Islamic Philosophy from Its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the ...

CHAPTER 3
Al-¡ikmat al-Ilåhiyyah and Kalåm
In trying to understand the role of philosophy within the context of
the Islamic tradition in its totality, one of the most interesting subjects
to investigate is the relation between later Islamic philosophy in its
metaphysical aspects or what came to be known as al-÷ikmat al-ilåhiyyah
and kalåm which is usually translated as Islamic theology in Western
languages. When we speak of al-÷ikmat al-ilåhiyyah we do not mean
simply the ilåhiyyåt of the works of Muslim Peripatetics such as Ibn
S¥nå and Ibn Rushd, nor the ÷ikmah to which some of the theologians
such as Fakhr al-D¥n Råz¥ refer as being synonymous with kalåm. Rather,
we mean that blend of rational philosophy, illumination, gnosis, and
the tenets of revelation that formed into a synthesis after Suhraward¥
and to a large extent, thanks to him, that reached its peak with S • adr
al-D¥n Sh¥råz¥ and his students. 1 In this chapter we wish to examine
the relation between the followers of the school of al-÷ikmat al-ilåhiyyah,
or ÷ikmat-i ilåh¥ (especially that part concerned with “the general
principles” (al-um¶r al-‘åmmah) and kalåm. Although not all the
÷ukamå˘ of this school have the same view concerning kalåm, there
is enough unity of view among them to warrant such a study, in
the same way that one can speak of the relation between mashshå˘¥
philosophy and kalåm even though not all of the Muslim Peripatetic
philosophers have held the same views concerning kalåm.
In the history of the struggle and reciprocal influence between
falsafah and kalåm in Islam, we can, for the sake of the present discussion,
distinguish five periods:
1. The earliest period, from the beginning to the end of the third/
ninth century, when the Mu‘tazilite school was dominant in kalåm,
and falsafah was passing through its period of genesis and early
development with such figures as Árånshahr¥ and al-Kind¥ and
his students. This period was one of distinct but parallel developments
and of close association between falsafah and kalåm in an
atmosphere of more or less relative mutual respect, at least in the
case of al-Kind¥ himself, although from the side of kalåm certain
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