffered death at the hands of the Syrians and the Romans,¹ as well as in the Acta of the Christian martyrs who were put to trial before the Roman prefects. Furthermore, they formed the nucleus of Muhammad’s preaching at the beginning of his career, when he had to face the scepticism of the Makkans, who did not believe that their scattered bones would be quickened and had no wish to learn about the approaching Day, depicted by Muhammad in such vivid colours.² Afterwards, when Arabia had embraced Islam, it was no longer necessary to lay stress on this point.

The idea of the unity of Allah does not occupy so large a place in the earliest parts of the Kuran; later, however, it occurs many times. Sura cxii has, become very popular in the Muhammadan world: “Say, He is one God; God the everlasting. He begetteth not, and He is not begotten, there is none like unto Him”. Still, these verses have not the form required for a brief phrase, nor are they elaborate enough for a creed. The first sentence of the shahāda occurs, though not literally, in sura ii. 256, where it is only one out of many equally impressive sentences. It is the “verse of the throne”: “God, there is no God but He, the living, the self-subsisting; neither slumber seizeth Him nor sleep. His, whatsoever is in the Heavens, and whatsoever is in the Earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him, but through His own permission? He knoweth what is present with His creatures and what is to befall them; yet nought of His knowledge do they comprehend, save what He willeth. His throne reacheth over the Heavens and the Earth and the upholding of both burdeneth Him not, and He is the High, the Great”. It is clear that this verse does not possess the characteristics of a creed any more than sura cxii. Nor does sura xxvii. 26: “God! There is no God but He, the Lord of the glorious throne”; nor sura xxviii. 88: “And call not on any other god with God; there is no God but He. Everything shall perish, except His face. Judgment is His and to Him shall ye return”.

In the second and third periods of Muhammad’s preaching in Makka, his chief aim was to prove the truth of his cause, to win over his opponents and to confirm his adherents in their faith, by narratives of how in the olden times Allah had sent Apostles and Prophets to other coramunities, who had scorned them, but were severely punished for their unbelief. The position of Abraham, Moses, Hūd, Ṣāliḥ and Jesus, as described in these suras, is really the same as that of Muhammad in Makka; they were Apostles of God like himself. “Moses, the Apostle of the Lord of the worlds,”¹ “Sāliḥ, the Apostle of God,”² “Jesus, the Apostle of God,”³ occur side by side with “Muhammad, the Apostle of God”. ⁴ Muhammad’s rank, it is true, is high, but there is no trace of a unique position. Even in a passage belonging to the Madina period, the Christians are admonished to give up the doctrine of the Trinity and to believe in God and His Apostles:⁵ “O people of the Book, overstep not the bounds in your religion, and of God speak only the truth. The Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, is the Apostle of God, and His word which He conveyed into Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Himself. Believe, therefore, in God and His Apostles, and say not: There are three gods. Forbear, it will be better for you. God is only one God”. It may be remembered here, that, according to Caetani,⁶ Muhammad never tried to convert Jews or Christians.

In other passages of the Kuran Muhammad emphasizes his own apostleship: “Say to them, O men! Verily I am unto you all the Apostle of God, Whose is the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth. There is no God but He! He maketh to live and He killeth! Therefore, believe on God and His Apostle”.¹ Here indeed is the quintessence of Islam and here are the ideas expressed in the two sentences of the shahāda. But the characteristic form is lacking.

According to Sale and others, the words “I am unto you all the Apostle of God” mean that Muhammad here extends his mission to mankind in general. This extension would, however, contradict other passages of the Kuran, such as sura iv. 169, in which Muhammad calls himself one of the Apostles, their “seal”, it is true,² but not different from them in other respects. Just as the Apostles were sent to their umma’s, so he, as the Arabian Prophet, was sent to Arabia. In this connection it is important to consider the term ummī...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• CONTENTS
• PREFACE
• CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER II: THE “PILLARS OF ISLAM” AND THE “CONFESSION OF FAITH” (shahāda)
• CHAPTER III: FAITH, WORKS AND WILL
• CHAPTER IV: GOD AND THE WORLD
• CHAPTER V: THE CRISIS OF ISLAM AND ITS OUTCOME
• CHAPTER VI: THE FIḲH AKBAR I
• CHAPTER VII: THE WAṢĪYAT ABĪ ḤANĪFA
• CHAPTER VIII: THE FIḲH AKBAR II
• CHAPTER IX: THE LATER DEVELOPMENT OF THE CREED
• CITATIONS FROM THE KURAN
• REFERENCES
• GENERAL INDEX