Abdal Hakim Murad - The Cambridge Companion to Islamic Theology

15 Eschatology
marcia hermansen
Given the great interpretive diversity within Islam and the absence of a
central institution that might limit and define authoritative doctrine,
throughout Islamic intellectual history the tension between literal
approaches to revelation and the interpretive limitations of human
reason as respective sources of truth has been a recognised constant.
Even today, disagreements on eschatological teachings often echo the
early debates of ninth-century Baghdad between the Mu‘tazila and the
literalist H _
anbalites, or reflect other tensions that emerged at various
intermediate points of that spectrum. While the Qur’an and the prophetic
legacy are the shared sources of all legitimate Islamic doctrine and
symbolism, they have throughout history been read in disparate ways,
reflecting sectarian and interpretive divergences. It would therefore be
futile to present Muslim theological positions on eschatology as if there
were a consensus regarding each detail of what is expected at the end of
time. By their very nature, eschatological doctrines test the limits of our
rational and customary experience, thereby reminding us of the fragility
of our attachment to conditions that strike us now as unquestionably
real.
Eschatology embraces not only teachings about death, resurrection,
immortality and judgement, but also the tradition’s understanding of
beginnings, the meaning of history and the direction and purpose
towards which everything in creation tends. Theologically it orients our
ultimate purpose, and this should be central in its interpretation.
The various symbols and elements found in revealed sources or woven
into the tradition throughout history invite exegesis. In terms of determining
the authenticity of any given interpretation one may consult
the opinions of recognised classical scholars, not so much in terms of the
specifics of their individual allegorical paradigms, but rather on
the epistemological foundations of their constructions of truth. For
example, the Sunnı (and particularly the Ash‘arite) position is to accept
revealed truth, especially in matters pertaining to the realm of the
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