Beyond the Avicennian Turn: The Creeds of Muḥammad b. Yūsuf al-Sanūsī (d. 895/1490)
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Abstract
Even as a new historiographical narrative has emerged regarding post-Ġazālian kalām, one that forgoes assumptions of stagnation and posits instead a dynamic fusion with Avicennian philosophy, most studies so far have focused on the scholarly output of Persia and the broader Islamic East. This article aims to complement and complicate that research by analyzing the creedal writings of a major figure in the later theological history of the Islamic West, Muḥammad b. Yūsuf al-Sanūsī (d. 895/1490). Addressing the structure of these creeds, the citations of other scholars therein, and the treatment of the proof for the existence of God, I argue that al-Sanūsī positioned his theological project at a distance from what he considered the excessively philosophized kalām of Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1209-10) and his followers. I moreover suggest that understanding the creeds requires a greater appreciation for the Maghribi tradition of engagement with The Guide to Conclusive Proofs by Abū l-Maʿālī al-Ǧuwaynī (d. 478/1085).
Résumé
Même si un nouveau récit historiographique du kalām post-ġazālian a vu le jour en renonçant aux hypothèses de la stagnation et en posant une fusion plus dynamique qu’on le pense d’ordinaire avec la philosophie avicennienne, la plupart des études se sont jusqu’à présent concentrées sur la production savante de la Perse et de l’Orient islamique au sens large. Cet article vise à compléter et complexifier cette recherche en analysant les écrits dogmatiques d’une figure majeure de l’histoire théologique tardive de l’Occident islamique, Muḥammad b. Yūsuf al-Sanūsī (m. 895/1490). Abordant la structure de ces dogmes, à l’appui de citations d’autres érudits et du traitement de la preuve de l’existence de Dieu, je soutiens qu’al-Sanūsī a placé son projet théologique à distance de ce qu’il considérait comme le kalām excessivement philosophé de Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (m. 606/1209-10) et ses disciples. Je suggère en outre que la compréhension des dogmes nécessite une plus grande appréciation de la tradition maghrébine dans son rapport au Guide des preuves concluantes d’Abū l-Maʿālī al-Ǧuwaynī (m. 478/1085).
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Beyond the Avicennian Turn: The Creeds of Muḥammad b. Yūsuf al-Sanūsī (d. 895/1490)
In: Studia IslamicaSearch for other papers by Caitlyn Olson in
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Abstract
Even as a new historiographical narrative has emerged regarding post-Ġazālian kalām, one that forgoes assumptions of stagnation and posits instead a dynamic fusion with Avicennian philosophy, most studies so far have focused on the scholarly output of Persia and the broader Islamic East. This article aims to complement and complicate that research by analyzing the creedal writings of a major figure in the later theological history of the Islamic West, Muḥammad b. Yūsuf al-Sanūsī (d. 895/1490). Addressing the structure of these creeds, the citations of other scholars therein, and the treatment of the proof for the existence of God, I argue that al-Sanūsī positioned his theological project at a distance from what he considered the excessively philosophized kalām of Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1209-10) and his followers. I moreover suggest that understanding the creeds requires a greater appreciation for the Maghribi tradition of engagement with The Guide to Conclusive Proofs by Abū l-Maʿālī al-Ǧuwaynī (d. 478/1085).
Résumé
Même si un nouveau récit historiographique du kalām post-ġazālian a vu le jour en renonçant aux hypothèses de la stagnation et en posant une fusion plus dynamique qu’on le pense d’ordinaire avec la philosophie avicennienne, la plupart des études se sont jusqu’à présent concentrées sur la production savante de la Perse et de l’Orient islamique au sens large. Cet article vise à compléter et complexifier cette recherche en analysant les écrits dogmatiques d’une figure majeure de l’histoire théologique tardive de l’Occident islamique, Muḥammad b. Yūsuf al-Sanūsī (m. 895/1490). Abordant la structure de ces dogmes, à l’appui de citations d’autres érudits et du traitement de la preuve de l’existence de Dieu, je soutiens qu’al-Sanūsī a placé son projet théologique à distance de ce qu’il considérait comme le kalām excessivement philosophé de Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (m. 606/1209-10) et ses disciples. Je suggère en outre que la compréhension des dogmes nécessite une plus grande appréciation de la tradition maghrébine dans son rapport au Guide des preuves concluantes d’Abū l-Maʿālī al-Ǧuwaynī (m. 478/1085).
