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129-415: Ahmadinejad said the satellite was launched to spread " monotheism , peace and justice" in the world. The Tehran Times reported that "Iran has said it wants to put its own satellites into orbit to monitor natural disasters in the earthquake-prone nation and improve its telecommunications." Foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that Iran launched the satellite to "meet the needs of the country" and that it

258-469: A 5-volume book called ذم الكلام وأهله and Imam Ghazali wrote a book called تهافت الفلاسفة. Besides, Imam Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim, among other Muslim scholars have discussed in detail that 'Ilmul Kalam' and 'Falsafa' do not represent the correct Islamic belief. Similar sentiment were also stated by ʻUthmān ibn Jumʻah Ḍumayrīyah, an Islamic theology professor of University of Sharjah and Umm al-Qura University ; that kalam science inherently contradicts

387-537: A Muslim's entire religious adherence rests. It unequivocally holds that God is indivisibly one ( ahad ) and single ( wahid ). Tawhid constitutes the foremost article of the Muslim profession of submission. The first part of the Islamic declaration of faith ( shahada ) is the declaration of belief in the oneness of God. To attribute divinity to anything or anyone else, is considered shirk —an unpardonable sin according to

516-411: A Necessary Existent". Another argument Avicenna presented for God's existence was the problem of the mind–body dichotomy . According to Avicenna, the universe consists of a chain of actual beings, each giving existence to the one below it and responsible for the existence of the rest of the chain below. Because an actual infinite is deemed impossible by Avicenna, this chain as a whole must terminate in

645-467: A being that is wholly simple and one, whose essence is its very existence, and therefore is self-sufficient and not in need of something else to give it existence. Because its existence is not contingent on or necessitated by something else but is necessary and eternal in itself, it satisfies the condition of being the necessitating cause of the entire chain that constitutes the eternal world of contingent existing things. Thus his ontological system rests on

774-464: A being; he is not the object of any creatural attribute or qualification. He is neither conditioned nor determined, neither engendered nor engendering. He is beyond the perception of the senses. The eyes cannot see him, observation cannot attain him, the imagination cannot comprehend him. He is a thing, but he is not like other things; he is omniscient, all-powerful, but his omniscience and his all-mightiness cannot be compared to anything created. He created

903-425: A conflict of wills. Since two contrary wills could not possibly be realized at the same time, one of them must admit himself powerless in that particular instance. On the other hand, a powerless being can not by definition be a god. Therefore, the possibility of having more than one god is ruled out. For if a God is powerful above another, then this asserts a difference in the particular attributes that are confined to

1032-446: A created object ascribed some power to. The Mu'tazilis liked to call themselves the people of the tawhid (ahl al-tawhid). In Maqalat al-Islamiyin, Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari describes the Mu'tazilite conception of the tawhid as follows: God is unique, nothing is like him; he is neither body, nor individual, nor substance, nor accident. He is beyond time. He cannot dwell in a place or within

1161-418: A form of polytheism. Al-'Ibadah is furthermore understood to mean that everyday acts must be in accordance with sharia . Doing something else would imply accepting another authority or object of desire besides God. The Salafi specific features of tawhid tend to elide the sovereignty and uniqueness of God. For this reason, other Sunnis disagree with these two features, as they regard it as comparing God to

1290-534: A grave sin. Chapter 4, verse 116 of the Qur'an reads: Surely Allah does not forgive associating ˹others˺ with Him ˹in worship˺, but forgives anything else of whoever He wills. Indeed, whoever associates ˹others˺ with Allah has clearly gone far astray. According to Hossein Nasr , Ali , the first imam (Shia view) and fourth Rashid Caliph ( Sunni view), is credited with having established Islamic theology . His quotations contain

1419-553: A heterodox theological movement and extreme rationalists. The group would continue to exist and primarily follow Shia and Ibadi . The most influential work of the post-classical Kalām was the Kitāb al-Mawāqif by the Iranian Shafi'i theologian Adud al-Din al-Iji (d. 1355). It received a total of five commentaries and 32 supercommentaries and became part of the Dars al-Nizāmī curriculum in

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1548-552: A limitation on God's transcendent nature. Attribution of divinity to a created entity, shirk , is considered a denial of the truth of God and thus a major sin. Associating partners in divinity of God is known as shirk and is the antithesis of Tawhid . Although the term is usually translated as "polytheism" into English, the sin is thought to be more complex. Alternatively, the translation 'associating [with God]' has been suggested. The term includes denial of attributing any form of divinity to any other thing but God. This includes

1677-597: A mental ability through which man can refute everything that contradicts the views and actions established by the founder of the religion, the latter as "the defence of religion with the tongue". In the definitions of the Ashʿarite scholar Adud al-Din al-Iji (d. 1355), the Ottoman scholar Taşköprüzade (d. 1561) and the Indian scholar at-Tahānawī (around 1745), who worked in Iran, kalām has

1806-508: A partner in creation in form of a sibling or wife. The uniqueness of the creator is expressed in the Daily Prayer's ( ṣalāh ) phrase Allāhu ʾakbar ( Takbīr ). Theologians usually use reason and deduction to prove the existence, unity and oneness of God. They use a teleological argument for the existence of God as a creator based on perceived evidence of order, purpose, design, or direction—or some combination of these—in nature. Teleology

1935-487: A prophet and a mere pretender to prophethood. Argument could not be distinguished from deceit and proof could not be distinguished from apparent proof. The art of the Kalam was preferable to every other art and education , which is why it was made the standard for all philosophical speculation and the basis of every syllogism . It was only held in such high esteem because every scholar needed it and could not do without it. Until

2064-703: A report quoted by Ibn Babawayh , Yahya ibn Khalid used to hold a discussion group (maǧlis) at his place on Sundays, in which mutakallimūn from every sect (firqa) and religious community (milla) participated, who then debated with each other about their religions and put forward arguments against each other. This discussion group is also mentioned by al-Masʿūdī . According to his report, many Islamic mutakallimūn participated in this discussion, including Muʿtazilites such as Abu l-Hudhail , Ibrahim al-Nazzam and Bishr ibn al-Muʿtamir , Imamites such as Hisham ibn al-Hakam , one Kharijite and one Murjite each , as well as representatives of other worldviews and faiths, including

2193-425: Is imperceptible . Twelvers believe God is alone in being, along with his names, his attributes, his actions, his theophanies. The totality of being therefore is he, through him, comes from him, and returns to him. God is not a being next to or above other beings, his creatures; he is being, the absolute act of being (wujud mutlaq). For, if there were being other than he (i.e., creatural being), God would no longer be

2322-486: Is "the knowledge of religious dogmas based on certain evidence", for Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406) "a science that includes the disputation of the dogmas of faith with rational arguments" and for Morteza Motahhari (d. 1979) "a science that discusses the Islamic dogmas [...] in such a way that it explains, proves and defends them". In Arabic , the term Kalām generally means "speech, conversation, debate." There are different theories as to why this term came to be used to describe

2451-467: Is also false when applied to God, because it implies likening something to God, whereas God is above all likeness. As to the two meanings that are correct when applied to God, one is that it should be said that "God is one" in the sense that there is no likeness to him among things. Another is to say that "God is one" in the sense that there is no multiplicity or division conceivable in Him, neither outwardly, nor in

2580-510: Is also found within the Zahiri school.; The modern Wahhabi and Salafi movements generally consider kalam to be an innovation and reject its usage. The Hanbali Sufi , Khwaja Abdullah Ansari wrote a treatise entitled Dhamm al-Kalam where he criticized the use of kalam. Ibn al-Jawzi , 12th AD Hanbali scholar; has explained that that Ulama and Fiqh of his contemporary have considered kalam as "..useless discipline.." . He described

2709-514: Is based on Hindu and Greek philosophy. On the other hand, the main source of Tawheed is revelation. Moreover, Ilmul Kalam includes restlessness, imbalance, ignorance and doubt. That is why the Salaf Saleheen condemned Ilmul Kalam. And Tawheed is based on knowledge, conviction and faith,….. Another reason can be said that the foundation of philosophy is based on assumptions, false beliefs, imaginary thoughts and superstitious ideas". Imam Harawi wrote

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2838-476: Is hardly a Kalam scholar who understands more than the Kalam questions of a book, and the science of Kalam is limited to the study of the commentary on the ʿAqāʾid of Najm al-Dīn Abū Hafs an-Nasafī (d. 1142) and on the ʿAqāʾid of ʿAdud al-Dīn al-Īji (d. 1355). Mulla Sadra, 17th AD Twelver Shia philosopher and mystic; has felt that he owed to the greek philosophy, for the development of kalam as Islamic discourse. Modern philosopher Federico Campagna has suspected

2967-511: Is impossible unless He introduces Himself due to the fact that God is beyond the range of human vision and senses. Therefore, God tells people who He is by speaking through the prophets . According to this view, the fundamental message of all of the prophets is: "There is no god worthy of worship except Allah (avoiding the false gods as stated in Surah hud)." The approach of textual interpretation in Islam

3096-551: Is limited to what has been revealed through the prophets, and on such questions as God's creation of evil and the apparent anthropomorphism of God's attributes, revelation has to accepted bila kayfa (without [asking] how). Twelvers theology is based on the Hadith which have been narrated from the Islamic prophet Muhammad , the first , fifth , sixth , seventh and eighth Imams and compiled by Shia scholars such as Al-Shaykh al-Saduq in al-Tawhid . According to Shia theologians,

3225-406: Is no difference between his person and his attributes, and his attributes should not be differentiated or distinguished from his person. Vincent J. Cornell , a scholar of Islamic studies quotes the following statement from Ali : To know God is to know his unification. To say that God is one has four meanings: two of them are false and two are correct. As for the two meanings that are false, one

3354-696: Is now Mauritania . A particularly zealous follower of the Kalam was the Ash'arite scholar Muhammad ibn 'Umar al-Bartallī (d. 1696) in Walatah . A West African biography collection reports that he was one of the famous Mutakallimūn and was constantly busy reading, copying and teaching Kalam books. The Kalām was also promoted among the Volga-Ural Tatars in Russia . At the end of the 18th century, it became an integral part of madrasa scholarship in villages and small towns, even if it

3483-582: Is said to have said: "I have argued and spoken with the people. Indeed, I love to speak with the Shia ." The fact that the verb kallama is used here for "to speak with", from which the word kalām is derived, is seen by Josef van Ess as an indication that the specifically theological meaning of the kalām concept may have already developed at this time. According to a report quoted in the Kitab al-Aghani by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani (d. 967), there were six representatives of

3612-400: Is that a person should say "God is one" and be thinking of a number and counting. This is false because that which has no second cannot enter into the category of number. Do you not see that those who say that God is a third of a trinity fall into this infidelity? Another meaning is to say, "So-and-So is one of his people", namely, a species of this genus or a member of this species. This meaning

3741-426: Is the supposition that there is a purpose or directive principle in the works and processes of nature. Another argument which is used frequently by theologians is Reductio ad absurdum . They use it instead of positive arguments as a more efficient way to reject the ideas of opponents. Against the polytheism of pre-Islamic Arabia , the Qur'an argues that the knowledge of God as the creator of everything rules out

3870-460: Is to avoid delving into theological speculation and did not employ the use of kalam . Additional to the first meaning of tawhid ( Rubūbīyah (Lordship)) all Sunnis agree upon, Salafism holds two additional meanings: Al-Asma wa's-Sifat (names and attributes) and Al-'Ibadah (worship). Al-Asma wa's-Sifat includes lordship in the form of a legislator. By this, Salafis consider a legislation not based on (its own) interpretation of sharia to be

3999-530: Is when one becomes a slave to his or her base desires and passions. In seeking to always satisfy the desires, he or she may commit a kind of polytheism. Understanding of the meaning of Tawhid is one of the most controversial issues among Muslims. Islamic scholars have different approaches toward understanding it, comprising textualistic approach , theological approach , philosophical approach and Sufism and Irfani approach. These different approaches lead to different and in some cases opposite understanding of

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4128-551: The Islamic theology . According to Sunni Islam, the orthodox understanding of theology is taken directly from the teachings of Muhammad with the understanding and methodology of his companions, sourced directly from the revealed scripture the Qur'an ; being the main information source for understanding the unification of God in Islam . All Muslim authorities maintain that a true understanding of God

4257-623: The Metaphysics section of The Book of Healing . Other forms of the argument also appear in Avicenna's other works, and this argument became known as the Proof of the Truthful . Avicenna initiated a full-fledged inquiry into the question of being , in which he distinguished between essence ( Mahiat ) and existence ( Wujud ). He argued that the fact of existence can not be inferred from or accounted for by

4386-624: The Muʿtazila and the Qadariya , with Wasil ibn Ata again playing the decisive role. However, neither Wasil ibn Ata nor any other persons mentioned here have recorded book titles or sayings that indicate that they themselves used the term kalām as a name for a particular science or knowledge culture. According to a report quoted by al-Masudi (d. 956) in his work The Meadows of Gold , the Abbasid CaliphateAbbasid caliph al-Mahdi (r. 775–785)

4515-560: The Muʿtazila . Historian Daniel W. Brown describes Ahl al-Kalām as one of three main groups engaged in polemical disputes over sources of authority in Islamic law during the second century of Islam: the Ahl al-Ra'y and Ahl al-Hadith being the other two. (Brown also describes the Muʿtazila as "the later ahl al-Kalām ", suggesting the ahl al-Kalām were forerunners of the Muʿtazilites. ) In

4644-453: The Quran , unless repented afterwards. Muslims believe that the entirety of the Islamic teaching rests on the principle of tawhid . From an Islamic standpoint, there is an uncompromising nondualism at the heart of the Islamic beliefs ( aqida ) which is seen as distinguishing Islam from other major religions . The Quran teaches the existence of a single and absolute truth that transcends

4773-532: The Safir rocket launch in darkness. According to an American official, "The vehicle failed shortly after liftoff and in no way reached its intended position." The satellite was launched southeast over the Indian Ocean to avoid overflying neighboring countries and was placed into an orbit with an inclination of 55.5 degrees, with a perigee of 246 km, an apogee of 377 km, and a period of 90.76 minutes. Omid

4902-633: The Sunnah and acting according to the truth. Shlomo Pines has concluded that the term originally arose in Abū Muslim's army and referred to political and religious propagandists such as the Dawah . However, there are reports that indicate that the culture of kalām existed before this. The Arab historian Abu Zakariya al-Azdi (d. 945) cites a report according to which the Umayyad caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (r. 717–720)

5031-476: The Tunisia such as Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani and Abu al-Hassan al-Qabisi . In al-Andalus, Ash'arism was flourishing since the time of the theologian-philosopher Ibn Hazm (d. 1064). The theologian Abu Bakr al-Baqillani's works were widely circulated in the region, which helped fostered the growth of Ash'arite theology and sparked debates. Eventually, Mu'tazilite beliefs in the region were subdued. Shortly after,

5160-473: The "fundamentals of religion" (Uṣūl al-Dīn). For example, Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (d. 1023) described the science of kalām as "a way of contemplating the fundamentals of religion in which deliberation is based on reason alone." Abu al-Yusr al-Bazdawi (d. 1099) defined it as "the explanation of those questions which constitute the fundamentals of religion, which it is an individual duty to learn." Ibn al-Athir (d. 1233) in his book al-Lubāb fī Tahḏīb al-Ansāb

5289-405: The "lamp of prophethood". Such statements can also be found in al-Ghazali . Thus, in his work Jawahir al-Qur'an (The Jewels of the Qur'an ), he judged that the purpose of the science of kalam was "to protect the beliefs of the masses from disruption by innovators". On the other hand, this science was never about "revealing the truths". Several Muslim authors defined kalām by its relationship to

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5418-512: The Aqeedah studies "Ilmul Kalam" and the philosophers called "Al-Falsafa al-Islamiyyah" or Islamic philosophy, "Al-Ilahiyat" and "Metaphysics" (supernaturalism). About the latter names, Dr. Nasser al-Aql and many others say that it is not pure to call the Islamic Aqeedah by these names. Explaining the reason, Muhammad Ibrahim Al Hamad said, "Because the source of Ilmul Kalam is human intellect, which

5547-474: The Ash'ari doctrine to the Holy Sanctuary of Mecca . Among the hundreds of Andalusi and Maghrebi pupils that Abu Dharr al-Harawi trained to become jurists and judges , and who helped Ash'arism expand to their home countries are Abu al-Walid al-Baji and Abu Imran al-Fasi . However, research shows that his students weren't the first to introduce Ash'arism as there were already known Ash'ari presence in

5676-656: The Ash'ari theology became the mainstream doctrine of the Maliki school. The Mu'tazila , also known as the Ahl al-Tawhid wal-'Adl, or the "People of Divine Unity and Justice," were originally the dominant school of kalam, but by the tenth century, two madhabs—the Ash'ariyya and the Maturidiyya—rose in fierce opposition to the Mu'tazila. Each school bore the names of its founders, Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari and Abu Mansur al-Maturidi , and represented Ahl al-Sunnah (People of Prophetic ways). In

5805-777: The Ash'arite theology as ineffective against philosophical doubts. Al-Albani , prominent figure of Salafism and modern era Hadith scholar; considered kalam doctrine as misguided in the Islamic creed due to their Ta'til methodology, which consequently divesting the Names of God in Islam . Al-Albani stated the notable example was the rejection of kalam scholars of the al-ʿAliyy (Most highest) attribute of God. Manzoor Elahi, 21th century AD Bangladeshi Salafi scholar and academic; has stated in his book "The Importance of Right Aqeedah in Reforming Society" edited by Abubakar Muhammad Zakaria says about Ilmul Kalam, The Mutaqallimin called

5934-557: The Greek word logos. Arent Jan Wensinck , on the other hand, rejected the view that the term kalām could have anything to do with logos or its derivatives in 1932, and argued that it had arisen "through the development of Arabic terminology itself". Louis Gardet and M.-M. Anawati considered the first possibility of derivation mentioned by Ibn at-Tilimsānī to be the most likely and suspected that kalām initially meant "speech about..." and then, through antonomasia, became "discourse" per se (about

6063-487: The Islamic understanding of natural sciences to some degree, all seek to explain at some level the principle of tawhid . The classical definition of tawhid was limited to declaring or preferring belief in one God and the unity of God. Although the monotheistic definition has persisted into modern Arabic, it is now more generally used to connote "unification, union, combination, fusion; standardization, regularization; consolidation, amalgamation, merger". Chapter 112 of

6192-551: The Kalam (aṣḥāb al-kalām) in Basra : the two Muʿtazilites Amr ibn Ubayd and Wasil ibn Ata , the poet Bashshar ibn Burd , Salih ibn Abd al-Quddus and Abdul Karim bin Abi Al-Awja', and a man from the tribe of Azd who was inclined towards Sumanīya, an Indian doctrine, and who made his house available to the group for their meetings. Since Wāsil died around 748, the Kalām must have existed in

6321-467: The Kalām is the basis of the religious legal sciences and that they are based on it. Some later scholars defined the kalām science of dogmas. For Adud al-Din al-Iji (d. 1355), kalām is "the science of proving religious dogmas by citing arguments and removing doubts." In a slightly modified form, this definition was also adopted by the Ottoman scholar Tashköprüzāde (d. 1561) and the Indian scholar at-Tahānawī (c. 1745). For al-Taftazani (d. 1390), Kalām

6450-581: The Mobed of the Zoroastrians . The Caliph al-Ma'mun also distinguished himself by promoting the Kalam. Al-Yaʿqūbī reports that he openly professed the "People of Monotheism and Justice" (Ahl al-Tawhid wal 'Adl), that is, the Muʿtazila, attracted Mutakallimūn to his court and paid them maintenance so that their numbers increased. Each one, explains al-Yaʿqūbī, wrote books to defend his own doctrine and to refute his opponents. Al-Jahiz (d. 869), who wrote one of

6579-598: The Quran, titled al-Ikhlas , reads: Say, "He is Allah—One; Allah—the Sustainer. He has never had offspring, nor was He born. And there is none comparable to Him." The word 'tawhid' ( توحيد ) which means, "He asserted, or declared, God to be one", is derived from the Arabic root ' wahhada ' ( واحدة ) which means 'to unite' or 'to make one'. This term signifies the belief in absolute oneness and uniqueness of God. This reflects

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6708-504: The Rationalists), and bayan muwafaqat al-'aql al-sarih li al-Naql as-Sahiha . Ibn Taymiyya even further criticize Ash'arite rationalists such as al-Ghazali, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi , and al-Shahrastani for their method in discourses by abandoning the scripturalism way. In general, Ibn Taymiyya has detailed his criticism in Ar-Radd 'ala al-Mantiqiyyin . Regarding al-Ghazali in particular, Through

6837-557: The South Asian madrasas . The book also played an important role in Ottoman schools . The Ottoman scholar Sāčaqlızāde recommended it to scholars in the Kalām section of his encyclopedia Tartīb al-ʿulūm , together with the Kitāb al-Maqāṣid by Saʿd ad-Dīn at-Taftāzānī , as a basis for teaching. The work contains an introductory chapter at the beginning in which the author discusses the definition, subject, utility, rank, problems and naming of

6966-472: The Tawhid and Shirk in practice is to assume something as an end in itself, independent from God, not as a road to God (to Him-ness). Al-Farabi , Al-Razi and especially Avicenna put forward an interpretation of Tawhid in light of reason, with the Qur'an and Hadith serving as a basis. Before Avicenna the discussions among Muslim philosophers were about the unity of God as divine creator and his relationship with

7095-507: The Unique, i.e., the only one to be. As this Divine Essence is infinite, his qualities are the same as his essence, Essentially there is one Reality which is one and indivisible. The border between theoretical Tawhid and Shirk is to know that every reality and being in its essence, attributes and action are from him (from Him-ness), it is Tawhid. Every supernatural action of the prophets is by God's permission as Quran points to it. The border between

7224-407: The attributes and names of God have no independent and hypostatic existence apart from the being and essence of God. Any suggestion of these attributes and names being conceived of as separate is thought to entail polytheism . It would be even incorrect to say God knows by his knowledge which is in his essence but God knows by his knowledge which is his essence. Also, God has no physical form, and he

7353-562: The books on kalām was entitled "Section of the Books of the Science of the Foundations of Religion, i.e. the Science of Kalām". This classification probably also influenced the Ottoman scholars Taşköprüzade and Saçaklızāde (d. 1732), who also equated kalām science and the "science of the foundations of religion" in their Arabic scientific encyclopedias. At-Tahānawī explains this equation by saying that

7482-429: The category of necessity and is usually the preserve of qualified scholars, eliciting limited interest from the masses or common people. The early Muslim scholar al-Shafi'i held that there should be a certain number of men trained in kalam to defend and purify the faith, but that it would be a great evil if their arguments should become known to the mass of the people. Similarly, the Islamic scholar al-Ghazali held

7611-673: The city who were carrying heavy loads on their heads or backs and at the same time arguing about the interpretation of the Quran and questions of the Kalam. During the course of the 10th century, the Kalam also spread more widely to the eastern regions of the Islamic Empire. One of the early Kalam scholars representing the Mu'tazila in Khorasan was Abū al-Qāsim al-Balkhī (d. 931). Other Kalam scholars such as Al-Qadi Abd al-Jabbar (d. 1024) settled in Rayy . In

7740-454: The conception of God as the Wajib al-Wujud (necessary existent). There is a gradual multiplication of beings through a timeless emanation from God as a result of his self-knowledge. The Qur'an argues that there can be no multiple sources of divine sovereignty since "behold, each god would have taken away what [each] had created, And some would have Lorded it over others!" The Qur'an argues that

7869-409: The danger, they however start associating other beings with God. "If they happen to be aboard a ship ˹caught in a storm˺, they cry out to Allah ˹alone˺ in sincere devotion. But as soon as He delivers them ˹safely˺ to shore, they associate ˹others with Him once again˺." ( 29:65 ). Next, the Qur'an argues that polytheism takes away from human dignity: God has honored human beings and given them charge of

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7998-399: The discipline that deals with the rational justification of one's own religious doctrines: According to Josef van Ess , the many explanations given by Arab scholars "clearly demonstrate the perplexity of native philologists and theologians when faced with the term kalām ". As for Western scholarship, Tjitze de Boer and Duncan Black MacDonald suggested that the term kalām was derived from

8127-479: The distinction between the creator and the creature, something incompatible with the genuine and absolute monotheism of Islam. Kalam Ilm al-kalam or ilm al-lahut , often shortened to kalam , is the scholastic, speculative, or rational study of Islamic theology ( aqida ). It can also be defined as the science that studies the fundamental doctrines of Islamic faith ( usul al-din ), proving their validity, or refuting doubts regarding them. Kalām

8256-401: The divine beneficence that creates and maintains the universe) and a few other specific names like al-Malik al-Muluk ("King of Kings") in an authentic narration of Muhammad , other names may be shared by both God and human beings. According to the Islamic teachings, the latter is meant to serve as a reminder of God's immanence rather than being a sign of one's divinity or alternatively imposing

8385-651: The early 10th century, the Kalam was essentially limited to Iraq and Greater Khorasan . A very important center of the Kalam culture was the Muʿtazilite stronghold of ʿAskar Mukram in Khuzistan , the place of work of Al-Jubba'i and his son Abu Hashim al-Jubba'i . The geographer Ibn Hauqal (d. 977) reports that members of the common people also practiced the Kalam method here and achieved such mastery that they could compete with scholars from other cities. Ibn Hawqal reprots in his book Surat Al-Ard that he saw two porters in

8514-518: The essence itself, and declaring that God is existing ubiquitously and in everything. They resorted to metaphorical interpretations of Qur'anic verses or Prophetic reports with seemingly anthropomorphic content, e.g., the hand is the metaphorical designation of power; the face signifies the essence; the fact that God is seated on the Throne is a metaphorical image of the divine reign, and so on. The solution proposed by Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari to solve

8643-429: The essence of Godhood, which implies the lesser God must lack in certain necessary attributes deeming this deity as anthropomorphic and snatching away the title of a god from such entity. The Qur'an argues that human beings have an instinctive distaste for polytheism : At times of crisis, for example, even the idolaters forget the false deities and call upon the one true God for help. As soon as they are relieved from

8772-405: The essence of existing things and that form and matter by themselves cannot interact and originate the movement of the universe or the progressive actualization of existing things. Existence must, therefore, be due to an agent-cause that necessitates, imparts, gives, or adds existence to an essence. An ontological argument for the existence of God was first proposed by Avicenna (965–1037) in

8901-417: The essence of existing things and that form and matter by themselves cannot interact and originate the movement of the universe or the progressive actualization of existing things. Existence must, therefore, be due to an agent-cause that necessitates, imparts, gives, or adds existence to an essence. To do so, the cause must be an existing thing and coexist with its effect. This was the first attempt at using

9030-708: The eternal from the temporal in a practical way. The ideal is a radical purification from all worldliness. According to Vincent J. Cornall, it is possible to draw up a monist image of God ( see Sufi metaphysics ) by describing the reality as a unified whole, with God being a single concept that would describe or ascribe all existing things: "He is the First and the Last, the Evident and the Immanent: and He has full knowledge of all things."( 57:3 )" However many Muslims criticize monism for it blurs

9159-418: The existence and unity of God. Ash'ari theologians rejected cause and effect in essence, but accepted it as something that facilitates humankind's investigation and comprehension of natural processes. These medieval scholars argued that nature was composed of uniform atoms that were "re-created" at every instant by God. The laws of nature were only the customary sequence of apparent causes (customs of God),

9288-571: The first rational proofs among Muslims of the Unity of God. Ali states that "God is One" means that God is away from likeness and numeration and he is not divisible even in imagination . The first step of religion is to accept, understand and realize him as the Lord... The correct form of belief in his unity is to realize that he is so absolutely pure and above nature that nothing can be added to or subtracted from his being. That is, one should realize that there

9417-426: The first treatises on the kalam, praised the art of the kalam as a "precious jewel" (juhar tamīn), as "the treasure that never perishes" (al-kanz allaḏī lā yafnā wa-lā yablā) and as the "companion who does not bore and does not deceive". It is the standard for every other art, the rein for every expression, the scales with which one can clarify the lack or excess of every thing, and the filter with which one can recognize

9546-615: The followers of Iranian religions, and the Barmakid vizier Yahya ibn Khalid held Kalām discussions with members of various religions and confessional groups in his house. Until the 10th century, the Muʿtazilites were considered the real "masters of the Kalām". Later, two important Sunni Kalām schools emerged: the Ashʿariyya and the Maturidiyya . They positioned the Kalām particularly against

9675-513: The growing Neoplatonic and Aristotelian philosophy and elevated the "Kalām science" (ʿilm al-kalām) to the highest ranking science in Islam. Some of the arguments of the Mutakallimūn also found their way into Jewish and Christian theological discussions in the Middle Ages. After the Kalām science in the early modern period was essentially limited to the study of manuals and commentaries, from

9804-417: The holder and his subjects as 'absolute'—may lead the holder to think that he is God-like; such claims were commonly forced upon, and accepted by, those who were subject to the ruler. Also, certain natural phenomena (such as the sun, the moon and the stars) inspire feelings of awe, wonder or admiration that could lead some to regard these celestial bodies as deities . Another reason for deviation from monotheism

9933-585: The important aspect of literal meanings, while it kept al-Ghazali busy with irrelevant semantic argumentations. Al-Shawkani , a 18th AD Atharism, Zahiri scholar, early Salafi movement figure, and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab contemporary; has expressed his view for literal theological interpretation and opposition to kalam (speculative theology) Siddiq Hasan Khan , 19th AD North Indian Salafi scholar, co-founder of Ahl-i Hadith movement, and also Nawab (viceroy) of Bhopal State ; has rejected kalam as he regards it as "full of speculations". It

10062-502: The innquisition against the Sunnis be released. According to Al-Shahrastani , the golden age of the science of kalam began with the caliphs Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809), al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833), al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842), al-Wathiq (r. 842–847) and al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861) and ended in the time of Sahib ibn Abbad , who served as vizier of the Buyids of Ray from 979 to 995. One of

10191-405: The issue. Certain theologians use the term Tawhid in a much broader meaning to denote the totality of discussion of God, his existence and his various attributes. Others go yet further and use the term to ultimately represent the totality of the "principles of religion". In its current usage, the expressions "Tawhid" or "knowledge of Tawhid" are sometimes used as an equivalent for the whole Kalam ,

10320-422: The kalam scholars progression was at first "because they were exposed to foreign literatures about philosophy...", then in the end they established kalam, which in practice damaged their creed of Islam. Ibn Qudama , 13th AD Hanbali scholar; harshly criticized kalam as one of the worst of all heresies. He characterized their scholars, the mutakallimūn , as innovators and heretics who had betrayed and deviated from

10449-678: The late 10th century, the two renowned Ash'ari Kalam scholars, Ibn Furak and Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini (d. 1027) having studied in Baghdad arrived to teach in Khurasan at this time. Some of the prominent Shafi'i families in Nishapur took up the cause of Ash'arism and it became well-established in the city, which developed into the main hub of Shafi'ite learning in the East. Ash'arism swiftly proliferated throughout Iran's other Shafi'ite communities. It developed into

10578-550: The late 19th century onwards various reform thinkers appeared in British India and the Ottoman Empire who called for the founding of a "new Kalām". According to several of the definitions given above, kalām has an apologetic function: it serves to defend one's own religious views. This apologetic function is particularly evident in the philosophers al-Farabi (d. 950) and Abu al-Hassan al-Amiri (d. 992). The former sees it as

10707-409: The late Umayyad period if this report is authentic. In two narrations cited by Abdullah Ansari (d. 1089), Amr ibn Ubayd is identified as the one who "invented these innovations of kalām". Abu Hanifa is said to have cursed ʿAmr ibn ʿUbaid for "opening the way for people to speak (kalām) about what it is not their business to speak about." Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328), on the other hand, believed that

10836-418: The launch, which had also entered orbit, re-entered the atmosphere 31 May 2009. Iran launched Rasad 1 on 15 June 2011, orbiting for three weeks. Tawhid Tawhid ( Arabic : تَوْحِيد ‎ , romanized :  tawḥīd , lit.   'oneness [of God ]') is the concept of monotheism in Islam . Tawhid is the religion's central and single most important concept, upon which

10965-494: The main leader of the Iranian Revolution ; has used kalam to facilitate his socio-religious revival of moral spirit of the masses. As he formulate the revolutionary system on his states building, Khomeini's political thoughts was closely linked with kalam discourse. Including: Although seeking knowledge in Islam is considered a religious obligation, the study of kalam is considered by Muslim scholars to fall beyond

11094-601: The mainstream Shafi'ite ideology in the Islamic world during the Seljuk era . In the Maghreb and al-Andalus, on the other hand, the Kalam was not yet a topic of discussion until the early 11th century. Al-Baqillani a Maliki jurist contributed to the propagation of Ash'arism within the Maliki circles in North Africa. One of his students, Abu Dharr al-Harawi was the first to introduce

11223-486: The method of a priori proof , which utilizes intuition and reason alone. Avicenna's proof of God's existence is unique in that it can be classified as both a cosmological argument and an ontological argument. "It is ontological insofar as 'necessary existence' in intellect is the first basis for arguing for a Necessary Existent ". The proof is also "cosmological insofar as most of it is taken up with arguing that contingent existence cannot stand alone and must end up in

11352-475: The mind, nor in the imagination. God alone possesses such a unity. The perception of tawhid laid the foundation of Muslim ethics. According to Islam, the world is sustained by God as the ultimate reality, unique in his attributes, distinct from everything else. Tawhid denies any affinity between the creator and its creation. This includes that invisible entities ( jinn ) do not partake in creation but are created; rejection of an avatar or offspring of God; or

11481-530: The most important promoters of kalam discussions in the early Abbasid period was the Barmakid Yahya ibn Khalid , who served as vizier under Harun al-Rashid . Al-Yaʿqūbī (d. after 905) reports that he loved kalam and discussion (Naẓar), and that in his days the mutakallimūn became numerous and they debated with each other and wrote books. Al-Yaʿqūbī cites Hisham ibn al-Hakam and Dirar ibn Amr (d. 815) as examples of mutakallimīn of this period. According to

11610-451: The one hand and "divine justice" on the other (some asserting that to be punished for what is beyond someone's control is unjust). Also Kalam sought to make "a systematic attempt to bring the conflict in data of revelation (in the Quran and the Traditions ) into some internal harmony". Other factors that might have led the establishment of kalam was an effort by some Islamic scholars to oppose

11739-580: The oneness of God is equated in the Qur'an with the "belief in the unseen" ( 2:3 ). The Qur'an summarizes its task in making this "unseen", to a greater or lesser degree "seen" so that belief in the existence of God becomes a Master-Truth rather than an unreasonable belief. The Qur'an states that God's signals are so near and yet so far, demanding that its students listen to what it has to say with humility ( 50:33 , 50:37 ). The Qur'an draws attention to certain observable facts, to present them as "reminders" of God instead of providing lengthy "theological" proofs for

11868-446: The other hand to see that the duality between essence and attribute should be situated not on the quantitative but on the qualitative level—something which Mu'tazilis thinking had failed to grasp. Ash'ari theology, which dominated Sunni Islam from the tenth to the nineteenth century, insists on ultimate divine transcendence and holds that divine unity is not accessible to human reason. Ash'arism teaches that human knowledge regarding it

11997-460: The physical world, and yet they disgrace their position in the world by worshipping what they carve out with their own hands. Lastly, the Qur'an argues that monotheism is not a later discovery made by the human race, but rather there is the combined evidence of the prophetic call for monotheism throughout human history starting from Adam . The Qur'an suggests several causes for deviation from monotheism to polytheism: Great temporal power, regarded by

12126-420: The point where the Quran and hadith would only be accepted if it aligned with their interpretation of rationalism. The Hanbali school and followers of Ahmed Ibn Hanbal would generally avoid kalam and philosophical talk all together, seeing it as an innovation, and only address it out of necessity. However, Ahmad ibn Hanbal also provided an episode of long feud of Mu'tazila Quran creationism doctrine opposed by

12255-404: The possibility of lesser gods since these beings must be themselves created. For the Qur'an, God is an immanent and transcendent deity who actively creates, maintains and destroys the universe. The reality of God as the ultimate cause of things is the belief that God is veiled from human understanding because of the secondary causes and contingent realities of things in the world. Thus the belief in

12384-492: The problems of tashbih and ta'til concedes that the divine Being possesses in a real sense the Attributes and Names mentioned in the Qur'an. Insofar as these Names and Attributes have a positive reality, they are distinct from the essence, but nevertheless they do not have either existence or reality apart from it. The inspiration of al-Ash'ari in this matter was on the one hand to distinguish essence and attribute as concepts, and on

12513-415: The purity or impurity of every thing. All scholars depend on it, and it is the tool and model for every acquisition. What could be more important than something without which one cannot prove the glory of God or prophethood, and without which one cannot distinguish the true argument from the false argument and the proof from the false proof. The kalam makes it possible to distinguish the community (jama'a) from

12642-404: The rejection that their discipline experiences in society, and for even being willing to accept the sacrifice of poverty and lack of career opportunities as a Qadi . In another writing, al-Jahiz stated that without the Kalam, there would be no religion for God and no one would be distinguished from the heretics . There would be no difference between falsehood and truth and no separation between

12771-624: The said matter about the nature of Quran. The Hanbali scholars and followers of Ahmad ibn Hanbal rarely mention about kalam in their teaching, as they consider it as bid'ah (heresy). After the longtime persecution of Mihna towards the Ahl a-Hadith since the time of his great-grandfather, caliph al-Mutawakkil changed the caliphate policy by restoring them to favor, while abandoning Mu'tazilites led by Ahmad ibn Abi Du'ad. The caliph also attempted to reconcile with Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and finally, in March 852, he ordered that all prisoners held on account of

12900-449: The science of Kalām. At the end of the 14th century, Ibn Khaldun believed that the science of Kalam was no longer necessary for students of his time, because the heretics and innovators had since perished and it was sufficient to study what the Sunni imams had written to defend themselves against them. However, the science of Kalam experienced a revival in the 17th and 18th centuries in what

13029-476: The scripturalists (Atharism) doctrine that Quran as shifat (attribution) of God which championed by Ahmad ibn Hanbal , the founder of Hanbali school . Ibn Battah has recorded in his work, Al-Ibāna , that Ahmad ibn Hanbal has instructed his students of total academic boycott against the scholars of kalam. Furthermore, Ahmad ibn Hanbal also recorded engaged in long debates against the leading Mu'tazilite and qadi of caliphate, Ahmad ibn Abi Du'ad regarding

13158-489: The sect (firqa) and the Sunnah from the Bid'ah . Al-Jahiz also compares the kalam to a border fortress, the defence of which requires great personal commitment. It is like a border fortress because all people are hostile towards its followers. Whoever gives this science its due can expect a corresponding reward. [ 85 ] Al-Jāhiz praises the Mutakallimūn for remaining loyal to their discipline out of conviction of its high value, despite

13287-504: The self by elevating oneself above others and associating attributes of God with a created being. Because of that, Sunni scholars have accused Salafis and Wahhabis of depicting God as a created object ruling from the sky. Shirk is classified into two categories: Chapter 4, verse 48 of the Qur'an reads: Indeed, Allah does not forgive associating others with Him ˹in worship˺, but forgives anything else of whoever He wills. And whoever associates others with Allah has indeed committed

13416-431: The seventh chapter of his book, Mi'yar Al-'Ilm , Ibn Taymiyyah wrote that although he recognized that al-Ghazali's intention are not inherently bad in his attempt to describe the limit of human's mind in metaphysical and esoterical concepts, as it was aimed to oppose the core idea of kalam scholars that everything must be grasped by logic; although he still held that such discourse are moot as it only distract al-Ghazali from

13545-526: The similarity between the unique cosmological kalam philosophy taught by Mulla Sadra with Hindu Vedic Upanishads philosophy. In retrospect, Muhammad Kamal from Islamic studies at the Melbourne institute has stated Mulla Sadra philosophy was influenced by Avicenna and Ibn Arabi . Ruhollah Khomeini , Iranian Islamic revolutionary, politician, religious leader who served as the first Supreme Leader of Iran , founder of modern day Islamic Republic of Iran and

13674-428: The simple and pious faith of the early Muslims. Al-Dhahabi, 14th AD Hanbali scholar and historian; has made his derogatory statement towards kalam scholar by comparing them with Abu Jahl , the reviled figure in Islam during the time of Muhammad. Ibn Taymiyya, 14th AD Hanbali scholar; was notable for his bold stance against the doctrines of Mutakallimin in his works such as ar-Radd 'ala al-mantiqiyyın (Refutation of

13803-496: The special type of argumentation that characterizes the Kalam first appeared at the beginning of the second Islamic century with Jaʿd ibn Dirham (d. 724) and Jahm bin Safwan (d. 746). From them it then reached Amr ibn Ubayd and Wasil ibn Ata . According to the Ottoman scholar Taşköprüzade (d. 1561), the spread of the Kalam began as early as the year 100 of the Hijra (= 718/19 AD) through

13932-449: The stability and order prevailing throughout the universe shows that it was created and is being administered by only one God ( 28:70-72 ). The Qur'an in verse 21:22 states: "Had there been within them [i.e., the heavens and earth] gods besides Allāh, they both would have been ruined". Later Muslim theologians elaborated on this verse saying that the existence of at least two gods would inevitably arise between them, at one time or another,

14061-421: The struggle of monotheism against polytheism . In order to explain the complexity of the unity of God and of the divine nature, the Qur'an uses 99 terms referred to as "Excellent Names of God" ( 7:180 ). The divine names project divine attributes, which, in turn, project all the levels of the creation down to the physical plane. Aside from the supreme name "Allah" and the neologism ar-Rahman (referring to

14190-587: The task of averting doubts from religious dogmas or truths. Against the background of such definitions, the French orientalist Louis Gardet judged that the function of kalām as a defensive "apology" could not be overestimated. The view that the "fundamental character" of the Kalām consists of "defensive apology" is also the declared leitmotif of the French handbook Introduction à la théologie musulmane , co-authored by Gardet and M.M Anawati in 1948. The Indian scholar ʿAbd an-Nabī al-Ahmadnagarī (d. 1759) even believed that

14319-465: The tenth and eleventh centuries, the Maturidites flourished in Khurasan and Central Asia, while the Ash'arites posed a threat to Mu'tazila hegemony in central Iraq and Iran. Both schools use kalam to defend what we now refer to as "orthodox Islam" or traditionalist Islamic theological doctrine. Mu'tazalism would eventually fall because of this. This is noted by Western historians, who label the Mu'tazila as

14448-426: The things of God). W. Montgomery Watt took a similar path of explanation to Ibn Taymiyyah when he wrote about the term mutakalli : "Undoubtedly this was once a derisive name, perhaps creating the image of people 'who talk forever.' Eventually, however, it became accepted as a neutral term." In fact, the origins of the kalām are obscure. This is also due to the fact that the specifically theological meaning of

14577-543: The thoughs of Zandaqa in the Islamic world. Later schools of Kalam like the Kullabis , Asharites and Matuiridis representing as Sunni Islam would develop systems that would defend the core orthodox creedal points of Islam completely on rational grounds, and were open to engaging in kalam in accordance to the Quran and Sunnah . This was unlike the Mutazilites , whose kalam instead prioritised reason over revelation to

14706-467: The times of the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258 CE), the discipline of Kalām arose in an "attempt to grapple" with several "complex problems" early in the history of Islam , according to historian Majid Fakhry. One was how to rebut arguments "leveled at Islam by pagans, Christians and Jews". Another was how to deal with (what some saw as the conflict between) the predestination of sinners to hell on

14835-426: The ultimate cause of each accident being God himself. Other forms of the argument also appear in Avicenna's other works, and this argument became known as the Proof of the Truthful . Avicenna initiated a full-fledged inquiry into the question of being , in which he distinguished between essence ( Mahiat ) and existence ( Wujud ). He argued that the fact of existence can not be inferred from or accounted for by

14964-403: The value of the Kalam was limited to this apologetic function alone. The great Mutakallimūn, he explains in his encyclopedia Dustūr al-ʿulamā, never justified or authenticated their doctrines with arguments from the Kalam, since the sole purpose of the Kalam was to silence the adversary and bring the stubborn to their knees. The great Mutakallimūn, on the other hand, drew their doctrines solely from

15093-485: The view that the science of kalam is not a personal duty on Muslims but a collective duty. Like al-Shafi'i, he discouraged the masses from studying it and that only the most able do so. Despite the dominance of kalam as an intellectual tradition within Islam, some scholars were critical of its use. For example, Hanbali school and followers of Ahmed Ibn Hanbal would generally avoid kalam and philosophical talk all together, seeing it as an innovation . The same sentiments

15222-507: The words kalām and mutakallim was very slow to gain acceptance. Mutakallim initially only referred to a "speaker with a specific function". In the anonymous Aḫbār al-ʿAbbās wa-waladihī , which dates from the eighth century, it is reported that when Abu Muslim (d. 755) wanted to establish himself in Merv , he sent mutakallimūn from his followers into the city to win the population over to their cause and make it clear to them that they were following

15351-399: The world as creation. The earlier philosophers were profoundly affected by the emphasis of Plotinus on divine simplicity . In Islamic mysticism ( Sufism and Irfan ), Tawhid is not only the affirmation in speech of God's unity, but also as importantly a practical and existential realization of that unity. This is done by rejecting the concepts tied to the world of multiplicity, to isolate

15480-435: The world without any pre-established archetype and without an auxiliary. According to Henry Corbin , the result of this interpretation is the negation of the divine attributes, the affirmation of the created Quran, and the denial of all possibility of the vision of God in the world beyond. Mu'tazilis believed that God is deprived of all positive attributes, in the sense that all divine qualifications must be understood as being

15609-599: The world—a unique, independent and indivisible being who is independent of the entire creation. God, according to Islam, is a universal God, rather than a local, tribal, or parochial one, and is an absolute who integrates all affirmative values. Islamic intellectual history can be understood as a gradual unfolding of the manner in which successive generations of believers have understood the meaning and implications of professing tawhid . Islamic scholars have different approaches toward understanding it. Islamic scholastic theology , jurisprudence , philosophy , Sufism , and even

15738-537: Was "purely for peaceful purposes". Since there was very little encryption on the satellite, data could be collected and read by citizens. Omid had the shape of a 40-centimeter (16 in) cube with mass of 27 kilograms (60 lb). Sources in the Iranian Space Agency say the satellite's sole payload was a store and forward telecommunication capability. The launch of Omid makes Iran the ninth country to develop an indigenous satellite launch capability. Omid

15867-510: Was born out of the need to establish and defend the tenets of Islam against the philosophical doubters. A scholar of kalam is referred to as a mutakallim (plural mutakallimun ), a role distinguished from those of Islamic philosophers and jurists . After its first beginnings in the late Umayyad period , the Kalām experienced its rise in the early Abbasid period, when the Caliph al-Mahdi commissioned Mutakallimūn to write books against

15996-423: Was limited to commentaries and glosses. However, the early modern period was a phase of "frozen conservatism" for Kalām science, as Louis Gardet writes. Muslim scholars also diagnosed a decline in this discipline. The Ottoman-Turkish scholar İsmail Hakkı İzmirli (d. 1946), for example, complained that in his time there were very few people who really knew the Kalām problems and understood the Kalām riddles. There

16125-468: Was reported to have completed its mission without any problems. It completed more than 700 orbits over seven weeks. According to U.S. Strategic Command , the Omid satellite re-entered Earth's atmosphere on 25 April 2009, during an 8-hour window centered on 0342 UT. The most likely re-entry location was over the south Atlantic Ocean, east of Buenos Aires, Argentina. No sightings were reported. The rocket body from

16254-470: Was stated by himself that his opposition towards kalam were influenced by the thoughts of Al-Shawkani, Al-San'ani and Ibn Taymiyya. Rashid Rida , 19th century AD reformer of Islamics school; in his later years of life has perceived the Athari theology as more rational than Kalam and actively condemning Kalam, as he view the Athari methodology had stronger religious foundations of Islam. Furthermore, he also saw

16383-531: Was the first ruler to commission Mutakallimūn representing Islam to write books against Mulhid from the circle of the Manichaeans , Bardesanites and Marcionites and to refute their arguments. The reason for this was that at that time writings of these groups had spread and were being translated from New Persian and Middle Persian into Arabic. In early Islam, the Ahl al-Kalām or "Kalamites" essentially referred to

16512-533: Was the first to define kalām science as "the science of the foundations of religion" (ʿilm Uṣūl al-Dīn). Ibn Khallikan (d. 1282) and Siraj al-Din Urmavi (d. 1283) even equated kalām science with the foundations of religion itself. The equation of ʿilm al-kalām and ʿilm uṣūl al-dīn is also found in the catalogue of the Ottoman Palace Library from the beginning of the 16th century, where the section containing

16641-425: Was the second Iranian satellite to be placed into orbit. A previous Iranian satellite, Sina-1 , was built and launched for Iran by Russia in 2005. Speaking at the opening of a new space centre on 4 February 2008, President Ahmadinejad announced that Omid would be launched in "the near future". On 17 August 2008, Iranian officials reported that they performed a test of the satellite carrier; they broadcast footage of

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