KALM

KALM, meaning ilm al-kalm (the science of Kalm), is one of the branches of Islamic religious science. The common use of the wordkalm is word, words, or speech. The *Koran is called kalm Allh, i.e., the speech of God, and so, it was suggested, ilm al-kalm is "the science of the word [of God]." The exponent of Kalm is called mutakallim (lit. speaker, pl. mutakallimn). The Hebrew designation ha-medabberm and the Latin loquentes are equivalent to mutakallimn. The term Kalm, which represents the use of dialectics in theology, probably has antecedents in Greek (as derived from logos or dialexis) and Syriac (as derived from both maml, i.e. dialexis and mamlt allht, i.e., theology). Kalm is usually translated as "theology," although this rendering is inaccurate, and it is best to use "speculative theology." The theological arena in Sunnite *Islam consisted not only of the Mutazilite mutakallimn, who used logical argumentation, in order to prove some of the principles of religion (= ul al-dn), but mainly of traditionalist theologians, who were, and still are, the central trend of Islam. While Kalm gives precedence to human reason (= al) in the process of perceiving God and the world, Islamic traditional theology declares to draw its authority solely from divine revelation and tradition (= nal) and the teachings of the ancestors (= salaf) of the Muslim community. It should be noted, that even the Mutazilitemutakallimn could not be considered pure rationalists, because they rely to some extent upon divine revelation. Kalm is commonly identified with two rival schools in Sunnite Islam: the Mutazila, flourished as two separate schools in *Bara and*Baghdd from the first half of the 8th century until the middle of the 11th century, and the Ashariyya, founded in Bara in the first half of the 10th century. The eponym of the Ashariyya, Ab al-asan al-Ashar (d. 935) was a former Mutazilite, who used the rationalistic tools of theMutazila in order to defend the doctrines of traditional Islam and to defeat the Mutazila. Another important theological school is theMturdiyya-anafiyya, probably founded in central Asia in the 11th century.

The beginning of Kalm is by all means connected to the Arab conquests of *Iraq and *Persia in the 7th century, when the relatively young Muslim community came into contact with Hellenistic philosophical thought, both Christian and non-Christian, and with other religious doctrines, mainly Mazdaean and Manichaean. Public debates with holders of well-established faiths increased the need to use various rationalistic tools in order to defend Islamic doctrines and articles of faith (ada pl. aid), whose origins are to be found in the Koran andadth (= prophetic traditions), and to uproot what was perceived as heretical concepts (= zandaa), infiltrated into Islamic thought. According to al-Tahnaw (d. circa 1745): "[ilm al-kalm] is the science, which enables one to assert the authenticity of religious beliefs and [discredit] others by giving proofs and dispelling doubts" (al-Kashshf, vol. 1, p. 22). The mutakallimn comprehended their occupation as two-fold: on the one hand, Kalm is a process of a pure intellectual speculation in search of the ultimate truth, that is "to grasp the unity of God, and study the essence of God and His attributes" (al-Ghazl, Iy ulm al-dn, vol. 1, p. 25); on the other hand, Kalm is a system of defense and attack. Defeating the adversary by using various dialectical instruments is the main feature of Kalm. Alongside the use of analogy (= iys), one of the prominent methods of Kalm is ilzm, which means forcing the adversary to admit heretical or absurd views, drawn from his own set of arguments. Most of the activity of the mutakallimn was in the inner circles of Islam, mainly against Sunnite traditionalist theologians. Nevertheless, the boundaries between the two groups were never definite. Although traditionalist scholars prohibited practicing Kalm and debating withmutakallimn, Kalm's methods had a huge impact upon them. For example, Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328), who belonged to the ultra-traditionalist anbalite movement, used Mutazilite theses and argumentations in his dispute with the Asharites about predestination and free will. Another group challenged by Kalm and labeled as heretics were the Muslim philosophers, in spite of the resemblance between Kalm's areas of interest and that of falsafa (= Muslim philosophy). The most elaborate endeavor in that direction is Tahfut al-Falsifa (= The Incoherence of the Philosophers) by the Asharite theologian *al-Ghazl (d. 1111). The philosophers, on their part, attacked ilm alkalm and refuted its tenets and methods, as reflected in Ibn Rushd's (= Averroes, d. 1198) Tahfut al-Tahfut (= The Incoherence of the Incoherence). Main Themes in Kalm All Kalm manuals, after introducing the sources of knowledge of God and the world, viz. human reason and divine revelation, prove the existence of God and the creation of the world by using the proof from accidents, which is based on the

doctrine of atoms. According to this doctrine, reality is made up of indivisible atoms with concomitant accidents, which exist only for an instant. Therefore, in every instant God is creating the world anew; there are no intermediate causes. This Islamic occasionalism allows for creation from nothing. A point of dispute between the Mutazila and the Ashariyya is the denial of anthropomorphism (= tashbh). This theme is derived from numerous Qurnic verses, which ascribe human properties to God. The Mutazila denied the figurative interpretation and applied allegorical interpretation to these verses. The Ashariyya for their part used the doctrine of bi-l kayfa, which means believing the Qurnic formulae without trying to explain them. The question of the unity of God (= tawd), which is actually a cluster of problems, such as proving the existence of God, proving the creation of the world and explaining divine attributes, set out numerous points of dispute between the Mutazila and the Ashariyya. In the question of divine attributes (= ift), for example, the Mutazila denied their real existence, while the Ashariyya stressed their independent status. The Mutazila asserted man's free will, while stating that man creates his own good and bad actions, due to the power God grants him beforehand, and therefore he is liable to reward and punishment. The Ashariyya, on the other hand, emphasized that God, as a creator of all things, creates all human actions. Man's responsibility over his actions is maintained by using the doctrine of kasb (lit. acquisition), according to which, when God creates man's acts he also creates in him the ability to "acquire" them. Designed to provide for man's responsibility for his actions, this doctrine is not far removed, if at all, from complete determinism. The Kalm manuals discuss in length various topics regarding theodicy, eschatology and the status of prophecy. A major issue concerns the created or uncreated character of the Koran, and whether it exists as a divine attribute from all eternity. Shiite Islam embraced Mutazilite theses as part of its doctrine from the 9th century, so in a sense they are current to some extent even nowadays. The Asharite manuals are being studied in Sunnite madrasas (= religious boarding schools) alongside the works of the traditionalists. [Livnat Holtzman (2nd ed.)] Influence on Jewish Philosophy The influence of Kalm, in its Mutazilite version only, on Jewish thinkers, both *Karaite and Rabbanite, during the Middle Ages was considerable. The earliest Jewish philosopher who was also influenced by Kalm was David ibn

Marwan al-*Mukammis (first half of ninth century), who may have received it from his Christian teachers. It also had a great impact on *Saadiah Gaon. Mutazilite influence is visible from the very opening of Saadiah's Book of Doctrines and Beliefs, which begins with a demonstration of the createdness of the world and proceeds to deduce from this the existence of a creator. The very structure of Saadiah's theological masterpiece follows the order of the five Mutazilite theses previously mentioned. Most of his proofs of the noneternity of the world are derived from the Kalm, except that Saadiah did not hold the theory of atomism. Saadiah uses Kalm arguments, as well, in proving the unity of God, and his doctrine of attributes is similar to that of the Mutazilah. In treating the commandments, Saadiah distinguishes between rational and revealed commandments, thus sharing the Mutazilite distinction. In positing a future world in which children and animals will find reward for suffering in this world, Saadiah merely repeats a doctrine based on the Mutazilite sense of justice. In general, one may say that through Saadiah the Mutazilite Kalmexercised enormous influence on Jewish thought throughout the Middle Ages. *Samuel b. Hophni (d. 1013) followed closely the Mutazilite system in its Basran version. His son in law *Hai Gaon, did so to a lesser extent. Traces of the speculation of the Kalm are to be found in*Baya ibn Paquda and Joseph ibn Zaddik's proofs of creation. *Maimonides expounded and refuted kalamic doctrine in detail in the Guide of the Perplexed (1:7376), although he did mention that his own point of view resembles the Kalm in certain respects (ibid., 2: 19). The influence of Kalm on Karaite thinkers was very pronounced. Its earliest attestations are found in the formulation of normative beliefs by al-*Qumisi (late 9th century). It had become accepted by most medieval Karaite thinkers. Joseph b. Abraham haKohen *al-Bar wrote theological works that follow closely the Basran Mutazilah both in structure and in contents, and so did his disciple *Jeshua ben Judah. They even accepted the doctrine of atoms. As late as the 14th century, *Aaron ben Elijah the Younger of Nicomedia defended the Kalm outlook in his E ayyim, which was intended to be the Karaite counterpart of Maimonides' Guide. [Lawrence V. Berman / Haggai Ben-Shammai (2nd ed.)]
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