Sahl b. al-Faḍl al-Tustarī's Kitāb al-Īmāʾ more

Sahl b. al-Fa^l al-Tustari's Kitab al-Ima' Gregor Schwarb Introduction Al-Shaykh al-Jaffl, Abu 1-Fadl Sahl b. al-Fadl b. Sahl (Yashar b. Hesed b. Yashar) al-Tustan is the preeminent figure among Karaite intellectuals in the latter third of the 11th century.1 As a descendent of the Tustatfs ('al- Dasatira/Tasatira'), the illustrious family of Karaite notables, merchants, financiers and senior officials in the Fatimid court, his name has been familiar to historians of Jewish thought for more than a century.2 Yet little attention * I am indebted to S. Butbul, W. Madelung, and the editors of this journal for their critical remarks. 1 In MS London, British Library (hereafter BL), Or. 2572 (Institiute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts at the Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem, microfilm no. [hereafter "IMHM, F"] 6343), f. 5b (cat. Margoliouth, vol. 3, p. 199, no. 896) 'AH b. Sulayman calls al-Tustari "al-Shaykh al-Jalil". In other manuscripts the honorific title "al-Shaykh al-Fadil" is attributed to him [e.g. St. Petersburg, Russian National Library (hereafter RNL), Yevr.-Arab. I 1671 (IMHM, F 55212), f. la; St. Petersburg, RNL, Yevr.-Arab. I 1680 (IMHM, F 56257), f. la; St. Petersburg, RNL, Firk. Arab. 630, f. 8a], Isaiah ben 'Uzziyah gives al-Tustari the honorific title "ha-Sar ha-Gadol Yashar b. Hesed" (see S. Poznanski, "Der Karaer al-Mu'allim (oder al-Melammed) Fadil und seine Bearbeiter", in Monatsschrift fur Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums 65 (1921), pp. 134f.). 2 For the Tustari family see M. Gil, The Tustaris: The Family and the Sect, Tel Aviv 1981 [Hebrew]; idem, A History of Palestine, 634-1099, Cambridge 1992, p. 964 (index); idem, Jews in Islamic Countries in the Middle Ages, Leiden 2004, pp. 269-271, 663-675; S. D. Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, vol. 6, Berkeley, etc., 1993, p. 118 (index). For some additional information about the family's economic and political activities see M. Rustow, Rabbanite-Karaite Relations in Fatimid Egypt and Syria: A Study Based on Documents from the Cairo Genizah, unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University 2004, pp. 337-374. In A Ginzei Qedem 2 (2006) I 62* Gregor Schwarb has been paid until now to the contents of his works and the contours of his thought,3 and attempts to study the extant fragments of his literary output have begun only very recently.4 The absence of previous research was, however, not primarily a result of neglect and inattention, but rather an inevitable consequence of the notorious inaccessibility of the relevant manuscript collections in the former Soviet Union. These circumstances severely restricted serious research for decades. This article endeavours to reconstruct one of al-Tustari's major works, K. al-Ima' ilajawami' al-taklif 'ilman wa- 'amalan ("Book Intimating the Ensemble of Theoretical and Practical Components of the Obligation Imposed by God") and to provide a preliminary exploration of its structure and contents.5 Before turning to the book itself, it may be convenient to summarize the main points of previous research on al-Tustan's person and work. Previous research Because of the limited quantity of primary source material hitherto available containing information about al-Tustan's life and works, previous research on History of Palestine, p. 820, Gil asserts that Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustari was the great-grandson [sic!] of Abu Nasr al-Fadl (Hesed) al-Tustari (d. 1049) who was the older brother of the famous Abu Sa'd Ibrahim al-Tustari (d. 1047). For a family tree see Gil, Tustaris, p. 116, reproduced in Rustow, Rabbanite-Karaite Relations, p. 405. 3 Cf. H. Ben-Shammai, "Major Trends in Karaite Philosophy and Polemics in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries", in Karaite Judaism: A Guide to its History and Literary Sources, ed. M. Polliack, Leiden 2003, p. 357, n. 105. 4 See W. Madelung and S. Schmidtke, Rational Theology in Interfaith Communication: Abu l-Husayn al-Basn's Mu'tazilT Theology among the Karaites in the Fdtimid Age (Jerusalem Studies in Religion and Culture, 5), Leiden 2006. This publication includes an edition and annotated translation of three short texts extracted from al-Tustari's K. al-TalwTh, K. al-Tahrir and al-Maqdisiyat (see below). 5 This is the title of the book according to MS 1 (for details of the MSS of K. al-Ima' see the table below). MS 'N gives the title as K. al-Ima' ilajawami' al-taklTffll-'ilm wa-l-'amal. Gil, The Tustaris (n. 2 above), p. 64 and idem, Jews in Islamic Countries (ibid.), p. 271, erroneously read NO'NbN INrD as K. al-A'imma (and translated accordingly "Book of the leaders"). Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's Kitab al-Ima' this Karaite scholar may be summarized rather briefly. The entry "Abu 'l-Fadhl Sahl b. al-Fadhl b. Sahl al-Dustari" in M. Steinschneider's Die arabische Literatur der Juden is short and riddled with errors.6 Steinschneider relied exclusively on G. Margoliouth's short description of a manuscript in the M. W. Shapira collection of the British Museum, which comprises — among other texts — excerpts from al-Tustari's K. al-TalwTh ild l-tawhld wa-l- 'adl ("Book Intimating God's Unity and Justice") and K. al-Tahrir li-kitab Aristufima ba 'da 1-tabT'a ("Book of Revision of Aristotle's Metaphysics").7 In an addendum Steinschneider also took note of the relevant information contained in David b. Sa'd'el Ibn al-Hlti's chronicle of Karaite scholars which G. Margoliouth had edited from MS London, British Library, Or. 2402, fols. 188a-190a.8 6 M. Steinschneider, Die arabische Literatur der Juden. Ein Beitrag zur Literaturgeschichte derAraber, Frankfurt a. M. 1902, p. 113, § 69. 7 MS London, BL (formerly British Museum), Or. 2572, fols. 20a-42b, respectively 43a-67b (IMHM, F 6343). See G. Margoliouth, Descriptive List of the Hebrew and Samaritan Mss. in the British Museum, London 1893, p. 67. Margoliouth's more detailed description of this manuscript in the third volume of his Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the British Museum (London 1909-1915, reprinted 1965), pp. 200f., no. 896/V, was only published after Steinschneider's death. The 'excerpts' (read "Mawadi' muntaza'a min ..." instead of Margoliouth's "M. mutafarra'a min ...") were most probably arranged by al-Tustaff's contemporary Abu l-fjasan 'AH b. Sulayman al-Muqaddasi (see below, notes 20 and 57). Another manuscript containing portions of both texts is St. Petersburg, RNL Firk. Arab. 630, fols. l-8a (K. al-TalwTh), respectively 8b-12b (K. al-Tahnr). Other known MSS of K. al-TalwTh (also entitled: K. al-TalwTh bi-l-usul fx l-taklij) include St. Petersburg, RNL Yevr.-Arab. 12843, 9 fols. (IMHM, F 55897), St. Petersburg, RNL Yevr.-Arab. 1592, 6 fols. (IMHM, F 54183), and New York, lewish Theological Seminary (hereafter JTS), ENA 3960, fols. 12-17 (IMHM, F 33240). The latter fragment has recently been identified by Y. Meroz who graciously brought it to my attention. 8 Ed. G. Margoliouth, in Jewish Quarterly Review 9 (1897), pp. 432-435. The four lines concerning Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustaff are found on fol. 190a, lines 10-13 = ed. Margoliouth, p. 435, lines 17-20. See Steinschneider (n. 6 above), p. 342 ('Nachtrag'). In this addendum Steinschneider also took note of A. E. Harkavy's reference to MS St. Petersburg, RNL Yevr.-Arab. 13948, 287 fols. (IMHM, F 57949) containing parts of al-Tustan's commentary on the Torah, in Zeitschrift fur alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 1 (1881), p. 158. The existence of this commentary was also known due to quotations in later compilations, e.g. MS London, BL, Or. 2498 (cat. Margoliouth, vol. 2, p. 267f., no. 334). Other known manuscripts of this commentary include St. Petersburg, RNL Arab.-Yevr. 21, fols. 104ff. 64* Gregor Schwarb Besides the above-mentioned K. al-TalwTh,9 Ibn al-Hitr recorded a Radd 'ala l-Fayyumi ("Refutation of Se'adyah Gaon"), a Kitab fi l-i'tidal ("Book on the Equinox"[?])10 and introductory works on positive law (wa-kataba kathir1"1 min al-fiqh al-madkhal [sic!]). In 1903, A. E. Harkavy used extracts from al-Tustarl's works for his reconstruction of 'Anan b. David's Sefer ha-Misvot.u S. A. Poznariski, first in his review of Steinschneider's book,12 later in his "The Karaite Literary Opponents of Saadiah Gaon",13 then in a Festschrift article,14 and finally in the draft version of his unpublished Encyclopedia le-toledot beney Miqra15 collected some additional data and dated al-Tustaff to the middle of the 11th century.16 J. Mann, who insisted that the Tustans were Rabbanites, rejected the identification of our Karaite author as a member of the renowned family.17 Mann was the first to record a manuscript of K. al-Ima' in the private collection of A. E. Harkavy18 and published some key sections from al-Tustarf s Maqdlafi l-'arayot ("Treatise on Incest") including a sharp polemic against Yeshu'ah b. 9 According to the chronicle K. al-Talwih deals with "the science of Kaldm, their [i.e. the MutakalUmun's] terminology, and their modes of argumentation" (fi 'Urn al-kalam, fi alfazihim wa-barahmihim). 10 S. Poznanski, "Die Anfange des palastinensischen Gaonats", in Festschrift, Adolf Schwarz zum siebzigsten Geburtstage, ed. S. Krauss, Berlin/Wien 1917, p. 477, n. 2, suggested that K.fi l-i'tidal might have treated astronomical issues. 11 Harkavy, Studien und Mittheilungen aus der Kaiserlichen Oeffentlichen Bibliothek VITI (Likkute Kadmoniot II: Zur Geschichte des Karaismus und der Karaischen Literatur), Erstes Heft: Aus den altesten Karaischen Gesetzbiichern (von Anan, Beniamin Nehawendi und Daniel Kummissi), St. Petersburg 1903, pp. IXf.; p. 65, n. "I; p. 66, n. n; p. 75, n. N. 12 Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 8 (1904), p. 315. 13 Jewish Quarterly Review 19 (1907), pp. 63-65 (reprinted London 1908 and in P. Birnbaum [ed.], Karaite Studies, New York 1971, pp. 183-185, no. 19). See also Margoliouth's review in Revue des Etudes Juives 57 (1909), pp. 313f. 14 Poznanski, Anfange (n. 10 above), pp. 477f., repeated in Revue des Etudes Juives 72 (1921), pp. 204f. 15 MS Jerusalem, The Jewish National and University Library, 4° 760. 16 In his Anfange (n. 10 above), p. 478, Poznanski suggested that al-Tustarf s birth date was about 1010. 17 J. Mann, Texts and Studies in Jewish History and Literature, vol. 2, Cincinnati 1931, p. 40, n. 78. 18 Ibid., p. 142, n. 27. See below, MS J. Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's Kitdb al-Ima' Yehudah with respect to the alleged illegality of the latter's marriage according to the rules of rikkuv.19 A. J. Borisov, who collected some important information about al-Tustarl's aforementioned contemporary 'All b. Sulayman, announced his intention to dedicate a separate article to al-Tustan on the basis of the St. Petersburg manuscripts,20 but this article was never published.21 More recently, H. Ben-Shammai called attention to K. al-Usul al-Muhadhdhabiya ("Book on the Principles [of Religion] Dedicated to al-Muhadhdhab") by a certain al-Sayyid al-Fadil ha-Sar Yashar b. ha-Sar Hesed al-Tustaff. Since the latter was still alive in Dhu al-Hijja 587/Dec 1191, he cannot be identified with the author of K. al-Ima'.22 Other extant literary documents by Sahl b. al-Fasl al-Tustan include 19 Ibid., p. 40. The edition of some key passages from MS St. Petersburg, RNL Yevr.-Arab. I 3950, fols. 1-10 (MHM, F 56977) is found on pp. 99f. According to the colophon al-Tustan completed this treatise in Jerusalem in Muharram 489/January 1096. See also Gil, History (n. 2 above), p. 802. 20 See A. 51. BopucoB, "My'Ta3HJiHTCKne pyKonHCH FocyaapcTBeHHOH ny6;raeHOH 6h6jihotckh b Hemmrpafle" (= "Mu'tazilite manuscripts at the State Public Library in Leningrad"), in Bibliografiya Vostoka 8-9 (1935), p. 70, n. 2 [reprinted in ITpaBocjiaBHHH najiecTHHCKHH cSopmiK 99 (36) (2002), p. 236, n. 3 and in The Teachings of theMu'tazila: Texts and Studies II (Islamic Philosophy, 116), selected and reprinted by F. Sezgin et al., Frankfurt a. M. 2000, vol. 2, p. 18, n. 2]. On 'All b. Sulayman see idem, O BpeiweHH h MecTe hch3hh KapaHMCKoro nncaie^a Ajih hbh CyjieiiMaHa, in Jla^ecTHHCKHii c6opHHK 64-5 (2) (1956), 109-114. 21 Borisov's article would most probably have included descriptions of several manuscripts in the Second Firkovich Collection containing collections of al-Tustarl's responsa, some of which are autographs. See S. Schmidtke, Manuscripts on Dogmatics (kalam), Legal Methodology (usul al-fiqh), Philosophy and Logic in the Abraham Firkovitch Collection ("Arabski-Arabski"), St. Petersburg: A Catalogue (in preparation). The edition of a short extract from al-Tustarf s Maqdisiyat, i.e. answers to questions by 'All b. Sulayman al- Maqdisi/Muqaddasi, is included in Madelung — Schmidtke, (n. 4 above). Besides the manuscripts described in the aforementioned catalogue, the following MSS contain responsa by al-Tustari: St. Petersburg, RNL Yevr.-Arab. 110, 3 fols. (IMHM, F 51427); 1 1686, fols. 108f. (IMHM, F 55328); I 1789, 5 fols. (IMHM, F 56245); I 3951, fols. llf. (IMHM, F 60671); Arab.-Yevr. 21, 213 fols. (IMHM, F 63568); Arab.-Yevr. 238, 4 fols. (IMHM, F 63705), and other fragments in the Arab.-Yevr. series which have not yet been properly catalogued. 22 Cf. H. Ben-Shammai (n. 3 above), pp. 358f. including a short description of the fragment found in MS St. Petersburg, RNL Yevr.-Arab. I 3951, fols. 1-10 (IMHM, F 60671). Gregor Schwarb his paraphrase of an as yet unidentified work, copied by 'AH b. Sulayman.23 Another manuscript contains a Mukhtasar ft sina'at al-kitaba.24 No evidence has been adduced to support the claim that al-Tustan was the author of a work entitled K. al-Ishara fi usul al-tawhTd wa-l- 'adl.25 In 1981 M. Gil dedicated a monograph to the Tustaff family, which included a survey of the relevant Genizah documents. These findings were supplemented in subsequent studies by Gil, in which he also assembled the comparably scanty information about the Karaite community in Jerusalem during the last decades preceding the Crusader invasion.26 The Jewish communities suffered an important blow already with the conquest of Palestine by the Seljuq armies from 1071 onwards. To the Genizah documents referred to by Gil in connection with Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustari belongs a letter, dated in the summer of 1100 and presumably written by the leaders of the Karaite community in Alexandria or Tyre, inquiring about the fate of the Jerusalem Karaites in the wake of the Crusader invasion. Gil suggested that one of the captives mentioned in the letter, an eight-year-old boy called Abu Sa'd b. Imra'at al-Tustari, may have 23 MS London, BL, Or. 2572 (MHM, F 6343), fols. If., respectively 5f. (cat. Margoliouth, vol. 3, p. 199, no. 896/1) includes two paraphrases of the same text arranged by 'All b. Sulayman in 465/1072-3, respectively 486/1093 (Talkhts fima la yasa'u al-mukallaf tarkuhu min al-'ulum 'aqlan, respectively Talkhisflma la yasa'u al-mukallaf tarkuhu min ma'rifati Mh). The second paraphrase is identical with a text appended to a fragment of K. al-TalwTh in the JTS manuscript mentioned in n. 7 above, fols. 18f. In BL Or. 2572, fol. 5b 'Allb. Sulayman writes that he only realized after completing his paraphrase that al-Tustarl had already prepared his own paraphrase of the same text, and then proceeds by copying from al-Tustari's paraphrase. 24 St. Petersburg, RNL Firk. Arab. 124, f. la. 25 This title is mentioned in an owner's note on the first folio of MS London, BL, Or. 2573 (cat. Margoliouth, vol. 2, p. 180a, no. 589). I do not know on what basis Gil, The Tustaris (n. 2 above), p. 63, and idem, Jews in Islamic Countries (ibid.), p. 270 attributed this book to al-Tustan. The manuscripts of K. al-Ishara mentioned by Ben-Shammai (n. 3 above), p. 358, n. 106, are unknown to me. A confusion with the almost synonymous K. al-Ima' and K. al-TalwTh is likely. 26 See Gil, The Tustaris (n. 2 above); idem, History of Palestine (n. 2 above), pp. 414-418, 749f., 819f., as well as the relevant chapters in The History of Jerusalem: The Early Muslim Period, 638-1099, eds. J. Prawer and H. Ben-Shammai, Jerusalem 1996. Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's Kitab at-Ima' been the son of Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's widow. This would imply that al-Tustari was already dead at this time.27 A public disputation {rmjlis) in Jerusalem It was J. Drory who first drew Gil's attention to a Muslim source mentioning al-Tustari.28 This document deserves a closer look in the context of the present article. In 485/1092 the sixteen-year-old Abu Bakr Muhammad b. 'Abdallah al- Ma'afiri Ibn al-'Arabl (468/1076-543/1148), who later became famous as 'Fakhr al-Maghrib', left al-Andalus to embark with his father on a rihla to the East.29 Such journeys were encouraged in particular by Abu 1-Walid Sulayman b. Khalaf al-Baji (d. 474/1081), the most influential Andalusian theologian 27 See MS Cambridge, University Library, T-S 20.113, ed. in M. Gil, Palestine During the First Muslim Period (634-1099) [Hebrew], Tel Aviv 1983, vol. 3, p. 447, lines 30-32. Cf. idem, History of Palestine (n. 2 above), p. 820. See also S. D. Goitein, "Contemporary letters on the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders", in Journal of Jewish Studies 3 (1952) 163-168, 171-175; idem, Palestinian Jewry in Early Islamic and Crusader Times in the Light of the Genizah Documents, Jerusalem 1980, p. 234 [Hebrew]; idem, A Mediterranean Society, vol. 5, Berkeley, etc. 1988, pp. 373f., 377-379. 28 Gil, The Tustaris (n. 2 above), p. 66, n. 95; see Drory's book mentioned in n. 35 below. 29 On Ibn al-'ArabT see the article "Ibn al-'Arabf by J. Robson in Encyclopaedia of Islam2 (hereafter EI2), vol. 3 (1968), p. 707; C. Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, erster Supplementband, Leiden 1937, pp. 632f., no. 5a; 732f., no. 10; U. R. Kabljala, Mu'jam al-Mu'allifln, Beirut 1985, vol. 10, pp. 242f.; 'A. Talibl, Ara' AbiBakrb. al-'ArabT al-kalamiya, Algiers 1974, esp. vol. 1, pp. 89-275; V. Lagardere, "Abu Bakr b. al-'ArabT, grand cadi de Seville", in Revue de I 'Occident Musulman et de la Mediterranee 40 (1985), pp. 91-102; C. Adang, "The Spread of Zahirism in Post-Caliphal al-Andalus: The Evidence from the Biographical Dictionaries", in Ideas, Images, and Methods of Portrayal: Insights into Classical Arabic Literature and Islam, ed. S. Giinther, Leiden 2005, pp. 297-299 with n. 5; F. Griffel, Apostasie und Tolerant im Islam. Die Entwicklung zu al-Gazalis Urteil gegen die Philosophie und die Reaktionen der Philosophen, Leiden 2000, pp. 382-385. Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Maqqari (d. 1041/1632) portraits Ibn al-'Arabl in the section of his Nafh al-tib min ghusn al-Andalus al-ratib which is dedicated to Andalusian Muslims who travelled to the East (al-bab al-khamisfil-ta 'rifbi-ba'd man rahala min al-Andalusiyin ild bilad al-mashriq), Cairo 1936, vol. 6, pp. 58-86 = ed. I. 'Abbas, Beirut 1968, vol. 2, pp. 25-43, no. 8. Gregor Schwarb of the 5th/llth century apart from the towering figure of Ibn Hazm, who spread the fame of the "glorious sciences of the East" in al-Andalus and advised young Andalusian scholars to travel to the East in their quest for a solid theological education.30 Adverse political conditions in al-Andalus also facilitated the decision to depart. After a rather adventurous journey along the southern coast of the Mediterranean sea Ibn al-'Arabr and his father arrived in Jerusalem, where the son stayed for more than three years (until autumn 1095). His ultimate goal, however, was to study with a young teacher at the Nizamlya madrasa in Baghdad whose fame had already reached al-Andalus: Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazzali.31 Jerusalem was the ideal place for him to acquire the theological knowledge that would prepare him for his studies in Baghdad. The account of his journey, included in the introductory section of his Qanun al-ta'wTl, written forty years after his return to Seville in 495/1101, contains valuable information about the curricula of religious studies in al-Andalus and in the East.32 It presents a particularly vivid portrait of scholarly and social 30 Ibn al-'Arabl mentions a book-seller in al-Andalus who promoted al-Bajf s books with the slogan " 'ulum jaltla jalabaha al-Baji min al-mashriq" (see I. 'Abbas, "Riljlat Ibn al- 'ArabT ila al-Mashriq kama sawwaraha 'Qanun al-ta'wlT", in Abhath 21 [1968], p. 62). The sciences in question are 'Urn al-kalam and usul al-fiqh. For the famous disputations between al-Baji and Ibn Hazm see A. M. TurkI, Polemiques entre Ibn Hazm et BdjTsur les principes de la hi musulmane. Etudes et documents, Algiers 1976. 31 Ibn al-'Arabl arrived in Baghdad during the second half of 489/1096. In his al-'Awasim min al-qawdsim (ed. 'A. TalibI, Cairo 1417/1997, p. 24) he states that he met al-GhazzalT in Baghdad in Jumada II 490/June 1097 after the latter had returned from abroad. If these dates are correct, al-Ghazzali arrived in Jerusalem only shortly after Ibn al-'Arabl departed for Ashqelon, where he stayed during the first half of 1096. The exact chronology of al-Ghazzalfs journeys during the years 1096-1097 is hard to establish. See G. F. Hourani, "A Revised Chronology of Ghazzalf s Writings", in Journal of the American Oriental Society 104 (1984), p. 295 and p. 296 n. 23. All of Ibn al-'Arabl's writings are heavily influenced by al-Ghazzalfs thought. In 503/1109 he was among those who, at the order of the Almoravid rulers, were forced to dispose of their copies of al-Ghazzalfs works. I. 'Abbas, Rihlat Ibn al- ArabT, p. 68, records a manuscript of 27 folios in the Public Library in Rabat entitled: ^LaVI JL»i i] <Uc A\ LS^aj i^j*^ <!lJ <j>?1 oiA 32 The Qanun was composed in 533/1139. It also appears under the title K. Ma'rifat qanun al-ta'wTlfifawd'id al-tanzll (see MS Escurial, Arabic, no. 1264, cat. H. Derenbourg, Les Sahl b. al^Fadl al-Tustan's Kitab al-Ima' life in Palestine on the eve of the first Crusade. The young Ibn al-'Arabi was tremendously impressed by what he encountered and writes with awe about his meetings with illustrious scholars and students from all over the Islamic world who passed through Jerusalem.33 In connection with his studies under Abu Bakr Muhammad b. al-Walid al-Fihri al-Turtushl (born Turtusha ca. 451/1059, died Alexandria 520/1126 or 525/1131), a former student of al-Bajl in Saragossa and of Ibn Hazm in Seville who had settled in the East,34 he recounts the following event which apparently still resounded in his memory forty-five years later:35 We36 used to talk about the KarramTya, the Mu'tazila, the Anthropomorphists and the Jews. The Jews had in (Jerusalem) a leading scholar {habr) called al-Tustarl who was erudite and well versed in their religion. In (Jerusalem) we had arguments with the Christians, too. The land belongs to them, they cultivate their estates, take care of their monasteries, and build their churches. manuscrits arabes de VEscurial, Paris 1928, vol. 3, p. 4). Ibn al-'Arabl's earlier, more detailed account of his journey (TartTb al-rihla lil-targhibfi l-milla), in which he had, as he says, omitted the events in Jerusalem, is not extant. 33 See Gil, History of Palestine (n. 2 above), pp. 417f. In addition to the scholars mentioned in Qanun al-ta'wil see al-Maqqari, Nafh al-tib, Cairo 1936, vol. 6, pp. 61ff. (= ed. I. 'Abbas, vol. 2, pp. 36f.). 34 On al-Fihri, who was also known as Ibn AM Randaqa, see the article "al-Turtushl, Abu Bakr Muhammad" by A. Ben Abdesselem, in EI2, vol. 10 (2000), pp. 739f.; Kahhala, Mu'jam (n. 29 above), vol. 12, p. 96; al-Maqqarl, Nafh al-tib, ed. Cairo, vol. 6, pp. 222-233 (= ed. I. 'Abbas, vol. 2, pp. 85-90, no. 46). Other prominent students of al-Turtushl coming from the 'West' were the eminent tradionist Abu 'All al-Safadi (d. 514/1120-1), and the future Mahdi of the Almohads, Ibn Tumart (d. 524/1130). 35 Ed. I. 'Abbas, in Abhath 21 (1968), pp. 81:13-82:11. See also the editor's introduction, p. 65. The edition of Qanun al-ta'wil by M. al-Sulaymani (second edition Beirut 1990), was not available to me. The translated passage has been referred to repeatedly: see e.g. Gil, The Tustaris (n. 2 above), pp. 65f.; idem, History of Palestine (ibid.), p. 417; 802 n. 15; 820 n. 24; H. Ben-Shammai, "The Karaites", in The History of Jerusalem (n. 26 above), p. 221. An annotated Hebrew translation of this text is to be found in J. Drory, Ibn al-ArabT of Seville: Journey to Palestine (1092-1095), Ramat Gan 1993, pp. 96, 138-141 (notes) [Hebrew]. 36 I.e. Abu Bakr Ibn al-'Arabi and his teacher, al-Fihri (see n. 34 above). Gregor Schwarb One day, we attended a huge public debate (majlis) in which the (various) religious denominations participated. Al-TustaiT, the leading Jewish scholar, spoke about his religion and said: "We all agree that Moses is a prophet who was confirmed by miracles and taught the Commandments; whoever thinks that someone else is a prophet must provide evidence for that". As is customary in dialectical disputations, he intended to place the onus probandi on our side, so that he would comfortably attain (his) desired goal and continue unremittingly with (his) loquacious speech. But al-Fihri countered: "If you mean the Moses who was confirmed by miracles, taught the Commandments and announced (the coming of the prophet) Ahmad [= Muhammad], we are in total agreement with you about him, believe in him and give credence to him; if, however, you mean another Moses, we do not know what he may be". The audience approved of this argument and cheered him excessively. It was a dialectically clever, very witty remark. The opponent [i.e. al-Tustarl] was left speechless and the verdict (as to who had the upper hand in the debate) was decided. We remained in this disposition until I came — through God's kindness — to know the objectives of the three sciences: the science of kaldm, usul al-fiqh and masd'il al-khildf. These three sciences are the backbone of religion and the ideal preparation for getting acquainted with the rules of the legally obligated people.37 fj\ ^gC^ 4Ja3 iOLaKlb ^lat-a '"'I j~ - ~N; l^-^j* l) cs^" :J^ AjjJ Jc- <I ijbl (_5J^. '1 "3 f ^ cy-JI -ijJ ij (Jijb iy J' 3 J .ty^' OJJC- , jA La ^laj !>li <4j (jlj ielj&j^aj <J lijj <U]c Ufiijl ^33 i-la^ij I Cj^ja tAjjS AjIsc Ajlia. ^lul^j (AjIc ^Liill J l_jiilalj cJjj■ ^**»^ tjin^"unli Jj^ai j jJc ^>jlaill (jil jcj Jill (J ■ '-*;' * )■» TT—it (_sia. Aja-ull tlllj Jc J jj ^Aj Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's Kitab al-Ima' Whether or not Ibn al-'Arabl faithfully recounts the course of the majlis is of secondary importance for our purposes. What is noteworthy is the existence of such public debates in Jerusalem at the very end of the 5th/llth century.38 Moreover, it is possible that al-Tustan's debate with al-Fihri" was not confined to exchanging arguments in a polemical debate and we may speculate whether a fragment of an abridgement of al-Bajr's K. Ihkdm al-fusul fiahkam al-usul in the Second Firkovich Collection may have had its origin in such an encounter.39 K. al-lma' ilajawami' al-takttf Hlman wa-'amalan The manuscripts So far 22 fragments of K. al-Ima' have been identified.40 These fragments derive from eight distinct manuscripts [fl-N].41 38 For some earlier examples of Jewish scholars participating in public sessions for discussion of religious and theological matters, especially in the context of tenth-century Baghdad, see D. Sklare, "Responses to Islamic Polemics by Jewish Mutakallimun in the Tenth Century", in The Majlis: Interreligious Encounters in Medieval Islam, ed. H. Lazarus-Yafeh et al., Wiesbaden 1999, pp. 137-161. Sklare is currently preparing a monographic survey of related texts. In our context we may once more point to a one-page fragment in the handwriting of al-Tustan's contemporary 'All b. Sulayman in MS London, BL, Or. 2572, fol. 12b (cat. Margoliouth, vol. 3, pp. 199f., no. 896/11), edited by H. Hirschfeld in Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie 26 (1912), pp. 111-113. The fragment seems to be an extract from a manual intended to guide a Jewish participant of an interfaith polemical majlis \yuqalu li-man yaqulu inna l-yahud ...]. The extract text addresses the Muslim claim that the Jews have forged the existing text of the Torah (tahnf). 39 MS St. Petersburg, RNL, Firk. Arab. 93. The fragment bears the title Bab aqsam adillat al-shar' and gives an abridged version of the text (cf. ed. 'A. M. al-Jubburi, 2 vols., Beirut 1409/1989, pp. 69ff.). al-Fihri is indeed known to have written abridgements of some of his teacher's works. 40 Two thirds of the fragments have been identified by the staff of the Russian National Library, the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts and the Ben Zvi Institute, the rest by myself. Some further fragments may, of course, still be identified in the future. I am grateful to Dr. D. Sklare for providing me with a list of some shorter fragments from the Second Firkovich collection "potentially belonging to K. al-Ima'". 41 MS St. Petersburg, RNL, Yevr.-Arab. 1 1272 is evidently not a copy of K. al-Ima' itself, but rather a considerably abridged version of it. Between the first and the last words of fol. 3a 72* Gregor Schwarb N Moscow, Russian State Library, Guenzburg 1040, 164 fols. (IMHM, F 47570) [- N];42 Saint Petersburg, Russian National Library (hereafter RNL), Yevr.-Arab. 11680,8 fols. (IMHM, F 56257) [= 'N]; St. Petersburg, RNL, Yevr.-Arab. II 974, fols. 86-88 (IMHM, F 59367) [= 2N] a St. Petersburg, RNL, Yevr.-Arab. 11711, 76 fols. (IMHM, F 55045) [= a]; Yevr.-Arab. 11716, 9 fols. (IMHM, F 56288) [= 'a]; Yevr.-Arab. II 1058, fols. 61f. (IMHM, F 59400) [= 2a] J Jerusalem, private collection (previously Kiev, Vernadsky Library, Harkavy Ph. no. 3), 51 fols.; date: 1345 (IMHM, F 70551) [= J]43 1 St. Petersburg, RNL, Yevr.-Arab. 11671, 28 fols. (IMHM, F 55212) [= +]; Yevr.-Arab. I 1096, 4 fols. (IMHM, F 54967) [= "T]; Yevr.-Arab. I 1299, 1 fol. (IMHM, F 54854) [= 2T] il St. Petersburg, RNL, Yevr.-Arab. I 1686, fols. 65-70; 78f.; 95; 107; 110-119; 129-133 (IMHM, F 55328) [= n]; Yevr.-Arab. I 924, 4 fols. (IMHM, F 54446) [= 1n]; Yevr.-Arab. II 938, fols. 71f.; 77f. (IMHM, F 59382) [= 2n]. 1 St. Petersburg, RNL, Yevr.-Arab. II3331, fols. 6; 53-61; 81-83; 105-108; 111 (fols. 113-118notonfilm!); 121-126; 181-184 (IMHM,F61986) [= 1]; Yevr.-Arab. I 1025, 4 fols. (IMHM, F 54523) [= 'I]; RNL Yevr.-Arab. 14526, fols. 19-25 (IMHM, F 58452) [= 21] T St. Petersburg, RNL, Yevr.-Arab. 1 1338, fols. 1; 4-36 (IMHM, F 54675) [= T]; Yevr.-Arab. I 2258, fols. 1-26; 35-40 (IMHM, F 56889) [= 't]; Yevr.-Arab. 1 1023, 8 fols. (IMHM, F 54458) [= 2T]; Yevr.-Arab. 11184, 1 there are no less than 8 folios in MS N (see table of manuscripts, column VIII, MS N, between fol. 107b and 81b). 42 The following quire numbers (in Arabic script) are visible (see bold subscript numerals in table): [ujj]j^j ijjl^ ' AjtkiAj spjjjic <*jLj iS_>Julc t^iaUi i-ujIj 43 Apparently, the manuscript consisted originally of two volumes, whereby the lost second volume would have comprised the third maqdla of K. al-Ima' [see J. Mann, Texts and Studies (n. 17 above), vol. 2, p. 142, n. 27], The manuscript was copied in 1345 (see colophon on fol. lb). It belonged to A. Harkavy. According to the online catalogue of the Jewish National and University Library it is now part of an unspecified private collection in Jerusalem. Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's Kitab al-Ima' fol. (IMHM, F 54657) [= 3T]; Yevr.-Arab. I 882, 1 fol. (IMHM, F 54615) [= U n St. Petersburg, RNL, Yevr.-Arab. I 1493, 4 Ms. (IMHM, F 55302) [= n]. The following table synoptically describes the reconstruction of K. al-Ima' on the basis of the manuscripts listed above [Tl-N]. It is to be read from the left to the right (columns I-IX). Each field represents one folio of the respective manuscript. Superscript numbers refer to a specific fragment of a manuscript (e.g. 612 in column 1 refers to folio 61 of ms. 23). Subscript numbers in MS N refer to quire numbers (bold quire numbers are visible in this manuscript). Quires are separated by a bold horizontal line. Numbers in column C (I.l-III.2.x) refer to chapters or thematic units as explained in the second part of the article (see fig. 1 on the following page). Date and structure So far, no definite clue has been found that would enable us to determine the exact date of composition of K. al-Ima',44 but we may savely class it with al-Tustan's mature works, written when he was already a well-established scholar (1070s-'90s). When writing K. al-Ima", he had already completed parts of his commentary on the Torah,45 while he was still expecting to put others into writing.46 His work on this commentary is known to have extended over more than two decades.47 Al-TustarT mentions some details about the circumstances of the book's composition in its introduction [MSS Wift, fol. lb]: 44 In addition to its basic, lexical meaning ('hinting', 'intimation'), "Tma"' has some technical meanings: in usul al-fiqh it is used in the expression 'Tma' al-ta'Wal-'illTya' ('implicit causality') whose complementary expression is tasrih al-ta'M/al-'ilttya ('explicit causality'): cf. al-Ghazzall's Shifa' al-ghalTl, ed. H. al-Kubaysi, Baghdad 1390/1970-1, pp. 102-106; Q. M. Sano, Mu'jam Mustalahat usul al-fiqh, Beirut 1420/2000, pp. 98f. 45 See MS % fol. 17a (= MS N, fol. 79b), with regard to Leviticus 15(: 11). 46 See MS N, fol. la (unspecific); fol. 13a with regard to Leviticus 23(:24); fol. 76b with regard to Lev 13; fol. 152b, with regard to Exodus 21f. A reference to K. al-Ima" is found in a later, undated responsum, MS St. Petersburg, RNL, Arab.-Yevr. 238, fol. 2a (IMHM, F 63705) (see n. 120 below). 47 See MS St. Petersburg, RNL, Arab.-Yevr. 21, fol. 105a (dated Dhu al-Qa'da 460/September 1068), respectively fol. 159a (dated [4]77/1084). >5" ii i I.4| I.3| I.2|U| n o so Os in 1 Co X 3S 0 s] | OS - X 1 1 h ■ 8 s 1 1 , |, |, |, |, |, |, |, 1-T h h I'T' u M 1 -J OS s 30 h * F SC -1 :ilri!ili.'vlili.l[. T. -I ' \< \< ]• \< \< \< 15 1' 11 II.6 | II.5 | II.4 II.3 II.2| n co Co o so 1 1 [ 1 w 1 1 j-J "sJ o 0O Os X » £) H 1 = 1 °^ a 1 1 1 "J ** sJ OS j u K z 1 F I- h 1= 1 OS 1 o SO i* |, |, |, I* |, |, | |, |, |, |, |, |, |, |, |, |, |, |. |, Zi III.l 11.10 II.9|lt.8|lI.7 n l ° J 1 o | 00 Os 3S OS -J X a Is Os OS 3s 1 Os ) | si It Is SO F CO ^' l< in o SO e 1 S 1 ^ |, |, |, [■ |, * h |, h 1' !■ , |, |, |, |, |, -1 ■ ' n H sJ u 1 IH.2.1.2.3 III.2.1.2.2 | m.2.i.2.i| ni.2.1.11 O Co sg ' CD sg OS sO VO 1 12 Os o OS 1' ,1,1, l-h o- h 1' ' 1' I1 l« u , |, |, |. |, |, IS !■ \< !■ !■ !■ , _, , I1 I' \< \< \< 1' 1' 1' 1' 1' , |, |, |, |g |, |, |, |, |, |, 1' 1 1 ffl.2.1.3 | III.2.1.2.5 III.2.1.2.4 | o a • O O l ° SO u as 1 en 1, |, |, |, |, |, |, |, |, |, |- „ , 1, I, \, \, \, 1 < W O l sO u ■ h III.2.2.4 | III.2.2.3 III.2.2.2 III.2.1.6 11.5 III.2.1.4 n to 0o sj Os o 0O Co 00 sJ 00 Os < - f , ■ , i , , ■ 1. . 1. ■ ■l.'i. -1 , 1, 1, j, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, ' 1 5 1 1 1 Is- 1 | 1 ffl.2.2.7 | III.2.2.6 | III.2.2.5 | n so OS so so & iS to so so o Cn oo js in 171 o o o D o o X u 1 • E o u OS O Oo i w Oo co •s 3s a Co -J Os in - IIL2.2.8 | o CO Co 00 00 O -J 00 •sj •sj Os sj D sj Ln O -J OS OS X SO |-j Os ^ 1 ' 1 , |, |, |, |, |, |, |, |,|, |, |, |, |, |, |, M 1 !■ !■ © so 1= s 1' ■J] s] OS a Is |a |S |, |, | so ' J1 1' is 1 -J 1 : OS 1 Is 1 ^ ^ 1 © SO 1 3 o o Os O to 1 I 1 ^ S 1 j °" -J 11,1 ""m I l 1-1 l ^ Ux sO |, |, |, |, |, |, , 1, 1, ■ |. , |, |, |, |, Mas'ah jWttfmj) | 2.11 III.2.2.10 | IH.2.2.9 | | vO | ' to 1 0o X , |, |, |, |, , , l, , , , , , , 1, , , , |, |, |, |, |, |, |, |, |, h Is u ■ I1 h 1' \< \< ■ J" ^ 1, 1, 1, 1, h 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. u l| 1" , 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, j 0 1 °° ■ Co OS h 0° ' 1 1 1 1' 1' |, |, |, |, |, |, |, |, |- ■ 1' h h h 1' h 1' 1' Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's Kitab al-Ima' 75* n'bybN nbunbN >bN tmnyna wbv dvjn 'ibN biybN inwbN nbb mnbN [...] nspnbN yiaba "ibi '2 oin in rima nbybN natm .Nnbrina bsanbN )on> Nb 'nbN Nnbi fbi b'snn 'a «n«ifi iria'b bnyi nby >bn Dopr wa'ban byiii 48,nb wb'i ,Kl7«bint>« Dby anb Nynn I'banba 'yxn riyiNDn »a npwnbN 49riiria in nyiir .Nviia mnbm ia\ybn nba .wins DbybN ind lb ibi 'a b«nbb NaNba 'o riyaibN nhibN nb inn npn yiriaN in anna bsi xnb <50>>2Na :iya nun ,rn»Nn nbbN dnin 51iNn'bD p 'by [!] i'Dnbx un biNabN i'wbN mi .DibybN no nin n«i bnybm DbybN bnjn >ba Na»«b« Jain' isnan yasn 'by nn> 1ia» }H n>m iN2tfDNbi< 'a bnybm DbybN 52bnj anna >a »smnb« <pwbN noak :n«bNpn riiibri riynu>b« ipnan Na»a "ri'iNribw ,biybm TnmbNa pbvn» nn>a [N2 W >biNbN V'tnabN biifK bnyn >a 54nribNribNi .npabN biim njn ni> Nnn rvby »iaani n>bn in i>m >bN nriNniiN 'a ianm xn b'bi 'by [t] n'ainbNi riminbN >a niasnnba ixnr ba 'a nmii Dy> am nbiwai yisan jama mm yna> xn r»nni in«i> >biNbN ,nmn nbbx Din [N2 j] ,m \w jni nin an bwinnN nw ,yya jn nitya >bn ibi 55nvinni n'ywbNi ri'bpybN DibybN 'by niNinpNb 'in q'wnbs Nina .naDba riwnbNi riiiynbNa itnaabN bDN 'naD nbbm .nwo na pnb' Nb in Praise be to God, the One, the Just, who bestowed upon us His kindness by offering us the most exalted standing, which lies beyond what can be offered out of graciousness. In order to ensure that we reach the intended goal, He removed deficiencies. He divided our imposed obligation into a theoretical and a practical part, to multiply our reward by achieving these (respective goals) and for the sake of the benefit which follows as a result of the great hardship of acting in compliance with the motives of 48 wi'b i :[nb wb'j]. 49 rhnn t 50 INDWN. 51 wn'boa. 52 bnin 'n/j ;bnibN i. 53 mmix i. 54 nnbNhbNi. 55 mnnm r. 76* Gregor Schwarb the imposed obligation owing to an acquired knowledge, as opposed to what would be the case if this knowledge were immediate ('necessary'). To him belong abundant thanks and grace. To the subject of this book: (I)56 received a letter from someone whose authority is irrevocable, from someone who has a very high rank in the sciences, namely the distinguished scholar Abu 1-Husayn [!] 'AH b. Sulayman,57 may God continue to give him strength. He urged (me) to write a compendium comprising an apergu of the ensemble of theoretical and practical obligations, similar to what al-Sharif al-Murtada did in his "Companion to the Theoretical and Practical (Religious Obligations)", while adhering to the format of a compendium which should include the (following) three treatises: The first treatise should treat subjects related to God's unity and justice; the second should discuss the premises and underlying principles of the religious law, thereby following the pattern of usul al-fiqh (compositions); the third should deal with the foundations of the (individual) ordinances contained in the Torah in a systematic ('equable') way and specify the evidence for (ordinances) which are based on something more than what is explicitly stated in the scriptural text; it should, moreover, distinguish (ordinances) whose obligation applies to a specific time and to specific people from (ordinances) whose obligation is all-inclusive (= applies to everyone) at all times. I considered it appropriate to comply with his instructions, even though he, may God guard his lifetime, would have been better qualified than I to write such a book, because of his mastery of the rational and religious 56 For the sake of clarity, the translation deviates from the lengthy subordinate clause in the sentence [inn ND ^KnlTON Ti'NT ...npn pnaN ]D aura mi\: "When a letter arrived..., urging..., I considered it appropriate to comply with his instructions...". 57 For Abu 1-Hasan [!] 'All b. Sulayman see Borisov's article (n. 20 above), which includes references to earlier contributions by S. L. Skoss and D. Z. Baneth. It is not entirely clear who was the older of the two Karaite scholars, but 'AH b. Sulayman outlived al-Tustan by several years. Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's Kitab al-Ima' sciences and his unrivalled accuracy therein. I ask God to grant me His support and guidance through His kindness. According to this preamble it was al-Tustari's contemporary and friend Abu 1-Hasan 'All b. Sulayman who sent him a letter urging him to write a compendium (mukhtasar) comprising a concise synopsis of all theoretical and practical aspects of the divinely imposed obligations according to the view of Karaite Judaism. Mukhtasar and its related terms jumal and jawami' do not stand here for an abridgement of an already existing, more comprehensive work, but rather for the convenient, handy presentation of a very extensive subject matter, written by an acknowledged expert in the field for readers who are themselves on familiar terms with the specific area of knowledge.58 The structure of the book and its emphasis on legal hermeneutics and juridical issues would suggest that it was mainly meant to serve as a vademecum for legal experts and practising jurists. Al-Tustari's authorial expertise is accentuated by his remark in the closing section of K. al-Ima", noting that he had no books at his disposal when writing it, "neither his own books nor those of others".59 It seems that the book was written in a relatively short period of time as a unified whole. Al-Sharif al-Murtada in Karaite libraries § The letter cited mentioned al-Sharif al-Murtada's K. Jumal al- 'Urn wa-l- 'amal as a point of reference for what al-Tustari was meant to compose.60 This book, 58 See on this point the article "Mukhtasar" by A. Arazi and H. Ben-Shammai, in EI2, vol. 7 (1992), pp. 536-540. 59 [33 'il ,N82 1] "Nil1>31 >1>3 INDIAN Tftmtb H'J 31131 >3113 ]D W ilfl'MJl )>T1 HW p> obi". "When writing this book, I did not have access to my own books nor the books of anyone else, because the (circumstances of) time separated me from them". 60 For al-Sharif al-Murtada (d. 436/1044) see the article "' Alam-al-Hoda" by W. Madelung, in EncyclopaediaIranica, vol. 1 (1982), pp. 791-795; AghaBuzurg al-Tihranl, Tabaqata'lam al-ShT'a, vol. 5 (al-Ndbisfil-qarn al-khdmis), Beirut 1391/1971, pp. 120f.; A. Muhyl al-DIn, Adab al-Murtada: min siratihi wa-dthdrihi, Baghdad 1957; W. Akhtar, "An introduction to Imamiyya-scholars: Al-Sayyid al-Murtada: Life and Works", in al-Tawhid 4 (1986), pp. 125-152; A. M. al-Ma'tuq, "'Amdlial-Shanf al-Murtada: dirdsa naqdiya", in: 'Alam Gregor Schwarb written at the request of al-Murtada's teacher, al-Shaykh al-Mufid, was highly regarded and immensely popular during the 5th/l 1th century, even outside the Imamite Shfa. A late source even claims that the great 'Abd al-Jabbar lauded the book with the somewhat double-edged remark: "If al-Sharif al-Murtada had (written) nothing but this compendium, he would have outclassed all other writers".61 al-Sharif al-Murtada himself later wrote a Shark on the theoretical part of his Jumal.62 Among his many illustrious students, who included most of the prominent Imamite scholars of the following generation, at least three are known to have written commentaries on one or the other part of the Jumal.63 Al-Murtada's preeminent student 'Shaykh al-Ta'ifa' Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Tusi (d. Najaf, 459/1067) wrote an extensive Shark on the theoretical part of the Jumal.64 Al-Qadi Abu 1-Qasim Sa'd al-Din 'Abd al-'Aziz b. Nahrir b. 'Abd al-'Aziz Ibn al-Barraj al-Shaml al-Tarabulusi (d. 481/1088) commented upon the legal part of the Jumal.65 According to some sources Abu 1-Fath Muhammad b. 'AH al-Karajikl (d. Tyre, 449/1057) is also said to have al-kutub 26,1-2 (1425/2004), pp. 70-97, with further references to more recent publications. K. Jumal al- 'Urn wa-l- 'amal (Agha Buzurg al-Tihranl, al-Dhari'a ila tasamf al-Shfa, Beirut 1983, vol. 5, p. 144, no. 609) has been edited many times, e.g. ed. R. al-$affar, al-Najaf 1378/1967 (all references are to this edition); ed. A. al-Husayni, al-Najaf 1387/1976; ed. M. al-Raja'I and A. al-Husaynl, in Rasa'il al-Sharif al-Murtada, Qum 1405/1984-5, vol. 3, pp. 9-81. 61 'Abdallah b. 'Isa Afandi al-Isbahani (d. ca. 1718), Riyad al-'ulama" wa-hiyad al-fudala', ed. A. al-Husaynl, Qum 1401/1980, vol. 4, p. 62. 62 Al-Sharif al-Murtada, Sharh Jumal al-'ilm wa-l-'amal, ed. Y. al-Ja'fari al-Maraghi, Qum 1414/1994. 63 W. Akhtar, "Major ShI'I Thinkers of the Fifth/Eleventh Century", in al-Tawhid IV, 4 (1986), pp. 97-114 [reprinted in al-Serat 14 (1988), pp. 28-49]. 64 K. TamhTd al-usulfl 'Urn al-kalam, ed. 'A. M. al-Dini, Tehran 1362/1983;Tihram, Dhari'a (n. 60 above), vol. 4, p. 433, no. 1922. al-Tusi refers to his "Sharh al-jumaF at the very beginning of the introduction to his commentary on the Qur'an, al-Tibyanfitafsir al-Qur'an, Beirut 1990,1:3,1. 7. For al-Tusi see the article "al-Tusi, Muhammad b. al-Hasan" by M. A. Amir-Moezzi, in EI2, vol. 10 (2000), pp. 745f.; W. Akhtar, "An introduction to Imamiyyah scholars: Shaykh al-Ta'ifa al-Tusi: Life and Works", inal-Tawhidi (1986-87), pp. 126-167. 65 Sharh Jumal al- 'Urn wa-l- 'amal, ed. K. I. Shanehchi, Mashhad 1352/1974; TinranT, Dhari'a (n. 60 above), vol. 13, p. 178, no. 599. Sahl b. al^Fadl al-Tustari's Kitab al-Ima' 79* written a commentary on the theoretical part of the Jumal.66 Interestingly enough, the Second Firkovich Collection includes at least three fragments of a copy of an anonymous Muslim commentary on the Jumal in Hebrew script.67 They comprise parts from the end of abwdb al-tawhld as well as from the beginning and from later sections of abwdb al- 'adl.6S This anonymous commentary is clearly dependent upon al-Murtada's own Shark. The possibility that these fragments are part of the lost commentary by al-Karajiki cannot be excluded, but it may equally well be a copy of an otherwise unattested commentary. This commentary is not, however, the only trace of al-Sharif al-Murtada's works in Karaite libraries. A copy of his K. Dhakhirat al- 'alim wa-basirat al-muta 'allim (= K. al-Dhakhira fi 'Urn al-kaldm) in the handwriting of 'All b. Sulayman is extant in MS St. Petersburg, RNL, Firk. Arab. 111.69 The 66 Muhammad b. 'All Ibn Shahrashub (d. 588/1192), Ma'alim al-'ulama" (Tatimmat K. al- Fihrist lil-Tust), ed. 'A. Iqbal, Tehran 1353/1934-5, p. 106, lines 2f. mentions al-Karajikl's "Shark Jumal al- 'Urn lil-Murtaaa". Ibn Shahrashub's entry is quoted by Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Hurr al-'Amill (d. 1693), Amal al-Amil, Baghdad 1385/1965, vol. 2, p. 287, no. 857. The commentary is, however, not recorded in TihranI, DharT'a. 67 MSS St. Petersburg, RNL, Yevr.-Arab. H 198, 8 fols. (IMHM, F 58944) [= X]; Yevr.-Arab II 940, 10 fols. (IMHM, F 59329) [= 3]; Yevr.-Arab II 1042/V, 4 fols. (IMHM, F 59491) [= J]. I owe these references to the kindness of Dr. A. Zysow and Dr. D. Sklare. I have prepared an edition of these three fragments. 68 The 22 folios comprise parts of the following chapters (numbers in square brackets refer to the Jumal, ed. al-Saffar, those in parentheses to al-Murtada's Sharh):,[...] :[Tnin^H 3N13N] 'yn mx >a bsa ,(76) [3i] um^so 'yn nn>n ii^nnDN >a ,(73) [31] Dtm v>b 'yn mx 'a ^sa >a bxa ,(83) [32] mpbx >i>y xnxp 'yn 'a bsa :[biy!m ixnx] (78) [3i] rb »at*fi xb trim mbDrtD 'yn nna 'a bus ,(87) [32] mpbx vv xb 'yn mx >a i>xa ,(85) [32] mpbx >ya> xb 'yn npbym rmpbn]x'a Vsa ,(95) [33] [...] ,(92) [33] ixiybx >im bxyoxbx iximx 'a ^sa ,(89) [32] 1>a \53NnnbK 'a] 'a Vsa ,(144) [39] ixpybx ]y 'yn r\bbx lay mii 'a bsa,[...] ,(96) [33] )mbxi nyxavbx 'a bs3 ,(148) [39] Nbxsn fining w ixpvbx uipo 'a bw ,(146) [39] rwalmi rtyxobx (155) [41]. The correct order of the folios is as follows: ,3/N3 3 ,X/2S X ,[...] ,3/N5 N ,[...] ,3/N3 N ,3/N4 X N10-N5 3 ,3/N1 3 [...] ,32-N1 N ,[...] ,37-N6 N ,[...] ,3/N4 3 ,34-KI J,[...] 69 The manuscript was copied in Fustat during Rajab 472/Dec. 1079-Jan. 1080. For further details see S. Schmidtke, "II Firk. Arab. Ill — A copy of al-Sharif al-Murtada's Kitab al- DhakhTra, completed in 472/1079-80 in the Firkovich-Collection, St. Petersburg" [Persian], in Ma'arif 20 (1382/2003), pp. 68-84. This article includes on pp. 75-77 an edition of sections not included in the edition of A. al-Husaynl, Qum 1411/1990-1. A commentary on Gregor Schwarb Dhakhira and the more comprehensive but unfinished Mulakhkhas ft usul al-din10 were both written before the JumalJ1 A one-leaf fragment from the Cairo Genizah contains a section of al-Shanf al-Murtada's Inqddh al-bashar min al-jabr wa-l-qadar in a paraphrased version by Abu Ja'far al-TusI.72 Bearing in mind that al-Murtada was one of the most acclaimed theologians in Baghdad during the late 4th/10fh and early 5th/l 1th centuries, the familiarity of Karaite savants with his works is not in itself astonishing. Moreover, the main points of his theological doctrine concurred with the teachings of the Bahshamlya, i.e. the branch of the Basran Mu'tazila following the doctrine of Abu Hashim al-Jubba'I, and hence with the mainstream of Karaite theological thought during the first half of the 11th century. But al-Murtada was also among the eminent dignitaries to sign in 402/1011-2 the Caliph al-Qadir bi-llah's document charging the Fatimid caliphs with having forged their 'Alid genealogy. This only added to the continuous tensions between ImamI Shi'ites and Isma'Ilites. Al-Murtada was hardly among the more widely read authors in the Fatimid empire.73 There were, however, a few Imamf Shf'ite communities in Egypt and Palestine, and we may speculate whether the Karaites' familiarity with some of al-Murtada's writings could have been mediated by contacts between Karaite and ImamI scholars, especially in Ramla, where both movements K. al-Dhakhira (Sharh al-Dhakhirafll-kalam) was written by one of al-Murtada's students, Abu Salah Taqi al-DIn b. Najm al-Halabl, mentioned by Ibn Shahrashub, Ma 'dlim al- 'ulamd' [see Tibranl, Dhan'a (n. 60 above), vol. 13, p. 277, no. 1011 and vol. 10, pp. llf.]. 70 K. al-Mulakhkhas fi usul al-din, ed. M. R. A. Qumml, Tehran 1381/2002. My thanks are due to S. Schmidtke for providing me with a copy of this edition. 71 In the epilogue (khatima) of the Jumal (ed. al-Safrar, p. 130) al-Murtada refers those readers who would like to acquire a more profound understanding of usul al-din issues to the Dhakhira and the Mulakhkhas. 72 See MS Cambridge University, T-S NS 223.088,1 folio (EVIHM, F 32293); A. Shivtiel and F. Niessen, Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic Manuscripts in the Cambridge Genizah Collections: Taylor-Schechter New Series, Cambridge 2006, p. 244. The text is based on al-Sharif al-Murtada's K. Inqadh al-bashar min al-jabr wa-l-qadar, ed. A. al-Husayni, in Rasa'il al-Sharif al-Murtada (n. 60 above), vol. 2, pp. 178f. 73 It was only later that his K. Ghurar al-fawa'id' wa-durar al-qala'id {AmalXal-Murtada) became very popular among Isma'iU scholars, too. Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's Kitab al-Ima' had important communities.74 Al-SharTf al-Murtada wrote seven responsa to questions from the Ramla community (al-Ramliyat)15 and his aforementioned student al-Karajiki is known to have spent several years in Ramla.76 With all that being said, al-Tustari's K. al-Ima" is by no means meant to be a mere imitation of al-Murtada's Jumal. It seems that the Jumal is referred to as a model first and foremost because it succeeded in exemplary fashion in covering a very comprehensive subject matter within the handy format of a Mukhtasar. Already in its basic tripartite structure K. al-Ima' differs from the Jumal, which does not comprise anything corresponding to the second treatise of K. al-Ima". In the remainder of this article each of the three treatises will be considered separately. A detailed analysis of this very condensed composition would obviously exceed the fomat of the present article. We shall therefore confine ourselves to pinpointing some distinctive facets of the book's structure 74 On the Imaml community in Ramla see Gil, History of Palestine (n. 2 above), p. 426 with n. 94 and p. 312 with n. 80. For some additional names see n. 76 below. Abu 'AH al-Hasan b. Mu'ammar al-Raqql taught hadlth in Ramla on the authority of al-Shaykh al-Mufld in Shawwal 423/Sept. 1032 [see TihranI, Tabaqat (n. 60 above), vol. 5, p. 56]. 75 The seven responsa to Ramla (al-Masa'il al-Ramliya, al-Ramliyat) are mentioned in an ijaza issued by al-Sharif al-Murtada to his student Abu l-Hasan Muhammad b. Muhammad al-BusrawT al-Faqih in Sha'ban 417/Sept.-Oct. 1026 [see TihranI, Dhari'a (n. 60 above), vol. 20, p. 350; Mubyl al-DIn, Adab al-Murtada (ibid.), pp. 130f.; 164-167]. The ijaza is quoted in Riyad al-'ulamd' (see n. 61 above), vol. 4, pp. 34-38 (for the RamlTydt, see p. 37), allegedly relying on a copy in the handwriting of al-BusrawI. Al-Murtada writes "qad ajaztu H-AbT l-Hasan Muhammad b. Muhammad al-Busrawl jamV kutubl wa-tasdnifi wa-amaltyya": 1) Mas'ala fl l-san'a wa-l-sani'; 2) Mas'ala fl l-jawhar wa-tasmiyatihi jawharanfil- 'adam; 3) Mas 'alafi 'ismat al-rasul 'alayhi al-salam min al-sahw; 4) Mas 'ala fl l-insan; 5) Mas'ala fl 1-mutawdtirTn; 6) Mas'ala fl ru'yat al-hilal (published in Masd'il al-Murtada, ed. W. Kh. Muhsin al-Ka'bl, Beirut 2001, pp. 37-39); 7) Mas'ala fl l-talaq wa-l-Tla' (published in ibid., pp. 35f.). 76 Al-Karajiki was certainly in Ramla in 410/1019-20, 412/1021-2, 416/1025-6. According to TihranI, Tabaqat (n. 60 above), vol. 5, p. 177 al-Karajiki studied hadlth in Ramla with al-Shanf Abu Mansur Ahmad b. Hamza al-'Urayd! (ibid., p. 16), in 410/1019-20 with al-Qadl Abu l-Hasan Asad b. Ibrahim b. Kulayb al-Sulami al-Harranl who was also a teacher of al-Najashl (see ibid., p. 29), in Shawwal 410/Feb. 1020 with Abu Sa'Id Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Mallnlal-HarawI [see Kabhala, Mu'jam (n. 29 above), vol. 11, p. 27; A'ydn al-ShVa, Beirut 1960, vol. 9, p. 400], Gregor Schwarb and contents. A comprehensive assessment of al-Tustaff's theological and philosophical thought will have to wait until critical editions of K. al-Ima' and his other writings have been published. The first treatise The first treatise, the shortest of the three, is meant to be a concise digest of Mu'tazilite usul al-din. Accordingly, it includes a discussion of God's unity and justice (al-Maqala al-ula fima yata 'allaqu bi-l-tawhld wa-l- 'adl). It opens with the following lines [MSS % fol. 2a; j, fol. 2a]: ]H 3i>o .naNxiNi 'rav n^n niorm rfrNpaiw nin >d xihi ]H &w [...] pNpnriDN rhm ii»ty> nbpybn in in [321x] nb>!m .nn dWk xm >ty n^w nd iHNpn niNani Nniya mwnlw mobxi !?ro>9^K yva >^v tribN nddnddn nobriDN nnb .Nrwa 'a -pi «bi Nn!> napNy «b 1« >a ri'iNonn nh^d >by xh ipo .Kanb ^vno !np 10 to>i> ii3p«)>b«i Tnbw /it^roNbN Kin .ivnN -jlwnnlw ivi aipN fiNaa^N »b« i!ri >o !wnbN Dbj»b i!?3Db« Take note that in this treatise we intend to establish the existence of God and His attributes. But first of all we have to give evidence that it is obligatory to know Him. The evidence for that is that rational beings immediately ('necessarily') know that certain actions deserve blame, whereas others deserve praise and exaltation, that there is a gradation with respect to the extent of what one deserves of these things, and that some (actions) are not subject to deservingness at all. If all things were equivalent, inasmuch as they would not entail any evil consequence and in some instances involve attainment, this difference between their judgements would not exist. The attainment and evil consequences (of actions) are distinct only on account of an agent who effects them. That is why the legally obligated person must engage in rational investigation in order to gain knowledge about these things, and in order to get closer to salvation and farther away from the causes of perdition. Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's Kitab al-Ima' 83* After establishing the obligation to know God as a postulate of practical reason, al-Tustarl goes on to give a condensed summary of the principles of religion (usul al-diri). The extant manuscripts (see table above) include three chapter headings for the first treatise (see below 1.2.6; 1.2.7; 1.3.4). They do not reflect the structure of the treatise and seem altogether fortuitous. It seems very likely, indeed, that initially the treatise was written as one unit and that the chapter headings are a later addition. The structure of the treatise may be described as follows: A. Unity {Abwdb al-tawhid) 1.1 Evidence for the necessity/obligation to know God {al-dalTl 'aid wujubi I- 'Urn bihi ta 'aid) [H2 3] 1.2 Proving the existence of God and His attributes {ithbdtu llah subhdnahu wa-awsdfihi) [17J-N2 J] 1.2.1 The necessity of His being eternal {wujub kawnihi ta'dld qadiman) [N4J-N2 J] 1.2.1.1 The origination of temporals {hidath al-hawddith) [N2 J] 1.2.1.2 The origination of bodies {hidath al-ajsdm) [33/N2 J] 1.2.1.3 God is the originator of the world (kawnuhu ta'dld muhdith al- 'alam) [N4/33 3] 1.2.2 The necessity of His being one {wujub kawnihi ta 'did wdhidan, Id than! lahu) [3/H4 3] 1.2.3 The inconceivability of God's being seen {istihdlat al-ru'ya 'alayhi ta 'did) [14 J] 1.2.4 The necessity of His being powerful/omnipotent {wujub kawnihi ta 'aid qddir"") [25-34 J] 1.2.5 The necessity of His being knowing/omniscient {wujub kawnihi ta 'did 'dliman) [N6-35 J] 1.2.6 [The necessity] of His being living {[wujub] kawnihi ta'dld hayy"") [«6 J] 1.2.7 The necessity of His being self-sufficient {wujub kawnihi ta 'did ghaniy") [16 J] 84* Gregor Schwarb B. Justice (abwab al- 'adl) 1.2.8 His being willing and loathing (kawnuhu ta'dld mundan wa- kdrihan) [N7/16 >] 1.2.9 His being wise (kawnuhu ta'dld hakim"11) [1/N7 3] 1.2.9.1 God does not do evil (innahu ta 'did la yaf'alu l-qabih) [N7j] 1.2.9.2 God does not fail to do what is necessary (innahu ta 'did la yukhillu bi-wdjib) [1/D7 3] 1.3 The imposition of obligation (al-takllf) [M4-17 >] 1.3.1 Deserving reward and punishment / praise and blame (istihqdq al-thawdb wa-l-'iqdb / al-madh wa-l-dhamm) [M2-N8 >] 1.3.1.1 That it is good to impose obligation on the disobedient and the unbeliever (husn taklif al-'dsi wa-l-kdfir) [18 J] 1.3.2 Suffering ('Pains') (al-dldm) [MO/19 J] 1.3.3 The soul: The obligated person must be a stable, unchanging and inseparable entity: (al-nafs: wujub kawn al-mukallaf amr thdbit la mutaghayyir wa-ld mutafarriq) [113-M2 3] 1.3.4 Repentance (al-tawba) [M4 J] 1.4 Prophecy (al-nubuwa) [M6-114] 1.4.1 The soundness of the transmitted reports and the Law; the veracity of the prophet (sihhat al-akhbdr wa-l-shar'; sidq al-nabi) [M 6-114 J] 1.4.2 Abrogation; the permanence of the Law of Moses (naskh; ta'bTd shan'at Musd) [M6-MS 3] The topics addressed in this first treatise are found in similar arrangements and with various degrees of elaboration in Mu'tazilite compositions on usul al-din written during the tenth and eleventh centuries.77 This affinity with 77 The most important extant usul al-din works of the BahshamI branch of the Mu'tazila written before K. al-Ima' include Abu 1-Basan'Abd al-Jabbar b. Ahmad al-Hamadhanl al-Asadabadi (d. 415/1024-5), al-Mughm fi abwab al-tawhxd wa-l-'adl, al-Muhlt bi-l-takUf, al-Usul al-khamsa, Shark al-Usul al-khamsa; Abu Muhammad Hasan b. Ahmad Ibn Mattawayh, Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustari's Kitab al-Ima' contemporaneous Mu'tazilite works does not imply that al-Tustari confined himself to giving a digest of the doctrine of his Karaite teachers. Recent studies have substantiated the significant impact of the 'philosophized' theology of Abu 1-Husayn Muhammad b. 'AH b. al-Tayyib al-Basri (d. Baghdad, 436/1044) on al-Tustari's theological thought.78 Abu 1-Husayn al-Basri — a contemporary of al-Sharlf al-Murtada in Baghdad — acquired his philosophical education under the guidance of two prominent scholars of the Christian Aristotelian school of Baghdad, Abu 'AH b. al-Samh (d. 418/1027) and Abu 1-Faraj 'Abdallah b. al-Tayyib (d. 435/1043).79 An important testimony to this education is the famous al-Majmu' fl l-Muklt bi-l-taklif; al-Sharif al-Murtada, Jumal al-'ilm wa-l-'amal, Shark Jumal al-'ilm wa-l-'amal, al-DhakhTra, al-Mulakhkhas (see nn. 60, 62, 69, 70 above); Abu Ja'far al-TusI, TamhTd al-usul fl 'Urn al-kalam (see n. 64 above); al-Imam al-Mu'ayyad bi-llah Abu 1-Husayn Ahmad b. al-Husayn b. Hariln al-Buthani (d. 411/1020), al-Tabsirafl usul al-din; al-Imam al-Nafiq bi-l-Haqq Abu Talib Yahya b. al-Husayn b. Harun al-Buthani (d. ca. 424/1033), Mabadi' al-adilla fl usul al-dm, Ziyadat Shark al-Usul; al-Imam al- Mustazhir bi-llah, al-Sharif Abu 1-Husayn Ahmad b. Abl 1-Husayn al-Qazwinl, Man(e)kdim Sheshdlv (d. ca. 425/1034), Ta'llq 'aid Shark al-Usul al-khamsa; al-Hakim al-Jishuml, Abu Sa'd al-Muhassin b. Muhammad b. Karama (or: Kurrama) al-Bayhaql al-Barawgham (d. 494/1101), Shark 'Uyiin al-masd'ilfl 'Urn al-usul, Takkim al-'uqulfitashTh al-usul; earlier Karaite compositions of this type include Levi b. Yefet, K. al-Ni'ma and Yusuf al-Basir, K. al-TamyTz, al-K. al-Muktawl 78 See the article "Abu 1-Husayn al-Basri" by W. Madelung, in EI2 Suppl. (1980), pp. 25f.; the article "Abu 1-Husayn al-Basn" by D. Gimaret, in Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 1 (1985), pp. 322-324; Madelung/Schmidtke, Rational Theology (n. 4 above); S. Schmidtke, "The Karaites' Encounter with the Thought of Abu 1-Husayn al-Basri (d. 436/1044): A Survey of the Relevant Materials in the Firkovitch-Collection, St. Petersburg", in Arabica 53,1 (2006), pp. 108-142, esp. 112f., 117f. For an edition of the extant fragments of Abu 1-Husayn al-Basri's K. Tasaffuk al-adilla ("Scrutiny of the Proofs") in the Firkovitch collections see W. Madelung and S. Schmidtke (eds.), Abu l-Husayn al-Basri: Tasaffuk al-adilla, Wiesbaden 2006. In addition to these, the most important sources for our knowledge of Abu 1-Husayn al-Basri's theological thought are the works of Rukn al-DIn Mahmtid b. Muhammad al-Malahiml al-Khuwarazml (d. 536/1141): al-Mu'tamad fl usul al-din, eds. W. Madelung and M. McDermott, London 1991; al-Fa'iqflusul al-dm, eds. W. Madelung and M. McDermott (forthcoming). 79 Ibn AblUsaybi'a, 'Uyiin al-anba'fltabaqatal-atibbd', ed. A. Miiller, Konigsberg 1884, vol. 1, p. 240, lines 25-27. Abu 1-Faraj 'Abdallah b. al-Tayyib was a student of 'Isa b. Ishaq Ibn Zur'a (d. 398/1008) and al-Hasan b. Suwar b. al-Khammar (d. 407/1017) who in turn were Gregor Schwarb codex Leiden, UB, Or. 583, entitled Shark al-sama' al-tabT'l ("Commentary on the Auscultatio Physica") which contains, besides the Arabic translation of Aristotle's Physics, commentaries and glosses by several scholars of the Christian Aristotelian school of Baghdad.80 It derives not directly, but at one remove from a copy in the handwriting of Abu 1-Husayn al-Basri, which was written in twenty-four quires and collated with a copy of Yahya b. 'AdI.81 A close study of this codex has shown that the comments of Abu Bishr Matta b. Yunus al-Qunna'I (d. 320/940), Yahya Ibn 'AdI, Abu 'AH b. al-Samh and Abu 1-Faraj b. al-Tayyib largely depend on Philoponus' (Yahya al-NahwI's) commentary on the Physics.82 As has been stated repeatedly by a number of students of Yahya b.' Ad! (for additional references see C. Ferrari, DerKategorienkommentar von Abu l-Farag 'Abdalldh ibn at-Tayyib. Text and Untersuchungen, Leiden 2006). While Abu l-Husayn al-Basff received his philosophical education at the Christian Aristotelian school of Baghdad, al-Sharif al-Murtada polemicized against this very same school. He wrote, for instance, cd-Radd 'aid Yahya b. 'AdTal-nasraniflmd yatanahd wa-md Id yatandhd (see Tihranl, Dhan'a [n. 60 above], vol. 10, p. 237, no. 748); al-Radd 'aid Yahya b. 'Adi fli'tiradihi 'aid dalll al-mawjudayn fihuduth al-ajsdm (ibid., no. 749); al-Radd 'aid Yahya b. 'AdT fi mas'ala sammdha "tabT'at al-muslimm" (ibid., no. 750); al-Radd 'aid man athbata huduth al-ajsdm min al-jawhar [ed. in Rasd'il al-Murtadd (n. 60 above), vol. 3, pp. 331-334]. Abu 1-Husayn al-Basri wrote refutations of al-Sharif al-Murtada's K. al-Shdfl on the imamate and of K. al-Muqni' on the Ghayba doctrine. With regard to the relationship between these two eminent scholars see also the testimony in Abu l-'Ala' al-Ma'arri's Luzumvydt as quoted in S. M. Stern, "Ibn al-Samb", in The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1956), p. 32. 80 A. Badawi's edition of the Arabic translation of the Physics and the glosses is based on this MS: Aristutalis: al-Tabi'a, 2 vols., Cairo 1964-1965. For a detailed description of the codex see E. Giannakis, Philoponus in the Arabic Tradition of Aristotle's Physics, unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Oxford, 1992; P. Lettinck, "Introduction", in Philoponus On Aristotle's Physics 5-8 from the Arabic Summary, Ithaca 1994, pp. 3-18. 81 The scribe of the manuscript, Abu 1-Hakam al-Ma'arrl al-Maghribl, copied it in 1129-1130. He states that he copied faithfully from an exemplar (al-umm) which was copied from the original {al-asl) in al-Karh in Jumada II470/1077. The copyist of the umm is not identified. The asl was in the handwriting of Abu 1-Husayn al-Basri who wrote it in Safar 395/1004. The fullest form of his name is given in the colophon of Book Four by the anonymous scribe of the umm copy: Tamma ta'llqu l-maqalati l-rdbi'atimin al-samd'il-tabi'ilil-Shaykhal-Imdm al- 'Alim AbTl-Husayn Muhmmad b. 'All al-Basri (see Giannakis, Philoponus, p. 23). 82 Giannakis, Philoponus; Lettinck, Introduction (n. 80 above). An aspect of Giannakis' thesis Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's Kitab al-Ima' scholars, Philoponus' objections against the doctrines of the eternity of the world and of eternal motion underwent reformulations of various kinds in the Kaldm treatises in order to establish the contingency of the created world, the finiteness of the body of the universe, and the impossibility of infinite time, infinite motion, and infinite series of accidents.83 Al-Basri's argument is decisively influenced by the teachings of the Aristotelian school of Baghdad and their critical rephrasing of some of Philoponus' proofs. To a certain extent, al-Tustari's indebtedness to Abu 1-Husayn al-Basri's thought may be described as a legacy of the Christian Aristotelian school of Baghdad.84 The nuances of such an indebtedness can only be determined after a close reading of all of al-Tustari's extant works and their comparison with the relevant texts of this school.85 is summarized in idem, "The structure of Abu 1-Husayn al-Basrfs copy of Aristotle's Physics", in Zeitschrift fir Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften 8 (1993), pp. 251-258. On Philoponus' objections against the doctrines of the eternity of the world seeM. Share, Philoponus Against Proclus' "On the eternity of the World 1-5", Ithaca 2005; H. S. Lang and A. D. Macro (eds.), Proclus, On the Eternity of the World, De Aeternitate Mundi, Greek text with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, Berkeley 2002; Ch. Wildberg, Philoponus Against Aristotle, on the Eternity of the World, London 1987, pp. 18—31; idem, "Prolegomena to the study of Philoponus' contra Aristotelem" in Philoponus and the Rejection of Aristotelian Science, ed. R. Sorabji, London 1987, pp. 197-209. 83 The problem of 'infinity' is treated in Physics HI:4-8, ed. Badawi, vol. 1, pp. 202-270. See M. J. Edwards (tr.), Philoponus on Aristotle's Physics 3, Ithaca 1994. Among several other articles we may mention H. A. Davidson, "John Philoponus as a Source of Medieval Muslim and Jewish Proofs of Creation", in Journal of the American Oriental Society 89 (1969), pp. 357-391, reprinted with minor modifications in idem, Proofs for Eternity, Creation and the Existence of God in Medieval Islamic and Jewish Philosophy, New York and Oxford 1987, pp. 86-153; S. Pines, "An Arabic summary of a lost work of John Philoponus", in Israel Oriental Studies 2 (1972), pp. 320-352. See also the article "Yahya al-Nahwr by R. Wisnovsky, in El2, vol. 11 (2002), pp. 251-253. A concise account of Philoponus' arguments is found in R. Sorabji, "Infinity and the Creation", in Philoponus and the Rejection of Aristotelian Science, ed. R. Sorabji, London 1987, pp. 164-178. 84 See W. Madelung, "Abu 1-Husayn al-Basri's Proof for the Existence of God", in Festschrift Richard M. Frank, ed. J. Montgomery, Cambridge (forthcoming). 85 With regard to al-Tustari's K. al-TahrTr see A. Martin, "La Metaphysique. Tradition syriaque et arabe", in Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques, ed. R. Goulet, vol. 1, pp. 528-534 (Paris 1989); C. Martini Bonadeo, "La Metaphysique. Tradition syriaque et arabe: Mise a jour bibliographique", in ibid. Supplement, pp. 259-264 (Paris 2003); A. Bertolacci, The Gregor Schwarb In K. al-Ima' al-Tustari presents the arguments for the createdness of the world in a rather truncated, or — in keeping with the book's title — 'allusive' form. His main argument concurs with an argument which Yusuf al-Basir had attempted to refute half a century earlier in his K. al-Naqd [ 'aid Abi l-Husayn al-Basn], a sweeping attack against those who deny the existence of accidents (nuffat al-a'rad).86 Al-Tustan writes [MSS % fol. 2b; J, fol. 2b]: IN ino TTiriD nnjbN >o nbisn in nqni .[...] nnjbN 'a bisnbN >n DWbN mNibi noni nb biN [N3'm] Nb Nniafi 113' in nqn nmNibN rinj^N '3 nmari lb5> Nb '2 nniari pa> in ndni ,nb biN Nb nd >bN riNnibN >a biiin^N n'by NbNiiv in .nb biN Nb nd nd'd bisnbN n'by NbNiiv Nb in ri>na Trimo riNniibN ba 87"|bi mb> |nd i«V nb biN Nb Nniari rbnNibN nnjbN '3 nari' in ni> Nbi l*o ib niNb iriNi man nb biN Nb 'ibN rnaiibN 88iNb Nnin nana ribNnnrjN INb n>ns ajNi rnaiibN ibii nb biN Nb nun jnd Nab iriNi nun in iron 'bmbNi n'3 rin^ Nb n'a <iNi'nt>N Nb nidi 'itNnbN pi iiNnonbN biNirin nn^bN Ni»a ip iNb >btNbN maribN in bvn »ib« iNab maribN boa ibi n>a <i*o>nt?N Nb maribN ajNi 'brNbN maribN ]nd NajNi iNbuabN jNa ins .n'a Tton Nb in 1ND INbUlbN T'Nj 1ND INI ^'pll '\>)bN 3lilbN blNW IN bNnn im INbtttbNl 'btNbN maribN in Ni»a ipi panubN biNinn hnsbN jNb 89.t'Nj 'brNbN maribN b'nrron 'btNbN iNboas b'nrron in vm Nbi ajNia cb ind ndi ,t'Nj Nb ajNi .nnnj id njna man nby Tpi nnnj id DoibN ^n] ha' in b'nno'a n*tn iNb nb bw Nb nd 'bN nanibN 'a bisnbN n'by NbNiir in pn> [N3 j] Nbi INb nb bi« Nb Nn 'bN NnbN^nN ni> Nba niino NbN Nn'a nnj 'a bisn Nb ]Na Reception of Aristotle's Metaphysics in Avicenna's Kitab al-Sifa': A Milestone of Western Metaphysical Thought, Leiden 2006. Regarding the concept of contingency within Abu 1-Husayn's and al-Tustarf s proof for the createdness of the world see C.-R. Ehrig-Eggert, Die Abhandlung Uber den Nachweis der Natur des Moglichen von Yahya b. Adi, Frankfurt a. M. 1990, with an edition of the Arabic text by idem, in Zeitschrift ftir Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften 5 (1989), pp. 63-97 (Arabic part). 86 See MS St. Petersburg, RNL, Yevr.-Arab. 13100, fol. 6b-7a (MHM, F 56533). 87 Nn'b r. 88 WTb J. 89 "vxi W anDJ D»bi\>ni ,mi t. Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's Kitab al-Ima' 89* }H bipnuoba >o pn> Nb nddd n'bmnn NbDpnoD 110 ipi Nba mm '\y Kb 1Kb nb bin «b NbNsmN ibi )d >n*win tj NbNsnN bsnni frmmbN mrin nbipnun nbnibto NbipnoD ind ip 'snd bD ito NDb 'SNnbN bno bnpncDbN 1Kb iNTiNbN DDn jn ru nan ddd xnb «bi -mnabN tj nbnjbx t>'b jxb >0N3> nd DDnbN id Jibixb Nnb ^nn np'pn «bi nun ribni «D3iDn anb d'b Nnb nun Kb i« yn 'v/NnwiN DDn >3M> DDn Nnb bsn uw an'min DDn nsw .buna im n>9«r «m DDnbN miiNbb nan ip )tob Kn'KHK nun va m>t« ya nin' »\» Nrvo o'b nuiibN >by n'bNinobN mmnbN ribni |n nun nNpwbN id npi >a ribnibb ind ndq DpNynm yyn anibn 'oan Nnwb Nin jnd urn fi'spw naixjn Nnwb yisiD 'by [N4 1n] nbi t«nn Nb xnynj' 'QNin DDn nnbnjb ]u> \h pn» Nbo nwiiN nun va nnboab nun Nbo nDDn 'o nnun ju' in aii'A iNnabN »n NnaNb bin hbaabb iu> in ai»o nwaa DDnb nxnabN 90>a tuba id idi> Nb nnp'pn h'n id Doabm nann [33a] nanabN .TTinn pD' IN DJ'3 The inherent quality of the body is its occurring in a position in space. [...] The occurrence (of the body) in a position in space is innovated, because its stable existence91 in space must be in accordance with one of the following possibilities: either it is a stable existence without a beginning, or it occurs in (multiple) positions in space in continuous succession without a beginning, or it is a stable existence which is innovated in each position in space, so that its occurrence in them is not a continuous succession without a beginning. It is inconceivable that it is stable in one position in space without having a beginning, since this would imply the impossibility of its departing from (this position). This is because stable existence without a beginning is one single stable existence, for if it were more than one stable existence, it would not be a stable existence without a beginning. Such a stable existence is necessary, not possible, since possibility extends to the 90 ID J. 91 or: 'being stable', 'stability', 'reality'. Gregor Schwarb future, not to the past. Things which do not entail a beginning in the future have no possibility, and whatever is eternal a parte ante entails no beginning in the future. Were (its) stable existence discontinued, the stable existence a parte ante would be discontinued, for we have already made clear that it does not entail change. If (its) discontinuation were necessary, (its) stable existence a parte ante would (at the same time) be necessary with regard to stability and discontinuation. It is, however, absurd that necessity would extend (simultaneously) to something and its opposite. If, on the other hand, its discontinuation was possible, its stable existence a parte ante would be possible, too, since possibility comprises both sides. We have already explained that stable existence a parte ante is necessary, not possible, and what is neither necessary nor possible is impossible. Therefore it is impossible that something which is eternal a parte ante would be discontinued, and it is impossible that the body (which is eternal a parte ante) departs from its position in space. It is, however, known that (the body) does depart from its position in space. It is also not possible that (the body) occurs in (multiple) positions in space in continuous succession without a beginning, because if only what is innovated can occur in a position in space, it is inconceivable for them to be continuous, for everything of them would be preceded in a continuous succession, just as it is not possible that temporals occur in an infinite continuity in the future, from which one could infer a continuity without a beginning, because the future is analogous to the past insofar as every past thing was (once) a future thing. The whole (the totality) is preceded, because the whole is nothing but (its) components and it has no qualification by which it is set apart from the qualification of (its) components. On account of its being a whole it has neither a stable existence nor a reality because of which it would acquire a qualification contradicting the qualification of its parts. If it had a qualification contradicting the qualification of its parts, even though it Sahl b. alvFadl al-Tustan's Kitab al-Ima' has no stable existence other than the stable existence of its parts, its parts would have (simultaneously) a qualification and its contrary, and this is absurd. Moreover, among the totality of temporals which affect the body successively, nothing is stable in it together with its counterpart, because they exclude each other and follow one after the other. At no point in time does the whole have a stable existence which includes (all of) them, not at a time and not in a subject, because they pass away and elapse. Whatever has this qualification has no stable existence as a whole except the stable existence of its parts, and since it is not possible for the whole to have a qualification contradicting the qualification of its parts, the whole must have a beginning, because it is (its) components. (The body's) stable existence in positions in space is innovated, and the body, by its reality, cannot be separated from being in positions in space. Hence, it must be innovated. The second treatise The second treatise discusses "the premises and underlying principles of the religious law, thereby following the pattern of usul al-fiqh (compositions)". It includes the following chapter headings:92 II. 1. Exposition of the (methodological) procedures common to (all) sciences (bayan al-turuq al-mushtaraka lil-'ulum);93 II.2. Chapter on the conversion of statements/propositions (fasl fl 'aks al-qadaya); H.3. Chapter on the imperative/command (fasl fi l-amr); 92 As noted with regard to the first treatise, the discrepancy between the structure as reflected by the chapter headings and the actual arrangement of the contents suggests that the treatise did not originally include chapter headings. 93 The opening section of the second treatise is not given a chapter heading. The first sentence reads: niybn pm Niva iivb ,diw?1> nDirronim pitfm jwa k^in tnpa in ni> nan Diw rivwtol [MSS i, fol. 16b; a, fol. 2a]. Gregor Schwarb 11.4. Chapter on prohibitions (fasl ft l-nawdhi); 11.5. Chapter on generality and particularity (faslfil-'umum wa-l-khusus); 11.6. Chapter which discusses specifically the particular term {fasl ft dhikr al-khdss); 11.7. Chapter on the clarifying statement (fasl ft l-bayan); II. 8. Chapter regarding the fact that whatever is not explicitly stated must not be applied to the legal judgement nor its contrary without demonstrative evidence (fasl ft anna ma siwa l-madhkur la yajibu hamluhu 'aid hukmihi wa-ld 'aid khildfihi bi-ghayri daldla); 11.9. Chapter on abrogation and related issues (faslfil-naskh wa-mdyattasilu bihi); 11.10. Chapter on the juridical (inductive) syllogism (fasl ft I-qiyas).94 With the exception of the sections II. 1-2 all chapter headings concur with major topics discussed in Islamic usul al-fiqh compositions predating K. al-Imd'. Since a detailed analysis of the latter subjects is given elsewhere, we propose to focus here on the two introductory sections which comprise a digest of Aristotelian syllogistics.95 The introduction of Aristotelian syllogistics into u$ul al-fiqh It has recently been suggested that the development of Kaldm might be roughly described as reflecting the various stages of the philosophic reception of the 94 The common translation of the term qiyds as 'analogy'/'analogical reasoning' does not adequately reflect the logical procedures designated by it. 95 A survey of the reception of usul al-fiqh in Jewish Kaldm is found in G. Schwarb, " 'Usui al-fiqh im jiidischen Kaldm des 10. und 11. Jahrhunderts: Ein Uberblick", in Die Rezeption des Orients in der Wissenschaft des Judentums. Akten des 29. Deutschen Orientalistentages, Halle, 20.-24. September 2004 (Abhandlungen fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes), ed. A. Kuyt et al., Wiesbaden 2006 (forthcoming). A detailed discussion of the classical usul al-fiqh topics included in the second treatise of K. al-Imd' is part of my doctoral dissertation which includes the edition and an annotated translation of Yeshu'ah ben Yehudah's K. at-Tawriya which mainly follows the pattern of Mu'tazilite usul al-fiqh compositions. Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's Kitab al-lma' Aristotelian Organon.96 In a first phase, which would include approximately the 2nd/8th and 3rd/9th centuries, the Mutakallimun operated with a variety of terms and concepts, including basic terms and preliminary rules of Aristotelian logic, borrowed from surrounding religious communities and from the various intellectual traditions of Late Antiquity. Generally speaking, this period is characterized by a complex form of reception and by diffuse channels of transmission. A second phase, stretching from the early 4th/10th to the late 5th/llth century, coincides with the comprehensive reception of the late antique Organon traditions by the faldsifa who tended to regard themselves as exclusive guardians of the true demonstrative method as exposed in the Analytica Posteriora. Most Mutakallimun reacted to this attitude by decisively rejecting the Organon and other philosophical models. The third phase begins with the late 5th/llth century. Its distincive trait is a continuously growing reception of the philosophical system of Ibn Slna among the Mutakallimun. This description of the reception of the Aristotelian Organon by Muslim theologians suffers from the shortcomings of most schematic models proposed to describe historical processes. It disregards many data which would contradict or at least modify the account given of the Mutakallimun's acquaintance with Peripatetic logic.97 Nevertheless, even if we adopt the proposed schema with the appropriate caution and reservation, it is obvious that the massive introduction of Aristotelian logic into 'Urn al-kalam and usul al-fiqh was a very new phenomenon in the 11th century. It is commonly associated 96 U. Rudolph and D. Perler, "Einleitung", in Logik und Theologie. Das Organon im arabischen und im lateinischen Mittelalter, ed. eidem, Leiden 2005, p. 6, cautiously suggest that there may be a fundamental link between the development of Islamic theology and the philosophic reception of the Organon: "Denn es scheint so, als konne man jedem Stadium der philosophischen Auseinandersetzung [...] eine Etappe in der theologischen Entwicklung zuordnen". 97 A detailed diachronical study of the integration of/a/sa/a-concepts and/a/sa/a-terminology into the different Kaldm schools during the tenth and eleventh centuries still needs to be written. See for now C. Schock, Koranexegese, Grammatik und Logik. Zum Verhaltnis von arabischer und aristotelischer Urteils-, Konsequenz- und Schlusslehre, Leiden 2006 (this study focuses on universal quantifiers and indefinite nouns) and some articles in Logik 94* Gregor Schwarb with the person of al-Ghazzali (d. llll).98 Indeed, the distinct presence of logical terminology and arguments in his writings had a profound impact on the subsequent development of Islamic theology and jurisprudence and contributed to the integration of Aristotelian logic into the madrasa curriculum from the twelfth century onwards." It would, however, be misleading to depict al-hazzall as a pioneer or a harbinger of this development. He was one of several Muslim theologians of the eleventh century who — more or less independently — sought to incorporate at least parts of Aristotelian syllogistics into their works.100 Besides al-Ghazzali's teacher al-Juwaym (d. 478/1085), we may recall the name of Abu 1-Husayn al-Basrl (d. 436/1044) who studied the Organon with his Christian teachers in Baghdad; we may also mention Ibn Hazm (d. 456/1064) who stressed the usefulness of logic for interpreting the canon of religious texts and for deriving legal ordinances, and himself wrote several treatises on logic.101 und Theologie (n. 96 above). For the impact of Avicennian thought on the development of Ash'arite and Maturidite kaldm during the eleventh and twelfth centuries see R. Wisnovsky, "One Aspect of the Avicennian Turn in Sunni Theology", in Arabic Sciences and Philosophy 14 (2004), pp. 65-100; F. Griffel, "Al-GazalTs Concept of Prophecy: The Introduction of Avicennan Psychology into As'arite Theology", in Arabic Sciences and Philosophy 14 (2004), pp. 101-144, with references to previous research. 98 See J. Van Ess, Die Erkenntnislehre des 'Adudaddin al-Ici. Ubersetzung und Kommentar des 1. Buches seiner Mawaqif, Wiesbaden 1966, p. 286; U. Rudolph, "Die Neubewertung der Logik durch al-GazalT, in Logik und Theologie (n. 96 above), pp. 73-97. According to W. B. Hallaq, "Logic, Formal Arguments and Formalization of Arguments in Sunni Jurisprudence", mArabica 37 (1990), p. 318, al-Ghazzah" was "the first jurist in Sunn! Islam to have integrated logic into legal theory to a large extent". See also Ibn Khaldun's account on the integration of logic into Islamic theology in his Muqaddima, vol. 3, pp. 113-116, tr. F. Rosenthal, The Muqaddima: An introduction to history, vol. 3, London 1958, pp. 143-147. 99 See e.g. R. M. Frank, Al-Ghazzall and the Ash'arite school, London 1994. The significant impact of Avicennian philosophy on Ash'arite kaldm is already reflected in the curriculum of the Nizamlya during the second half of the 11th century. 100 W. B. Hallaq, Logic (n. 98 above); I. Madkour, "La logique d'Aristote chez les Motakallimin", in Collected Texts and Papers on Logic and Language, eds. M. Mohaghegh and T. Izutsu, Tehran 1974, pp. 29-46. 101 A. G. Chejne, "Ibn Hazm of Cordova on Logic", in Journal of the American Oriental Society 104 (1984), pp. 57-72; R. Brunschvig, "Pour ou contre la logique grecque chez les Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's Kitab al~Ima' Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustari may thus be described as the Jewish counterpart of this new development. Even if he was by no means the first Jewish theologian to operate with Aristotelian logical terminology, his attempt is distinctly more systematic and more organically integrated in his system of thought than those of his predecessors, and the textual sources at his disposal are significantly more comprehensive.102 He is the first Jewish Mutakallim to include a concise summary of Aristotelian syllogistics within the framework of legal hermeneutics (usul al-fiqh).xm In this point al-Tustari also anticipated al-Ghazzalr of whom he must have been aware during the last decade of the 11th century.104 Of al-Ghazzalfs two works which are of relevance in this context, al-Mustasfd min 'ilm al-usul was only completed in 1109, while theologiens-juristes de Flslam: Ibn Hazm, al-Ghazzall, Ibn Taimiyya", in Oriente e occidente nel medioevo. Filosofia e scienze (Atti dei convegni de FAccademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 13), Roma 1971, pp. 185-209, reprinted in idem, Etudes d'Islamologie, vol. 1, Paris 1976, pp. 303-327. 102 The acquaintance of earlier Jewish authors with Peripatetic logic is almost certainly mediated by doxicographical works circulating in the contemporary Christian milieu. See Dawtld b. Marwan al-Muqammas, 'Ishrun Maqdla, ed. S. Stroumsa, Leiden 1989, pp. 44/45ff. and the editor's introduction, p. 24 with notes 67f. An important attempt to introduce Aristotelian logical terminology into the juridical field is found in al-Qirqisani's K. al-Anwar wa-l-mardqib, IV.5, ed. Nemoy, vol. 2, New York 1940, pp. 354-358. According to al-Qirqisanl the Mutakallimun made use of the Aristotelian syllogism, e.g. to prove the world's createdness and to deal with other delicate theological subjects. He also writes that some Karaites (qawm min ahl al-nazar min ashabina), for instance Benyamln al-Nihawandi, have employed Aristotelian syllogistics to derive legal regulations. Cf. also G. Vajda, "Etudes sur Qirqisani", in Revue des Etudes Juives 108 (1948), p. 69. 103 Almost a century later, Yashar b. Ha-Sar Hesed al-Tustari, another scion of the Tustari family, refers in K. al-Usul al-Muhadhdhabiya (cf. n. 22 above) to his "books on logic" (kutubund fl l-mantiq); see MS St. Petersburg, RNL, Yevr.-Arab. I 3951, fol. 4a, line 21. For other later examples in Jewish literature see A. Ravitzky, The Influence of Aristotelian Logic on the Understanding of Legal Hermeneutics in the Middle Ages, Ph.D. thesis, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 2005 [Hebrew]. 104 Al-Tustari was most probably in Jerusalem, when al-Ghazzali spent some months in the town in 1096 or 1097 (cf. n. 31 above). It is much less probable that al-Tustari was familiar with al-Ghazzall's work, particularly at the time when he wrote K. al-Ima' and K. al-Talwih. 96* Gregor Schwarb the earlier Mankhul fi 'Urn al-usul, written shortly before 1085 under the instruction of his teacher al-Juwaynl, does not include an introduction to Aristotelian syllogistics. On the other hand, it seems very likely that the background for al-Tustari"s effort to render the theology of his Karaite teachers more "philosophical" and "logical", owes — like al-Ghazzall — much to the philosophical challenge which the Avicennan system presented to all branches of Kaldm, and Abu 1-Husayn al-Basri's philosophized theology to the Bahshami Mu'tazila.105 Aristotelian syllogistics were thus no longer regarded as the exclusive domain of the philosophers, but as an epistemic tool which was applicable to all branches of science and accessible to anyone who mastered it. According to this view Aristotelian syllogistics are constitutive to any science, and consequently the discipline of legal hermeneutics (usul al-fiqh) cannot dispense with them either.106 Before introducing Aristotelian syllogistics in the second treatise of K. al-Imd', al-Tustan maps out the foundations of epistemic processes in general [MSS 3, fol. 2a; >, fol. 16b]: p-iu Nn>a iivi 107Dii>y^ namwnlw pn^n ]m riw tnp) \x ii> d^vn nW« >v3 |a nnni diVv 'iw turon >n hon^n nini nnty' tDbv Pn unon \n ij>i 108>nniN oibv^ noflib bya> )n np> «i> VwbN i«V mamo Nipnow .dntd '3 -pi tya »b)> up' & nwmo m»jv.«nrinnb >v«a >bN 105 With regard to Ibn Slna see D. Gutas, "The Logic of Theology (kaldm) in Avicenna", in Logik und Theologie (n. 96 above), pp. 59-72, with further bibliographical references; with regard to Abu 1-Husayn al-Basn see Madelung and Schmidtke (n. 4 above). 106 Cf. in this regard al-GhazzalT's statement at the very beginning of the Mustasfa, ed. M. Abti 1-Tla, Cairo n.d., p. 16: wa-hdjat jamV al- 'ulum al-nazariya ild hadhihi l-muqaddima ka-hdjat usul al-fiqh. 107 tntynWn. 108 NNTrDN 3. 109 niNV'Jratn. Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustari's Kitab al-Ima' Take note that first of all we have to clarify the methods which are common to (all) sciences, since there are methods for gaining knowledge of the religious law which belong to this category. The methods which lead to objects of knowledge are matters by means of which the rational being gains knowledge of what he did not know. These matters are based on immediate ('necessary') knowledge produced by God, since a rational being by himself does not have the capacity to produce knowledge from nothing (ab initio). Since (this knowledge) is originated, it must depend on an agent. No one except God is able to produce such knowledge in someone else. The thorough investigation of sensual objects does not render it possible to understand them comprehensively/completely, so that this would constitute a universal statement, and (the understanding of) parts of (the sensual objects) is not a sufficient basis to gain knowledge of the totality. Ultimately, all knowledge is anchored in a constitutional knowledge produced by God. Without this divine foundation all epistemic processes would be infinite chains of rational operations. Beyond this foundation, the production of new knowledge is classified according to its various sources, the methods employed, and the epistemic status of the newly acquired knowledge. The epistemic data which constitute the normative practical knowledge of the religious law are derived from revelational and non-revelational sources. Hence, the second treatise of K. al-Ima" is divided into two parts, the first dealing with the principles of non-revelational sources of normative knowledge which lead to probable particular or certain universal knowledge, the second with the sources of normative knowledge contained in the revealed texts. Aristotelian syllogistics are introduced as the key method of the first part, whereas in the second part they appear as a subtype of the juridical (inductive) syllogism (qiyas). The compendium character of K. al-Ima' did not allow for a detailed exposition of Aristotelian syllogistics. The second treatise merely recalls the Gregor Schwarb constitutive elements of a prepositional statement and the conditions of a sound syllogism and obviously assumes the reader's familiarity with those parts of the Organon which are known as "the prolegomena to the demonstrative syllogism, respectively to the 'Analytica Posteriora'" (Muqaddimat al-burhari) up to the assertoric syllogism (APr 1.1-2 & 4-7).110 Al-TustarT first mentions the composition of a single proposition consisting of subject and predicate terms (al-tarafayn) and then goes on to explain the basic paradigms of the predicative relations between subject and predicate of propositional statements. In terms of quality, the predicate may be said to apply or not to apply to the subject (mujib — salib); in terms of quantity, the predicate may be said to apply or not to apply universally (kullf) or particularly/partially (juz'i) to the subject. He then discusses the valid syllogistical moods and hints at the concept of modality (possibility, necessity) in propositions and syllogisms. In a few sentences he explains the rules for the conversion of propositions used in the assertoric syllogism according to the four possible relations between subject and predicate: universal & affirmative, particular & affirmative, universal & negative, particular & negative, and some rules concerning conflicting (either-or) statements ('indd) and rules of preponderance (tarjih). Future research will have to establish whether al-Tustari"s acquaintance with the Organon tradition was based on one of the numerous compendia composed in the Baghdadian or Avicennan traditions, or if he had at his disposal a translation of the integral text, as was the case with the Metaphysics.111 The greater part of the "chapter on the conversion of statements/propositions" (faslfi 'aks al-qaddyd), however, already deals with the juridical signs of the revealed text {adillat al-shar'): akhbdr, qiyds, and ijtihad. This latter section 110 Cf. J. Lameer, Al-Farabi and Aristotelian Syllogistics: Greek Theory and Islamic Practice, Leiden 1994, pp. 99-108. 111 For a partial list of these texts and compendia see "L' Organon, Tradition syriaque et arabe", in Dictionnaire desphilosophes antiques (n. 85 above), pp. 502ff.; H. Hugonnard-Roche, "Remarques sur la tradition arabe de V Organon d'apres le manuscrit Paris, Bibliotheque nationale, ar. 2346", in Glosses and Commentaries on Aristotelian Logical Texts: The Syriac, Arabic and Medieval Latin Traditions, ed. C. Burnett, London 1993, pp. 19-28. Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's Kitab al-Ima' includes a rejection of the jurisprudential validity (laysa bi-hujja) of unit-reports (akhbar al-ahad)112 and of consensus (ijma'), in both cases directed against the Rabbanite Jews. Revelation is mediated through language. Its meaning is bound to the various relations between the linguistic signs and the signified objects {al-dalala) which are based on convention {al-wad' al-lughawi, al-muwada'a) as well as on the intention of the speaker to use the language in conformity with these conventional rules (al-dalala tadullu bi-hasabi hal al-fa'il laha wa-hiya qasduhu). Here again, al-Tustari confines himself to briefly mentioning some basic features of linguistic semantics such as synonyms (alfaz mushtaraka), antonymy (ma'ani mutadadda), normal ('real') and deviative ('metaphorical') meanings (haqiqa-majaz). The third treatise As mentioned in the preamble of K. al-Ima", it is the objective of the third treatise "to deal with the foundations of the (individual) ordinances contained in the Torah in a systematic ('equable') way and to specify the evidence for (ordinances) which are based on something more than what is explicitly stated in the scriptural text; it should, moreover, distinguish (ordinances) whose obligation applies to a specific time and to specific people from (ordinances) whose obligation is all-inclusive (= applies to everyone) at all times." The structure of the third treatise is outlined at the very end of K. al-Ima' [MSS 1n, fol. 3b; 1, fol. 82a]: :n^pnt>N nin a>mm Nn>q nnniM .n'vnobN NnnynnNi ri^pyVN i^tortw «n»a ivmiN >jjn oin Dii ,niDb« in nitoy^ riNpiN on .mbsbta nnnaso .ninay^ ynaa DHyiabN nn fris vivbv, on ,nn>by ronmybN nspiN iipft nrrobN >pNi tin >av^i nu»\y!?N in rwrniy^ n^piN >pto tin ,Nna>nm [N4 'n] >Vy 112 nabnu ghaniyun 'an al-kaldm flhd li-annaha mafquda fl usul shari'atina wa-furu 'iha (MS «, fol. 70b = MS J, fol. 23a). 100* Gregor Schwarb .Dnpipn of) ,i>3NipbN3 tmnabN ybion on ,n>ON3ybN id Nnwb ]>3tnpbN >m 'mo nbbN pn 'a nbya mp> no [3821] dfi .onnDrh DnimsroNb D'lbbN mi ,nmo rmmyDbN »a nbya 3j> urn 113na*mni njitnaay id ai> ndi mt may pibNibN noma mi .i^tonbNi riN-maybN )d vaa bsw into NDb mwiabN mi >a DNbabN Dii ,n'a aj> ndi bnpbN jy >n3bt?i ,iiNDba i\yybn a>mn 'by nnpipm nbM DNanN rra nbaim piobN mi ,na nnna\yb mnybN rra nb5i«i iimbN 3»mn 'by Jiib3N»bN 'a DNbabN mi ,minbN >pN3 id Nntoin ni ndi o»ofl\y»n a>rnnbN 'by niw[N28 r]bN mi ,ibia Nna>mn 'by JiwnubN mi .riywbN aim xniNbi nywbN 3>mna ind'h^ki ni^bN mi ,mnbN ny pipn Nnwbi iraio Nnwb n>s»sbN mi ,pbt>DbN iy idnjv uiwnbN [m 11] oni»n ya> nd mi ,na nsnaobN rrminbN 'by irnnbN id mbabN ya> nd mi /jbi y»nia [341n] .iwya mpobx pipnbx )y vv mn wnnbN jNDtbN 'nao nbbw .nyiia 'a mn 'u> 'by iipibN thin )d ranb'b a'rnnbN Kin mail .'bNyn nbbN \n ,naobi nina mv Nnb y>ni MpaV The structure of this treatise (is as follows): I started in it with the rational obligations [III. 1] and let them be followed by the revealed obligations [III.2].114 (Within the revealed obligations) I started with the regulations concerning the religious services [III.2.1]: In the first place I mentioned prayer [III.2.1.1]; then (follow) the fixed times of the religious service(s) [III.2.1.2], beginning with the Sabbath [III.2.1.2.1] and followed by the first days of the month (new moon) [IH.2.1.2.2], since the fixed times of the religious services depend upon them; then (follows) the Aviv for the same reason [ffl.2.1.2.3]; then (follow) the feasts according to their chronological order [III.2.1.2.4]; then (follow) the remaining fixed times of the religious services, such as the Sabbatical year and the Jubilee year [IH.2.1.2.5]; then (follow) the sacrifices, because they are part of the religious services [111.2.1.3]; then (follow) the religious obligations of the priests concerning sacrifices [III.2.1.4.1]; then (follow) 113 UN1D11. 114 or: " ... and i subordinated to them the revealed obligations". Sahl b. al'Fadl al-Tustari's Kitab al-lma' their (other) duties [III.2.1.4.2]; then (follow the regulations regarding) the Levites, due to the exclusivity of their service [HI.2.1.5]; then (follow) evil actions with regard to God, praised be He, namely idolatry, and obligatory acts of worship and reverence, and obligatory acts with regard to objects of worship other than Him [III.2.1.6]; then (follow the regulations regarding) circumcision, because it is an important principle amongst the religious services and obligations [111.2.1.7]; then (follow the regulations regarding) the respect of parents and their rights in keeping with the structure of the Ten Commandments [III.2.2.1], the prohibition to kill and related obligations [III.2.2.2]; then (follows) the discussion of adultery [III.2.2.3]; in it I included the laws of incest because they deal with a similar subject [III.2.2.4]; then (follow the regulations regarding) robbery/theft [IH.2.2.5]. I included in it the regulations of "these are the judgements" (Exodus 21:1 ff.) and related issues from the rest of the Torah [ffl.2.2.6]; then (follows) the discussion regarding food regulations in keeping with the order of the Torah [in.2.2.7]; then (follow) the laws of impurity, likewise in keeping with the order of the Torah [III.2.2.8]; then follow the laws of inheritance according to order and because they are regulations (which apply) at the time of death [III.2.2.9]; then (follow the regulations about) vows and oaths in keeping with the order of the Torah and because they are conditional obligations, and conditional obligations come after unconditional obligations [III.2.2.10]; then (follow the regulations regarding the) fringed garment, because it reminds (us) of all this [III.2.2.11]; then (follow the regulations regarding) mourning about events which have to do with the exile [III.2.3]; then (follow the regulations regarding) the time to come (=the Messianic time) which go beyond the previously mentioned ones [III.2.4]. I noted down the structure (of this treatise) so that anyone who wants to study something of it will look for it at the right place. May God help all of us to achieve what gratifies Him through His graciousness and benevolence, if He so wills. 102* Gregor Schwarb The structure of the third treatise partly reflects the structure of earlier Karaite books of precepts (kutub al-fard'id), but deviates from them in other respects.115 The guiding principle of the structure established by al-Tustarf organizes the precepts from the general and unconditional to the particular and conditional, and from the rational to the revelational. This explains, for instance, why the precepts concerning prayer follow immediately after the rational commandments. Religious services ('ibadat Allah) are rooted in a purely rational imperative, namely the gratitude one owes to the benefactor (shukr al-mun 'im), and since God is the benefactor par excellence, He deserves gratitude beyond comparison. In principle, all religious services are expression of this gratitude, within which "acts of the heart" precede "acts of the limbs", and acts of unrestricted validity precede acts which are limited to specific times, places, circumstances and people. The understanding of the Ten Commandments as an umbrella of some or all precepts is well-rooted in the Karaite tradition. A similar concept is already implied in the subtitle of Philo's De Decalogo and repeated in § 154 of the same treatise (01 Sekoc A,6yoi Kecp&Xoact v6(xcov e'tcrt tcov ev ei8ei nap' oXnv xf|v vonoSeaiccv). Philo's viewpoint is reiterated by al-Qirqisani at the beginning of the sixth book of his K. al-Anwar wa-l-maraqib where he mentions it as the last item in a list of twelve statements by Philo concerning the Decalogue: "These Ten (Commandments) are the foundation and the constitutive element of all ordinances. All precepts of the Torah depend upon them and are subsumed within them, just as all individuals and accidents which are originated in the world are subsumed within what was created during the six days of creation".116 115 Of course, al-Tustarl was well acquainted with the Karaite legal literature (kutub al-fard 'id) written by his predecessors. A large fragment of his personal copy of Yflsuf al-BasIr's K. al-htibsar is extant in MS St. Petersburg, RNL, Yevr.-Arab. 1 1794, 114 Ms. (MHM, F 55442). 116 MS St. Petersburg, RNL, Yevr.-Arab. I 933, fol. 4a, lines 9-13 = Yevr.-Arab. 11812, fol. 21a, lines 3-7: ripiwin Nmoia rmnnim n'nsii .v'hnsiw ynib isw bim rnwbN rrin \n pb5 m nnn bitn yiowbNi ytb«mto< jn Dbwim >a mn> m y>ni ]H nm fditn Nnnnm urn iip'bibN DK>N '1 '2. The complete list is only extant in an abridged version of K. al-Anwdr. see B. Chiesa, "Dawud al-Muqammis e la sua opera", in Henoch 18 (1996), p. 132 n. 58. Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustari's Kitab al-lma' It is in keeping with this view that al-Qirqisam occasionally characterized his K. al-Anwar as a "Commentary on the Ten Commandments".117 Analogously to al-Tustarf s category of unconditional obligation (al-wajib al-mutlaq), the ninth statement in the same list declares the validity of the Ten Commandments to be unconditioned by time and place (wajibafikulli zaman wa-makdn).m The third treatise is not exclusively concerned with matters of positive law. It also includes several short disgressions into questions of legal hermeneutics, and it opens — like the first and the second treatises — with a prepositional, systematic introduction which provides a categorical framework for the ensuing overview of the Law [MSS N, fol. 66b; a, fol. la]: pbyn> <vbDnbN 1*«i T^nbx nnn iSv m iai n«b«pnbN nin >a nm>\w nri> .fisniriitfw DtonNbN f?n 119'jyn \h aai risisbn dndtin n>n in b«voN^«i ip nion«bNi ."pi aona nopan >m .xnanm ^vokW fivn^n mon^Ki .Kfrbv nNpnnoD^N »ni Nnnroft mm nnmm Dby>i 'aNann ipi mmn [ai a] bnnw ins ipa .nw»»a aon mai yann IwyaabN >a DNan^m .rmpnnom DKDnNi man inni ^nvon 'Vi> Since our objective in these treatises is to specify what is part of the imposed obligation, and taking into account that the imposed obligation depends upon actions insofar as they have specific values, we have to explain the notion of these specific values. The values depend upon actions, respectively their absence (i.e. non-actions), and are categorized accordingly. Values (of actions) may be compatible or incompatible with one another. They are known to be incompatible because of the incompatibility of their inherent qualities, namely what one deserves for doing them (= their deservingness). With respect to actions values are concomitant to types, as we explained. (This entire complex) consists therefore of actions, non-actions, types, values and deservingness. 117 Ibid., pp. 130f. n. 45. 118 MS St. Petersburg, RNL, Yevr.-Arab. I 933, fol. 4a, line 1. 119 tHVbN. 104* Gregor Schwarb The third treatise is by far the most comprehensive of the three treatises of K. al-Ima': in MS N it occupies 14 of 22 quires. This proportion gives weight to our earlier assumption that the compendium was first and foremost designed for practising jurists. Despite its relative length, al-Tustarl asserts towards the end of the book that the third treatise is no more than an incomplete summary of the entire legal complex [MS 1D, fol. 3a]: npN [a3 'n] m>bi JiiisnbN vbm in mai »bv imp t*n "m >a mnniN ipi KiNi ,-rnam \jmiii midiidnIw pit) Nbi "ismjn annaa'am in!? Ntmn >!?y .tm» nam :!>>3\!>obN !?Np naonai ,i!ri iv n>2pna iinyn Of the entire complex of precepts I endeavoured to take into account whatever I could. However, I cannot be exhaustive, because it is impossible to encompass (all of) its structural components and to give a precise and definitive description of (all) the inferential procedures. I admit that I am unable to achieve that (= exhaustiveness). It is in this respect that the savant said: "Your precepts are very comprehensive indeed" (Psalms 119:96). A more detailed discussion of specific legal questions is to be found in al-Tustari's commentary on the Torah and in his numerous responsa to questions addressed to him by various Karaite scholars and communities. In one question, submitted to al-Tustari by Abu 1-Hasan 'AH b. Sulayman, the latter refers to a specific passage in the third treatise of K. al-Ima' and to another responsum which al-TustarT had previously dedicated to the same issue:120 ujL^js diljlo U Js- *lc.V! c-.LS'^ Silliil aJUil j LJij ^\ [...] Jlj~Jl 120 MS St. Petersburg, RNL, Arab.-Yevr. 238, fol. 2a (MHM, F 63705). The passage referred to is found in section III.2.1.2.4 of K. al-Ima', MS N, fol. 109 - fol. 9 (for the correct order of the folios see column V in the table of manuscripts above). For the halakhic problem addressed in this question and the points of controversy with the Rabbanite interpretation of the underlying biblical text see e.g. Y. Erder, The Karaite Mourners of Zion and the Qumran Scrolls: On the History of an Alternative to Rabbinic Judaism, Tel Aviv 2004, pp. 132-135,184-187 [Hebrew]. Sahl b. al-Fadl al-Tustan's Kitab al-Ima' [...] idlli J 5jJi\ iiLA\ j Question: From the third treatise of K. al-Ima' I read the section regarding "the day after the Sabbath" (Lev 23:15) which determines "the Counting of the Sheaf, and I saw that the procedure you ('he') mentioned, may God make your ('his') greatness lasting, is a summary of what you ('he') mentioned in a separate responsum on that subject. Conclusion K. al-Ima' is a most important source for our understanding of the development of Karaite theology and jurisprudence during the latter half of the eleventh century. It evinces the dynamic creativity of religious thought among the generation of Karaite scholars that witnessed the destruction of the Jewish communities and centres of learning in Palestine. The preliminary findings of this article have shown that Sahl b. al-Fadl al- TustarT did not hesitate to challenge major elements of his teachers' theological doctrine and drew upon new sources to buttress his own contested positions. A critical edition of his book will lay the necessary foundations for a more nuanced appreciation of al-Tustaff's contribution to the enhancement of Karaite religious thought.