Qadariyah

Not to be confused withQadiriyyah,a Sufi order founded in the twelfth century AD.

Qadariyyah(Arabic:قدرية,romanized:Qadariyya), alsoQadaritesorKadarites,fromqadar(قدر), meaning "power",was originally a derogatory term designating early Islamic theologians who rejected the concept ofpredestination in Islam,qadr,and asserted that humans possess absolutefree will,making them responsible for their actions, justifying divine punishment and absolving God of responsibility for evil in the world.Some of their doctrines were later adopted by theMu'tazilisand rejected by theAsh'aris.They argued that evil actions of human beings could not be decreed by God, as they would have to be if there was no free will and all events in the universe were determined by God.

Qadariyyah was one of the first philosophical schools in Islam.The earliest document associated with the movement is thepseudoepigraphicaltextRisalaattributed toHasan al-Basri,which was composed between 75 AH/694 CE and 80/699, though debates about free will in Islam probably predate this text.According to Sunni sources, the Qadariyah were censured byMuhammadhimself by being compared toZoroastrians,who likewise denypredestination.

Sources

The medieval sources upon which information about the Qadariya is based includeRisālat al-qadar ilā ʿAbd al-Malik(Epistle to ʿAbd al-Malik against the Predestinarians) which is incorrectly ascribed toHasan al-Basri;anti-Qadari letters byHasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyahand CaliphUmar II;the work of the 9th-century Islamic scholar Khushaysh; the list of Qadarites byIbn Qutayba,Ibn Hajar,al-Suyuti,Ibn al-Murtadaandal-Dhahabi;scattered references to the Qadariya in the work ofal-Tabari;and counter-Qadari polemics in the standardhadithcollections ofSahih Muslim.

InSunan Abu Dawood,it is narratedAbdullah ibn Umarthat the Prophet said, "The Qadariyyah are theMagiansof this community. If they are ill, do not pay a sick visit to them, and if they die, do not attend their funerals. "

Another report states "To every Ummah there is a magian and the magian of this ummah are those who reject the Qadr. If anyone amongst them dies, do not attend their funeral, and if anyone amongst them becomes sick don’t visit them and they are Shiat ad-Dajjal and it is the right of God to join them with the Dajjal.” (Sunan Abi Dawud 4692)

In another Hadith attributed to ProphetMuhammadinSunan Ibn Majahthe Qadariyah along with theMurji'ahare excommunicated fromIslam,“'There are two types of people among this Ummah who have no share of Islam: The Murji'ah and the Qadariyyah.'"

HanafijuristAbu Ja'far al-Tahawidescribed the Qadariya group denies (negates) God's will for the actions of the mortals and believe the will for the mortals are absolute.

See also

• Mu'tazili
• Ma'bad al-Juhani
• Jabariyah,a contrasting Islamic school of thought

Bibliography

• Islamic Philosophy A-Z, Peter S. Groff and Oliver Leaman. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007.ISBN0-7486-2089-3.
• An Introduction to Islam, David Waines, Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.ISBN0-521-53906-4.
• Van Ess, J. (1978)."Ḳadariyya".Invan Donzel, E.;Lewis, B.;Pellat, Ch.&Bosworth, C. E.(eds.).The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.Volume IV: Iran–Kha.Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 368–372.OCLC758278456.