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ʿAlī Qulī Jadīd al-Islām was an eleventh/seventeenth-century Christian convert to Islam who wrote several polemical works against Christianity and Judaism. His historical identity is not altogether clear. In his own writings he claims to have been a highly respected priest who had discovered the truth of Islam after a great deal of research and investigation, whereas independent historical evidence suggests that he was in fact an Augustinian Portuguese prior by the name of Antonio who converted to Islam in Isfahan in 1108/1696. ʿAlī Qulī wrote the following works in the field…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies 1. Terminology. Theories of transmigration, which go back to the pre-Socratics of the 6th and 5th centuries bce (Empedocles, Pythagoras, Orphism), presuppose a dualism of body and soul. They hold that a human birth is not a totally new creation but the reincarnation of a pre-existent soul. Repeated incarnations extend not only to human beings of all classes and stations but also to flora and fauna; their purpose is the eschatological purification of the soul from ritual and ethic…

Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. Aḥmad Ibn Mattawayh (or Mattūya; fl. fifth/eleventh century) was a Muʿtazilī theologian and jurisprudent, who belonged to the Bahshamī branch of the movement, founded by Abū Hāshim al-Jubbāʿī (d. 321/933). 1. Life In his biographical work on Muʿtazilī scholars, al-Ḥākim al-Jishumī (d. 494/1101) mentions Ibn Mattawayh near the end of his list of the twelfth generation, comprising the disciples and companions of the qāḍī l-quḍāt ʿAbd al-Jabbār al-Hamadhānī (d. 415/1025) (Sayyid 389). This suggests that Ibn Mattawayh joined ʿAbd al-Jabbār a…

generally referred to, using his title, as "ʿAllāma Ḥelli," prominent Imami theologian and jurist (1250-1325). A version of this article is available in printVolume XII, Fascicle 2, pp. 164-169 ḤELLI, ḤASAN B. YUSOF B. MOṬAHHAR, generally referred to, using his title, as "ʿAllāma Ḥelli," prominent Imami theologian and jurist (b. Ḥella, 27 or 29 Ramażān 648/23 or 25 December 1250; d. Ḥella, 20 or 21 Moḥarram 726/27 or 28 December 1325).LIFEḤelli came from a well-established family of Shiʿite scholars. His father, Sadid-al-Din Yusof Moṭahhar (d. after 665/1267), was…

A religious movement in early Islam, the Muʿtazila became the dominant theological school in the third/ninth and fourth/tenth century (see theology and the qurʾān ). The movement was allegedly founded by Wāṣil b. ʿAṭāʾ (d. 131/728-9) who was towards the end of his life joined by ʿAmr b. ʿUbayd (d. 143/760 or 144/761), a prominent disciple of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110/728). Most issues related to the incubation phase of the movement as well as the original meaning of the term Muʿtazila — which has the sense of “those who dissociate themselve…

The predetermined course of events in general and of human actions and eternal ¶ fate in particular, a condition foreordained by divine will or human will, a real or imaginary impersonal power or agency. From the first Islamic centuries, the question of the agency of human works and eternal destiny was a widely discussed controversy among Muslim theologians — whether they are ordained by God's decree or whether they are executed by man himself (see freedom and predestination; anthropomorphism; decision). Both determinists and non-determinists made reference to the Qurʾān i…

Any aspect of the language and style of the Qurʾān in which pairs are perceived as a structural element in the composition of the Qurʾān (see form and structure of the qurʾān ), such as any form of parallelism or repetition, pairs of synonymous, synthetic or antithetic terms or concepts, double divine epithets (see god and his attributes ) as well as aspects of the number two or use of the dual form (see numbers and enumeration ). Ethical dualism Throughout the Qurʾān, an antithetic or dual parallelism is observable in the admonitions to humankind (see exhortations ), in the descriptions of…

Concise and authoritative formulae that provide a summation of the essentials of faith (q.v.). Professions of faith or creeds (ʿaqāʾid, sing. ʿaqīda) were formulated by individual scholars and by groups of scholars, yet there exists no standard or universally accepted Muslim creed. Rather, there are a variety of Islamic creeds, which ¶ vary substantially in length, contents and arrangement. Although the Qurʾān does not proclaim any formal creed or compendium of faith, it does contain elements that form the basis for most creeds. First among these is the nature of God (see god …

[English Version] I. Religionswissenschaftlich 1.  Zum Begriff. Antike Lehren von der S. reichen zurück bis zu den Vorsokratikern des 6./5.Jh. v.Chr. (Empedokles, Pythagoras, Orphiker/Orphik), wobei ein Dualismus von Leib und Seele vorausgesetzt ist. Danach ereignet sich die Geburt eines Menschen nicht als ganzheitliche Neuschöpfung, sondern als Wiedereinkörperung einer präexistenten Seele. Wiederholte Einkörperungen schließen nicht nur Menschen jeden Standes, sondern auch Tiere und Pflanzen ein und d…