ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn al-Samarqandī’s Non-Realist Approach to Good (<i>Ḥasan</i>) and Bad (<i>Qabīḥ</i>): Moral Ontology in Sixth/Twelfth-Century Māturīdī Theology and Legal Theory
<p dir="ltr">The Māturīdīs think that, without revealed law, human beings can grasp through speculative reasoning that some actions are good (<i>ḥasan</i>) and some are bad (<i>qabīḥ</i>). This article addresses the ontological aspect of such ethical rationali...
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2024
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| Summary: | <p dir="ltr">The Māturīdīs think that, without revealed law, human beings can grasp through speculative reasoning that some actions are good (<i>ḥasan</i>) and some are bad (<i>qabīḥ</i>). This article addresses the ontological aspect of such ethical rationalism. An analysis of the texts of legal theory shows that the sixth/twelfth-century Māturīdīs approached moral values in a non-realist way. Specifically, ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn al-Samarqandī (d. 539/1144?), who identifies himself as a true successor of Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī (d. 333/944), demonstrates that goodness (<i>ḥusn</i>) and badness (<i>qubḥ</i>) are neither real accidents nor divine command and prohibition; rather, “good” and “bad” just express one’s natural or rational approval and disapproval of objects and actions, and Prophetic law shapes some of the natural likes and dislikes. On this account, I conclude that al-Samarqandī’s view, shared by his contemporaneous fellow Māturīdīs such as Abū l-Thanāʾ al-Lāmishī (d. after 539/1144) and Najm al-Dīn al-Nasafī (d. 537/1142), challenges the current standard interpretations of the Māturīdī ethics as realism or divine command theory.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Journal of Islamic Ethics<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/24685542-20240008" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/24685542-20240008</a></p><p><br></p><p dir="ltr">Volume and issue information: Vol 8 No. 1-2 (2024): December 2024</p> |
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