Bahshamiyya

Bahshamiyya(Arabic:البهشمية,also known as "Ba Hashimiyya") was a Mu'tazili-influenced school of thought, rivaling the school ofAbd al-Jabbar ibn Ahmad,based primarily on the earlier teaching ofAbu Hashim al-Jubba'i,the son ofAbu 'Ali Muhammad al-Jubba'i.

Borne from Mu'tazila

Mu'tazilais a school of rationalistIslamic theologyknown as Kalam. Early practitioners stressed the supremacy of human reason and free-will(similar toQadariyya)and went on to develop an epistemology, ontology and psychology which provide a basis for explaining the nature of the world, God, man and religion. According to Mu'tazilis, good and evil are easily reconciled through human reason without esoteric methods.

TheMu'tazilaschool started in the 8th century; its iterative refinement continued from the late 10th century until mid-11th century CE. Mu'tazila was briefly the official theology of the Abbasid caliphs in the 9th century. The impact of Mu'tazila doctrine continues to be felt in primarily three groups:Shi'a(Ismai'li)Islam,Karaite Judaism,and to a much lesser extentRabbaniteJudaismof theSephardicRiteandYemenite rite.

Two Schools

Baghdad

Basra

class=notpageimage|

Babylon - Centers of Ancient scholarship

By the end of the 9th century Mu'tazila had split into two schools:

1. theBaghdad schoolIkhshīdiyya- followed modifications byAbu Yaqub Yusuf al-Shahham,who adopted the idea of "acquisition" (kasb, iktisab), applied it only to involuntary human actions, God-being, in their view, in no way the "cause" of free human actions; for al-Jubbai, on the contrary, God retains Supreme Power even over the actions which man performs freely. But, unlike the laterAsharinotion,Al-Jubba'irefuses to apply the theory of the kasb to free actions; and he calls man the "creator" (Khalik) of his actions, in the sense that man acts, or his actions proceed from him, with a determination (Qadar) which comes from God. Al-Jubbai had two pupils who later became celebrated 1) his son Abu Hashim and 2)Abu'l-Hasan al-Ash'ariwho, after breaking away, was to devote himself to refuting Mu'tazila and to become the "founder" of the so-called school of theAshariyya.The traditions of theilm al-kalamtake pleasure in recounting the dialogue reputed to have broughtAl-Ashariand his teacher into conflict on the subject of the fate of the "three brothers" -one pious, one impious and one who died infans. In this issue was posed the problem of the rational justification of the divine Decree. Al-Jubbai was unable to reply with a coherent answer and al-Ashari left him to start his own school.

2. theBasra SchoolBahshamiyya- see below

Bahshamiyya ascendance

The Basra school was led byAbū 'Alī al-Jubbā'īand his sonAbū Hāshim.Students and followers ofAbû Hâshimformed a sub-school known asthe Bahshamiyya.The most noteworthy practitioners were:

1.Abū 'Alī ibn Khallād

2.Abū 'Abd Allāh al-Basrī

3.Abū Ishāq ibn 'Ayyāsh

Abd al-Jabbār al-Hamadānī,a judge, was a student ofAbû 'Abd AllâhandAbû Ishâqand a very prolific author of Mu'tazili doctrine. One of 'Abd al-Jabbâr'sown students,Abu'l Husayn al-Basrī,was once thought to establish the last creative school of thought among the Mu'tazila -Husayniyya Mu'tazila.

Bahshamiyya Mu'tazila and Judaism

In Judaism (Rabbanite and Karaite)Bahshamiyya Mu'tazilawas adopted in Sura and Pumbeditha Academies of Babylon, in varying degrees, from the 9th century onwards. Jewish Gaonim composed works which reflected Mu'tazila influence as well as translated many of the Arabic Mu'tazila texts into Hebrew (i.e. Yûsuf al-Basîr'sal-Kitâb al-MuhtawîandKitâb al-Tamyîz). The influence ofBahshamiyya Mu'tazilaquickly became central to Jewish religious and intellectual life in the East - slowly migrating across North Africa with the Fatmimids and making it way to al-Andalus. Gaonim who embracedBahshamiyya Mu'tazilaincludedSamuel ben Hofni Gaonwho was familiar with the works ofIbn KhallâdandAbû 'Abd Allâh al-Basrîas well asSaadiah Gaon.

Mu'tazilî doctrines and terminology provided a basis for discussion and polemical exchanges between Jewish and Shi'a scholars. Virtually banned from Sunnî Islam, Mu'tazila doctrine remains an integral part of Islamic intellectual history. The rationalistic approach of Mu'tazila towards reasoned theological issues led to the classification of Mu'tazilîs asfreethinkerswithin Islam who had been deeply influenced by Greek philosophical thought and thus practiced apostasy and heresy. A similar attitude was assumed by Tosafists and Kabbalists towards "Jewish Kalam"

Discovery in Yemen

In the 1950s a number of manuscripts were discovered in the library of the Great Mosque in Sana'a, Yemen. These contained texts byAbû Hâshim al-Jubbâ'î,the Bahshamiyya; they also included 14 of 20 volumes of the encyclopedicKitâb al-Mughnî fî abwâb al-tawhîd wa-l-'adlofAbd al-Jabbâr al-Hamadhânî.Further writings by followers of the Bahshamiyya School that were found includedTa'lîq sharh al-usûl al-khamsa,a recension of theSharh usûl al-khamsaofAbd al-Jabbârby one of his followers,Mânakdîm,as well asal-Kitâb al-Majmû' fî l-muhît bi-l-taklîf,a recension of Abd al-Jabbâr'sal-Kitâb al-Muhît bi-l-taklîfbyIbn Mattawayh.However, no texts prior toAbd al-Jabbârwere discovered; the same applies to rival groups to the Bahshamiyya such as the Ikhshîdiyya, or the school of Baghdad, whose doctrines were to a large extent formulated byAbû l-Qâsim al-Ka'bî al-Balkhî.

In the Yemen discovery, the Bahshamiyya School was erroneously believed to have constituted the last innovative and dynamic school within Mu'tazilism; Wilferd Madelung and Martin MacDermott discovered fragments ofRukn al-Din Mahmud ibn Muhammad al-Malâhimî'sKitâb al-Mu'tamad fî usûl al-dîn.Ibn al-Malâhimî was a follower ofAbû'l-Husayn al-Basrî.Examination ofKitâb al-Mu'tamadproves thatAbû'l-Husayn al-Basrî's views differed from those of his teacherQadi Abd al-Jabbar.Ibn al-Malâhimî'sKitâb al-Mu'tamadwas published in 1991;Kitâb al-Fâ'iq fî usûl al-Dīnwas recently published.

Opponents of Bahshamiyya Mu'tazila

Dhammiyya

TheDhammiyya Shiawas aGhulatsect ofShia Islam.The nameDhammiyyawas derived from the Arabic worddhamm(to blame). Therefore, the Arabic nameDhammiyyais translated asThe Blamers.The "Blamers" was used forDhammiyya Shiabecause they believed that:

1. Ali was God, and,

2. Muhammad was his Messenger and Prophet, and,

3. Muhammad was to be blamed because he was sent by Ali to call the people to Ali, but called them to himself instead.

Dhammiyya Shiawas one of the sects that was considered derived from theSaba'iyyafollowers ofAbdullah Ibn Saba.The sect was also known as theUlyaniyyaorAlya'iyya,named afterUlyanorAlya ibn Dhira al-Asdi,and appear to have been active around 800 CE.

Ikhshîdiyya

Baghdadi Mu'tazili who fled Sunni Arabia to Egypt for safety under umbra of Shi'a Fatimid protection.

Kafuriyya

Indigenous North African Fatimids who were good enough to be recruited and die as soldiers yet excluded from Arab culture and society due to their skin-color.

Ka'biyya

Ka'biyya trace their name and origin toAbu'l-Qasim al-Ka'bi,a native of Baghdad. He refused to accept that Allah is all-hearing, all-seeing, and denied that Allah imposes his will upon man. According to his teaching, the will of Allah, in relation to the action of His servants, is the commandment to perform the act; therefore Allah's will in relation to Allah's own action is Allah's knowledge and the absence of constraint.

Abu'l-Qasim al-Ka'bialso maintained that the entire universe is a composite whole; that anything that moves is no more than the first layer of the physical bodies; that the human being, even if he were greased with oil and seemed to gliding on a sheet of oil, would not be what was actually in motion, since it would only be the oil that was moving.

He used to profess the doctrine that the Qur'an is muhdath [produced, originated—and therefore not existing from all eternity], but he did not refer to it as makhluq [created] - that would be apostasy and heresy.

See also

• Ash'ari
• Jewish Kalam
• Jahm bin Safwan
• Kalam
• Mihna
• Punishment of the Grave
• Islamic schools and branches

A systematic comparison of the doctrines of theBahshamiyyites(andAbu l-Husayn), was written between 1141 CE and 1276 CE byTaqî al-Dîn al-Bahrânî.This text illustrates the influence ofAbû l-Husaynhad on theological reasoning ofImâmî Shî'afrom the 12th century forward. The study of Jewish Mu'tazilism (Jewish Kalam) began within the last 150 years with the works of Schreiner and Munk. Schreiner and Munk, however, were not aware of the primary sources to be found among the various Genizah materials. Recent studies of Jewish Mu'tazilism were written by Harry Austryn Wolfson inRepercussions of the Kalam in Jewish Philosophy,andGeorges Vajdawritings regarding Yûsuf al-Basîr.Sarah Stroumsapublished the 'Ishrûn Maqâlaof the 9th century Jewish mutakallimDavid Ibn Marwan al-Mukammas . Abd al-Jabbarharmonized some of theMu'taziliviews withSunnidoctrine on the relation of reason and revelation, and came close to the Shi'ite position on the question of leadership (imama). He is also a significant source of information on ancient Iranian and other monotheistic religions.The Bahshamiyya school of thought held that the likeness of essential attributes entailed likeness of the essences themselves.