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, «si Dieu veut», «s’il plaît à Dieu». L’expression est appelée habituellement istit̲h̲nāʾ, «formule d’exception» (ou «de conditionnement», trad. H. Laoust). Elle signifie que Dieu seul est maître de tout événement, ainsi que des pensées, des actes, des projets de l’homme. En pays d’Islam, le langage courant lui conditionne tout avenir, même proche. Cette formule, dit L. Massignon ( Passion, 585), «est restée le signe distinctif, la parabole type de la vie sociale, pour la Communauté islamique». L’ in s̲h̲aʾ Allāh — ou un équivalent — revient maintes fois dans le Ḳurʾān, su…

, prévaricateur, coupable de fisḳ, c’està-dire qui a commis une ou plusieurs «grandes fautes» ( kabāʾir). La plupart des auteurs de ʿilm al-kalām évitent d’étendre le «nom» de fāsiḳ au croyant qui ne se rend coupable que de «petites fautes» ( ṣag̲h̲ā ʾir). «Le nom et le statut» ( al-ism wa-l-ḥukm) du fāsiḳ est l’un des axes de la problématique du kalām. L’origine en remonte à la bataille de Ṣiffīn et à la question que se posèrent alors les Croyants: qu’en est-il de la destinée terrestre et de la destinée future du chef musulman, puis de tout Musulman pécheur. Deux courants initiaux:—a. Les Ḵ…

, terme technique venu du grec ὕλη: «matière» opposée à «forme», ṣūra (εἶδοΣ), et plus précisément «matière première» au sens philosophique. Le mot arabe correspondant est mādda; notons le sens parfois très voisin de ʿunṣur, élément. Au IIIe-IVe/IXe-Xe s., le terme hayūlā sera courant dans les traductions du grec et les recherches et systèmes qui s’en inspirent. Au gré des tendances d’écoles et des auteurs, tantôt hayūlā se substitue à mādda, tantôt s’en distingue comme «matière première» se distingue de «matièie seconde»; mais fréquemment, les deux termes sont co…

(a.; pl. ḥud̲j̲ad̲j̲), à la fois preuve et présentation de la preuve. Le terme est ḳurʾānique et s’applique à tout argument cherchant à prouver aussi bien le faux («argument sans valeur») que le vrai («argument péremptoire»). Les hommes ne doivent avoir nulle ḥud̲j̲d̲j̲a contre Dieu (IV, 165); et s’ils argumentent ( yuḥād̲j̲d̲j̲ūna) contre Lui, cet argument est sans valeur à Ses yeux (XLII, 16; cf. XLV, 25). Car c’est à Dieu qu’appartient «l’argument péremptoire» (VI, 149); et c’est Dieu qui donna à Abraham l’argument (péremptoire) contre son peuple (VI, 83). — Au sens de «preuve», ḥud̲j̲…

Abū l-Maʿālī ʿAbd al-Malik, fils du précédent, célèbre sous son nom honori- fique d’Imām al-Ḥaramayn, né le 18 muḥarram 419/17 février 1028 à Bus̲h̲tanikān, village des environs de Nīsābūr; il continua l’enseignement de son père à la mort de celui-ci, avant même d’avoir atteint sa vingtième année. Il se rattachait à l’école de ʿilm al-kalām inaugurée par Abū l-Ḥasan al-As̲h̲ʿarī au début du IVe/Xe siècle. Or, ʿAmīd al-niulk al-Kundurī, vizir du Sald̲j̲ūḳide Tog̲h̲rul Beg, se prononça contre cette «innovation», et fit maudire dans les chaires les As̲h̲ʿarite…

A la double idée de la racine: pureté et salvation, la IVe forme joint celle de se vouer et se dévouer à, se consacrer à. Ik̲h̲lāṣ est par excellence une vertu intérieure du Musulman fidèle, qui évoque à la fois la pureté sans mélange (et donc la sincérité) de l’acte religieux, le culte pur (exclusif) voué à Dieu, et le dévouement pur (absolu) à l’égard de Dieu et de la Communauté des Croyants. La perfection de l’adhésion de foi et du témoignage de foi se mesure à l’ ik̲h̲lāṣ et à I’ iḥsān (la droiture dans le bien). Le Ḳurʾān use fréquemment du participe muk̲h̲liṣ, celui qui se voue à Dieu, qui L…

, création absolue, innovation primordiale. — Le terme lui-même n’est pas ḳurʾānique; mais le Ḳurʾān nomme Dieu Badīʿ, Créateur absolu, Innovateur. Les deux versets II, 117 et VI, 101 affirment que Dieu est « Créateur ( badīʿ) des cieux et de la terre»: entendons, au sens obvie, de toute chose. Les commentateurs souligneront que Dieu est dit badīʿ pour la création (absolue) des cieux et de la terre, et k̲h̲āliḳ pour la création ( k̲h̲alḳ) de l’homme («fait d’argile», LV, 14). Autre distinction à base ḳurʾānique: le texte oppose maintes fois «la première création» à la «deuxi…

, mot qui se trouve employé une seule fois dans le Ḳurʾān (CVIII, 1): «Oui, nous t’avons donné al-kawt̲h̲ar» (et la brève sourate CVIII reçut le nom de sūrat al-kawt̲h̲ar). Le mot vient de la racine KT̲H̲R «être abondant», selon la forme fawʿal qui n’est pas rare (p. ex. nawfal; autres exemples dans Brockelmann, Grundriss Aer vergleichenden Grammatik, I, 34). Kawt̲h̲ar, qui se retrouve dans la poésie ancienne (v. citations dans Ibn His̲h̲ām, éd. Wüstenfeld, 261, et Nöldeke-Schwally, Geschichte des Qorāns, I, 92), signifie «abondance». Quelques anciens auteurs de tafsīr interprètent ka…

(A.), «gain», «acquisition», «appropriation», est employé tant dans le domaine spirituel et théologique que dans le domaine matériel. I. — Aspect matériel. Nul n’ignore que l’Islam, dans ses principales tendances de pensée, est une doctrine non pas de renonciation au monde, mais de respect des commandements de Dieu dans l’usage fait de ce monde, qu’il a donné à l’homme pour qu’il en profite. Il n’y a donc en particulier aucune objection à réaliser, pourvu que ce soit par des moyens ¶ licites, les gains nécessaires à l’amélioration de la vie de soi-même et des siens. Le Prop…

, (ar.) terme technique du ʿ ilm al-kalām («théologie»), dont l’usage est fréquent, v.g. commentateurs de Taftazānī, Bād̲j̲ūrī, etc., au service d’une notion, et d’une répartition des traités, qui remontent au moins au VIe/XIIe s. avec Fak̲h̲r al-dīn al-Rāzī, et seront précisées au VIIIe/XIVe s. avec Id̲j̲ī, Taftazānī, Ḏj̲urd̲j̲ānī. — Ce terme réfère à l’expression plus ancienne de al-ʿ ulūm al-ʿ aḳliyya, venue de la falsafa, désignant le savoir rationnel (et naturel) que la raison (ʿ aḳl) peut acquérir ¶ par elle-même. G̲h̲azzālī l’utilisera volontiers (cf. Iḥyāʾ, III) et l’oppo…

, remémoration. «Remémore-toi ( ud̲h̲kur) ton Seigneur quand tu auras oublié» (Ḳurʾān, XVIII, 24). Donc: l’acte de faire souvenir, puis la mention orale du souvenir, spécialement la répétition inlassable d’une oraison jaculatoire, enfin la technique même de cette mention. — En taşawwuf, le d̲h̲ikr est la forme de prière la plus fréquente peut-être, son muḳābal («corrélatif-opposé») étant le fikr [ q.v.], réflexion (discursive), méditation. Dans ses Ṭawāsīn, al-Ḥallād̲j̲, à propos de l’« ascension nocturne» de Muḥammad, déclare également légitimes la route qui …

(a.), action de se lever, de surgir, résurrection. La racine ḳwm est très fréquemment utilisée dans la langue ḳurʾānique. Ḳiyāma y revient 70 fois, et toujours dans l’expression yawm al-ḳiyāma « le jour de la résurrection ». La résurrection des corps succède à l’anéantissement de toute créature ( al-fanāʾ al-muṭlaḳ), et précède le «jugement» ( dīn), le «jour du jugement», yawm al-dīn. Telle sera l’Heure dernière ( al-Sāʿa). Al-Sāʿa, yawm al-ḳiyāma, yawm al-din, pris comme un tout, sont l’une des «croyances nécessaires» qui définissent le contenu de la foi musulmane. A noter que le terme n…

, Géhenne (hébreu gē-ḥinnōm, vallée de la Géhenne); le mot arabe évoque étymologiquement l’idée de «profondeur» (cf. infernus). Très souvent employé dans le Ḳurʾān comme synonyme de nār («feu»), d̲j̲ahannam doit se rendre alors par l’idée générale d’enfer. Il en est de même dans les traditions. Par la suite, des exégètes et maints traités de kalām (ou de taṣawwuf) lui donneront une acception particularisée. C’est à l’article Nār que nous renvoyons la description de l’enfer musulman, les problèmes qui s’y rapportent et donc les références aux versets coraniques qui parlent de d̲j̲ahann…

, appeal, invocation (addressed to God) either on behalf of another or for oneself ( li...), or else against someone ( ʿalā ...); hence: prayer of invocation, calling either for blessing, or for imprecation and cursing, connected with the Semitic idea of the effective value of the spoken word. Cf. Ḳurʾān XVII, 11: “Man prays for evil as he prays for good”.— Duʿāʾ therefore will have the general sense of personal prayer addressed to God, and can often be translated as “prayer of request”. I.—The scope and practice of duʿāʾ . 1. In the Ḳurʾān, duʿāʾ always keeps its original meaning of invo…

(a.), the action of raising oneself, of rising, and of resurrection. The root ḳ-w-m is employed very frequently in the language of the Ḳurʾān. Ḳiyāma occurs there seventy times, always in the expression yawm al-ḳiyāma “the day of resurrection”. The resurrection of bodies follows the annihilation of all creatures ( al-fanāʾ al-muṭlaḳ ), and precedes the “judgment” ( dīn ), the “day of judgement” ( yawm al-dīn ).This will be the Last Hour ( al-sāʿa ). Al-sāʿa , yawm al-ḳiyāma and yawm al-dīn, taken as a whole constitute one of the “necessary beliefs” which determine the content…

, pl. afkār , thought, reflection. The Ḳurʾān employs the 2nd and 5th forms of the root fkr , to urge men “to reflect”. In the vocabulary of falsafa and ʿilm al-kalām , the maṣdar fikr denotes the intellectual faculty in the act of thought, reflecting upon an object of intellection. It is distinguished from idrāk , the intellectual faculty of grasping, of perception. The result of the operation of fikr is expressed by the noun of unity fikra . In taṣawwuf , fikr is used habitually in contrast to d̲h̲ikr [ q.v.], recollection. Fikr can thus be translated by reflectio…

, proper name of the devil, probably a contraction of διάβολος. A different etymology has been suggested by D. Künstlinger, in RO, vi, 76 ff.; ¶ the Arab philologists consider that Iblīs derives from the root bls , “because Iblīs has nothing to expect ( ublisa ) from the mercy of God”. He is also known as ʿAduww Allāh (the enemy of God) and al-ʿAduww (the Enemy). Finally he is given the common name of al-s̲h̲ayṭān [ q.v.]. In the Ḳurʾān he appears at two points in the story of the beginning of the world. (1) When God had created Adam [ q.v.] from clay and had breathed into him the spirit of life…

, Abū ’l-Maʿālī ʿAbd al-Malik , son of the preceding, celebrated under his title of Imām al-Ḥaramayn, born 18 Muḥarram 419/17 February 1028 at Bus̲h̲tanikān, a village on the outskirts of Nīsābūr; after his father’s death, he continued the latter’s teaching even before he was twenty years old. He was connected with the school of ʿilm al-kalām inaugurated by Abū ’l-Ḥasan al-As̲h̲ʿarī at the beginning of the 4th/10th century. But ʿAmīd al-Mulk al-Kundurī, vizier of the Sald̲j̲ūḳ Tug̲h̲rul Beg, declared himself against This “innova…

, God the Unique one, the Creator and Lord of the Judgment, polarizes the thought of Islam; He is the sole reason for its existence. ¶ Allāh was known to the pre-Islamic Arabs; he was one of the Meccan deities, possibly the supreme deity and certainly a creator-god (cf. Ḳurʾān, xiii, 16; xxix, 61, 63; xxxi, 25; xxxix, 38; xliii, 87). He was already known, by antonomasia, as the God, al-Ilāh (the most likely etymology; another suggestion is the Aramaic Alāhā ).—For Allāh before Islam, as shown by archaeological sources and the Ḳurʾān, see ilāh . But the vague notion of supreme (not sole) di…

(a., pl. ʿālamūn , ʿawālim ), world. 1. The word is found as early as the Ḳurʾān, where in borrowed formulae we have references to the rabb al-ʿālamīn and the seven samawāt . Allāh is its lord and creator who has created it for man as a sign of his omnipotence. This transitory world [ dunyā ) is of little value—"not worth the wing of a midge" is the traditional expression—in comparison with the next ( āk̲h̲ira ). We are told very little about the structure of the world [cf. the article k̲h̲alḳ ]; the subjects of interest, in the Ḳurʾān as well as in Tradition, are God, the spiritual world and man. This bec…

, “compulsion, coercion”, as opposed to ik̲h̲tiyār , “freedom of choice”. Although the term itself, in its maṣdar form, does not belong to the language of the Ḳurʾān, the verbal use of the VIIIth form is of relatively frequent occurrence there. The idea is that of an absolute necessity ( ḍarūra ), by means of physical (secondarily moral) compulsion. I.— Iḍṭirār takes on its technical sense in connexion with the theory of human actions. It thus belongs to the vocabulary of the “science of kalām ” (the “theology” or rather the “defensive apologia” of Islam). …

, “if God wills”, “If it pleases God”. The expression is usually called istit̲h̲nāʾ , “formula of exception” (or “de conditionnement”, tr. H. Laoust). It means that God alone is the master of all that happens, as well as of the thoughts, acts and plans of man. In Islamic countries in ordinary speech it is used to qualify anything in the future, even the near future. Massignon describes this formula ( Passion , 585) as one which “est restée le signe distinctif, la parabole type de la vie sociale, pour la Communauté islamique”. The expression in s̲h̲āʾ Allāh —or an equiva…

(a.), faith (in God), maṣdar of the 4th form of the root ʾ mn. The root has the connotations of “being secure, trusting in, turning to”; whence: “good faith, sincerity” ( amana ), then “fidelity, loyalty” ( amāna ), and thus the idea of “protection granted” ( amān ). The fourth form ( āmana ) has the double meaning of “to believe, to give one’s faith” and (with bi) “to protect, to place in safety”. The root ʾ mn is one of those most frequently found in the vocabulary of the Ḳurʾān, where īmān means sometimes the act and sometimes the content of faith, sometimes bot…

— "The most Beautiful Names", these being the divine Names. "To God belong the most Beautiful Names—pray to Him, using (these Names)", Ḳurʾān, vii, 179. Cf. xvii, 110; xx, 8; lix, 24 etc. Pious Muslims have always revered the mystery of the Name, which at one and the same time both designates and veils the Named (cf. ḥid̲j̲āb al-ism ). The Theological question. A chapter of "Muslim theology" ( ʿilm al-tawḥīd ) is devoted to the divine Names. Problem stated: can one name God, and what, with regard to God, do the Names attributed to Him mean? Preliminaries: What is the name ( ism …

, capacity, power to act, maṣdar of the tenth form of ṭāʿ , to obey. If the term itself is not ḳurʾānic, the verb istaṭāʿ is used frequently in the text. Like its maṣdar, it was to become a technical ¶ term of the uṣūl al-dīn and the ʿilm al-kalām . The translation “capacity” is generally used (for example Tritton, Muslim Theology , London 1947, 68 and n. 2). Wensinckprefers “faculty”, others “power” ( pouvoir ). In this last sense, the ʿilm al-kalām readily considers ḳudra and istiṭāʿa to be identical (see remarks of ʿAbd al-D̲j̲abbār, S̲h̲arḥ al-uṣūl al-k̲h̲amsa , ed. …

, a term denoting, in the Ḳurʾān or ḥadīt̲h̲s , the smallest possible appreciable quantity. The Ḳurʾān uses it five times, in the expression mit̲h̲ḳāl al-d̲h̲arra , “the weight of a d̲h̲arra” ,—to extol the Omniscience of God (X, 61; XXXIV, 3), or His absolute Omnipotence (XXXIV, 20), or His supreme Justice in retribution: IV, 40 and the celebrated text XCIX, 7-8 “He who shall have done the weight of one d̲h̲arra of good shall see it; he who shall have done the weight of one d̲h̲arra of evil shall see it”. Commentators on the Ḳurʾān and interpreters of ḥadīt̲h̲s have explained d̲h̲arra by two im…

, “Garden”, is the term which, used antonomastically, usually describes, in the Ḳurʾān and in Muslim literature, the regions of the Beyond prepared for the elect, the “Companions of the right”. E.g.: “These will be the Dwellers in the Garden where they will remain immortal as a reward for their deeds on earth” (Ḳurʾān, XLVI, 14). Other Ḳurʾānic terms will be considered later either as synonyms or as particular aspects of the “Garden”: ʿAdn and D̲j̲annāt ʿAdn . (Eden, e.g., LXI, 12), Firdaws (“Paradise”, sg. farādis , cf. παράδεισος XXIII, 11), the Dwelling of Salvation or of Peace ( dār al-Sa…

, pl. afʿāl , actuation, act, and sometimes the result of an act, that is to say effectuation, effect. From its current usage in Arabic, this word very quickly became a technical term ( iṣṭilāḥ ), not only in grammar but also in falsafa and in ʿilm al-kalām . If ʿamal [ q.v.] designates the realms of ‘doing’ and ‘acting’ (whence ‘work’, human acts, and moral action), and thus has at least in its last meaning an ethical connotation, fiʿl refers above all to noetic and ontological values: the fact of actuating, of passing (or causing to pass) to the per…

(Ḳurʾānic term), “pious goodness” (R. Blachère’s translation; see Ḳurʾān, ii, 189). In the analysis of the spiritual states ( aḥwāl ) and the attitude of the soul towards God, it must at the same time be compared with and distinguished from taḳwā [ q.v.]. (L. Gardet)

The IVth form adds to the double idea of the root—purity and salvation—that of “dedicating, devoting or consecrating oneself” to something. Ik̲h̲lāṣ is pre-eminently an interior virtue of the faithful Muslim, which implies both the unadulterated purity (and thus sincerity) of religious actions, pure (exclusive) worship given to God and pure (absolute) devotion to God and the Community of Believers. The perfection of one’s adherence, and witness, to faith is gauged by ik̲h̲lāṣ and iḥsān (uprightness in good). The Ḳurʾān often uses the participle muk̲h̲liṣ , …

, Gehenna (Hebrew gēhinnōm , valley of the Gehenna); the Arabic word evokes etymologically the idea of “depth” (cf. infernus ). Used very often in the Ḳurʾān as a synonym of nār (“fire”), d̲j̲ahannam must accordingly be rendered by the general idea of Hell. The same is true in traditions. Exegetists and many treatises on kalām (or taṣawwuf ) were, subsequently, to give it a particularized connotation. The description of the Muslim Hell, the problems relating to it and consequently the references to verses in the Ḳurʾān mentioning d̲j̲ahannam, are considered in the article nār: here only …

(pl. ad̲j̲zāʾ), part, particle, term used in the technical language of kalām and of falsafa ¶ to describe the (philosophical) atom in the sense of the ultimate (substantial) part, that cannot be divided further, al-d̲j̲uzʾ allad̲h̲ī lā yatad̲j̲azzāʾ (cf. al-D̲j̲urd̲j̲ānī, Taʿrīfāt , ed. Flügel, Leipzig 1845, 78); al-d̲j̲uzʾ al-wāḥid is sometimes used. Synonym: “elementary and indivisible matter”: d̲j̲awhar fard ; al-d̲j̲awhar al-wāḥid allad̲h̲ī lā yanḳasim .—For other definitions of vocabulary see d̲h̲arra . Atomistic conceptions of the world (philosophical atomism) …

, the act of adhering firmly to something, hence a firmly established act of faith. In its technical sense, the term denotes firm adherence to the Word of God. It may be translated in European languages by the words “croyance”, “belief”, “Glauben”, with the proviso that this “belief” is not a simple “opinion” or “thinking” ( pensée ), but is the result of a deep conviction. As the root tʿ-ḳ-d indicates, the idea of a “knot”, a bond established by contract, persists. The VIIIth verbal form combines with this a greater measure of firmness and coherence. Iʿtiḳād recurs m…

, a word used only once in the Ḳurʾān (CVIII, 1: “Yes, we have given you al-kawt̲h̲ar” ); the short Sūra CVIII is given the name surāt al-kawt̲h̲ar . The word comes from the root K-T̲H̲-R “to be abundant” in the fawʿal formation, which is not rare ( e.g. nawfal: other examples in Brockelmann, Grundriss der vergleichenden Grammatik , i, 34). The kawt̲h̲ar which occurs in ancient ¶ poetry (see quotations in Ibn His̲h̲ām, ed. Wüstenfeld, 261, and Nöldeke-Schwally, Geschichte des Qorāns , i, 92) means “abundance”. Some ancient writers of tafsīr interpret kawt̲h̲ar in Ḳ…

, submission, total surrender (to God) — maṣdar of the IVth form of the root S L M . I. Definition and Theories of Meaning. 1.—Ḳurʾānic references. The “one who submits to God” is the Muslim, of which the plural Muslimūn occurs very often throughout the sūras. Islām , on the other hand, occurs only eight times there; but the word must be considered in conjunction with the fairly common use of the verb aslama in the two meanings which merge into one another, “surrender to God”(aninner action) and “profession of Islām” , that is to say adherence to the message of the Prophet. The eight occurrences of Is…

, (a.), technical term in ʿilm al-kalām (scholastic theology). Its use is common (see the commentators on al-Taftazānī, al-Bad̲j̲ūrī etc.), as expressing a certain concept, and to denote a genus of theological dissertations, which go back at least to the 6th/12th century with Fak̲h̲r al-Dīn al-Rāzī, and are clearly stated in the 8th/14th century by al-Īd̲j̲ī, al-Taftazānī and al-Ḏj̲urd̲j̲ānī. The term refers to the earlier expression al-ʿulūm al-ʿaḳliyya , derived from falsafa , signifying the rational (and natural) knowledge which the reason ( ʿaḳl) can acquire by itself. All…

, “decisive proof”, “clear demonstration”. The term is Ḳurʾānic and signifies a “brilliant manifestation”, a “shilling light” come from God (iv, 174), a “manifest proof” (xii, 24), which may take the form of that supreme argument of authority which is the miracle (xxviii, 32). In correlation, burhān is also the decisive proof which the infidels are called upon—in vain—to furnish as justification of their false beliefs (ii, 111; xxi, 24; xxiii, 117; xxvii, 64; xxviii, 75). The first connotation of burhān is not properly right discursive reasoning; it is rather the manifest e…

(a.). The two connotations of the root are g̲h̲āba ʿan , to be absent, and g̲h̲āba fī , to be hidden. In current usage, g̲h̲ayb (and especially g̲h̲ayba ) may signify “absence” (and g̲h̲ayba, correlated with s̲h̲uhūd , “presence”, may be a technical term of Ṣūfism); but more frequently g̲h̲ayb may indicate what is hidden, inaccessible to the senses and to reason—thus, at the same time absent from human knowledge and hidden in divine wisdom. It is to this second meaning that al-g̲h̲ayb refers, as a technical term of the religious vocabulary. It may then b…

, Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb , one of the most celebrated of the Muʿtazila [ q.v.]. Born at Ḏj̲ubbā in K̲h̲ūzistān, he attended the school at Baṣra of Abū Yaʿḳūb Yūsuf al-S̲h̲aḥḥām who at that time occupied the chair of Abu ’l-Hud̲h̲ayl al-ʿAllāf. He succeeded al-S̲h̲aḥḥām. and it can be said that he was able to add a final brilliance to the tradition of the masters, while at times he refreshed it and opened the way to new solutions. He died in 303/915-6. He thus holds a place in the line of the Baṣra Muʿtazila who, especially over the question of human actions, differ …

, I. Definition and general notion. It is usual to emphasize three distinct senses of dīn : (1) judgment, retribution; (2) custom, usage; (3) religion. The first refers to the Hebraeo-Aramaic root, the second to the Arabic root dāna , dayn (debt, money owing), the third to the Pehlevi dēn (revelation, religion). This third etymology has been exploited by Nöldeke and Vollers. We would agree with Gaudefroy-Demombynes ( Mahomet , 504) in not finding it convincing. In any case, the notion of “religion” in question is by no means identical in Maz…

, absolute creation, primordial innovation.— The term itself is not Ḳurʾānic, but the Ḳurʾān calls God Badīʿ , Absolute Creator, Innovator. The two verses II, 117 and VI, 101 assert that God is “Creator ( Badīʿ) of the heavens and the earth”: we should obviously understand by this, of everything. The commentators emphasize that God is called Badīʿ by virtue of His (absolute) creation of the heavens and the earth, and K̲h̲āliḳ by virtue of His creation ( k̲h̲alḳ ) of man (“made of clay”, LV, 14). There is another distinction founded on the Ḳurʾān: the text frequently contrasts “the…

(a.), pl. ḥud̲j̲ad̲j̲ , both proof and the presentation of proof. The term is Ḳurʾānic, and is applied to any argument—one that attempts to prove what is false (“worthless argument”), as well as one that attempts to prove what is true (“decisive argument”). Men should have no ) ḥud̲j̲d̲j̲a against God (IV, 165); if they argue ( yuḥad̲j̲d̲j̲ūna ) against Him, this argument is worthless in His eyes (XLII, 16; cf. XLV, 25). It is to God that “The decisive argument” belongs (VI, 149), and it was God who gave Abraham the (decisive) argument against his people (VI, 83). In the sense of “proof”, ḥud̲j̲d̲…

, reminding oneself. “Remind thyself of ( ud̲h̲kur ) thy Lord when thou forgettest” ( Ḳurʾān , XVIII, 24). Thus: the act of reminding, then oral mention of the memory, especially the tireless repetition of an ejaculatory litany, finally the very technique of this mention. In taṣawwuf the d̲h̲ikr is possibly the most frequent form of prayer, its muḳābal (“opposite correlative”) being fikr [ q.v.], (discursive) reflection, meditation. In his Ṭawāsīn , in connexion with Muḥammad’s “nocturnal ascension”, al-Ḥallad̲j̲ declares that the road which passes through “the garden of d̲h̲ikr” …

pl. ḳulub (a.), “heart”. I.— Mysticism In Ṣūfī terminology the “heart” plays a large part, for it is viewed both as the source of man’s good and evil aspirations and as the seat of learning or religious apprehension and of divine visitations. The ʿilm al-ḳulūb wa’ l-k̲h̲awāṭir , “science of hearts and movements of the soul”, owes its origin to al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, one of the earliest writers on taṣawwuf (cf. L. Massignon, La passion d’al-Ḥallād̲j̲ , Paris 1922, 468). The role allotted to “heart” in the personality and understanding of man is in strict conformity with Semitic…

, in the sense of kalām Allāh the Word of God, must here be distinguished from 1) kalām meaning ʿilm al-kalām [ q.v.], “defensive apologetics”, or “the science of discourse” (on God); and 2) kalima [ q.v.] which, in the expression kalimat Allāh , means “a” (single) divine utterance. Kalām Allāh is found at least three times in the Ḳurʾān (II, 75, IX, 6, XLVIII, 15). God spoke to the prophets (II, 253); He spoke “clearly” to Moses (IV, 164, VII, 143), who had been chosen to transmit His messages and His Word (VII, 144); God…

, unjust man, guilty of fisḳ ,—that is to say, one who has committed one or several “great sins” ( kabāʾir ). Most of the authors of ʿilm al-kalām ¶ avoid extending the term fāsiḳ to the believer who is guilty only of “lesser sins” ( ṣag̲h̲āʾir ). The “name and status” ( al-ism wa ’l-ḥukm ) of the fāsiḳ is one of the cardinal points discussed by the kalām . Its origin goes back to the battle of Ṣiffīn and to the question which believers then raised, as to the destiny on earth and the future destiny of the Muslim leader, and hence of all Muslims who sinned. Two initial trains of thought: a) the K̲h̲ārid…

, choice. For the use of the word as a juridical term, see k̲h̲iyār and naṣṣ ; in literary criticism, see naḳd ; in the sense of “elder”, see s̲h̲ayk̲h̲ . The immediately following article deals with the philosophical and theological senses of the word. As a philosophical term, ik̲h̲tiyār means free preference or choice, option, whence: power of choice, free will. The word itself is not Ḳurʾānic but is common in the vocabulary of ʿilm al-kalām and fiḳh. The VIIIth form of the verb is, however, used in the Ḳurʾān, always referring to a divine act. “I have chosen you ( ik̲h̲tartuka …

, maṣdar of g̲h̲afara , to forgive; refers to the two Ḳurʾānic Divine Names, al-g̲h̲afūr and al-g̲h̲affār , the Forgiver and He who unceasingly forgives. Thus: act of man forgiving an offence, but essentially: act of God forgiving sins. The term g̲h̲ufrān belongs to the vocabulary of ʿilm al-kalām , e.g. treatise on the “Last Things” ( al-waʿd wa ¶ ’l-waʿid ) and chapter on tawba ; and to the vocabulary of taṣawwuf , e.g. “dwelling-place” ( maḳām ) of repentance ( tawba). Frequent synonym: al-ʿafw , which places the emphasis on forgiveness conceived as (tota…

(a.), the spoken word, utterance; can be extended to mean “discourse” and “poem”. The falāsifa prefer to limit their discussion to the problems of grammar and logic: thus in the preamble to the Nad̲j̲āt (Cairo 2.1357/1938, 11) Ibn Sīnā defines kalima as “a single word ( lafẓa ) which refers to an idea and the length of time that this idea is applied to any indeterminate subject whatsoever; for example, when we say ‘he walked’.” Cf. also Manṭiḳ al-mas̲h̲riḳiyyīn , Cairo 1328/1910, 57-8, and p. 66 where kalima is given as a synonym for “that which grammarians call fiʿl ”. But according to the Is̲h̲ā…

, the act of lifting and tearing away the veil [which comes between man and the extra-phenomenal world]. Al-D̲j̲urd̲j̲ānī’s Taʿrīfāt (ed. Flügel, Leipzig 1845, 193) states that, according to the Arabic lexicon, kas̲h̲f means “to take away the veil”, but in technical terminology ( iṣṭilāḥ ) it means “to make appear in a complete and actual realisation the mysterious senses and the realities which are behind the veil”. It is worthy of note (see below) that this definition copies word-for-word a text of the Imāmī scholar…