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{{Short description|Study of Islamic doctrines}}
{{other uses}}
{{distinguish|Qalam}}
{{Islam|texts}}
{{Expand Arabic|علم الكلام|date=September 2024}}

'''''Ilm al-kalam'''''{{efn|{{langx|ar|عِلْم ٱلْكَلَام|translit=ʿilm al-kalām|lit=science of discourse}}<ref name="Abdel-Haleem 2008">{{cite book |author-last=Abdel-Haleem |author-first=M. A. S. |author-link=Muhammad Abdel-Haleem |year=2008 |chapter=Part I: Historical perspectives - Qur'an and hadith |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O1IiAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 |editor-last=Winter |editor-first=Timothy |editor-link=Timothy Winter |title=The Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=19–32 |doi=10.1017/CCOL9780521780582.002 |isbn=978-1-139-00181-6}}</ref>}} or '''''ilm al-lahut''''',{{efn|{{langx|ar|عِلْم ٱللَّاهُوت|translit=ʿilm al-lāhūt|lit=science of theology}}}} often shortened to '''''kalam''''', is the scholastic, speculative, or rational study of Islamic theology (''[[aqida]]'').<ref name="Mutahhari-intro">{{cite web|last1=Mutahhari|first1=Murtada|translator-last=Qara'i|translator-first='Ali Quli |title=An Introduction to 'Ilm al-Kalam|url=http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/kalam.htm|website=Muslim Philosophy|access-date=29 March 2018}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |author-last=Mutahhari |author-first=Murtadha |author-link=Morteza Motahhari |title=An Introduction to Ilm al-Kalam |date=12 March 2013 |url=https://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/vol3-no2/introduction-ilm-al-kalam-murtadha-mutahhari/definition-and-subject-matter-ilm-al |access-date=2023-10-31 |quote=For a definition of 'ilm al-kalam, it is sufficient to say that, "It is a science which studies the basic doctrines of the Islamic faith (usul al-Din). It identifies the basic doctrines and seeks to prove their validity and answers any doubts which may be cast upon them."}}</ref> Kalām was born out of the need to establish and defend the tenets of [[Islam]] against the philosophical doubters,<ref name="Schmidtke 2016">{{•}} {{cite book |last=Treiger |first=Alexander |year=2016 |orig-date=2014 |chapter=Part I: Islamic Theologies during the Formative and the Early Middle period - Origins of Kalām |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=70wnDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 |editor-last=Schmidtke |editor-first=Sabine |editor-link=Sabine Schmidtke |title=The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=27–43 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696703.013.001 |isbn=978-0-19-969670-3 |lccn=2016935488}}<br />{{•}} {{cite book |last=Abrahamov |first=Binyamin |year=2016 |orig-date=2014 |chapter=Part I: Islamic Theologies during the Formative and the Early Middle period - Scripturalist and Traditionalist Theology |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=70wnDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA264 |editor-last=Schmidtke |editor-first=Sabine |editor-link=Sabine Schmidtke |title=The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=264–279 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696703.013.025 |isbn=978-0-19-969670-3 |lccn=2016935488}}</ref><ref>Madeleine Pelner Cosman, Linda Gale Jones, ''Handbook to Life in the Medieval World'', p. 391. {{ISBN|1-4381-0907-5}}</ref> and to defend against [[heresy|heretical]] and [[Bid'ah|religious innovations]] (''bidʿah'').<ref>Abul Quasem, M. (1975). The ethics of al-Ghazali: A composite ethics in Islam. p. 18</ref> A scholar of ''kalam'' is referred to as a '''''mutakallim''''' (plural '''''mutakallimun'''''), a role distinguished from those of [[Islamic philosophy|Islamic philosophers]] and [[fiqh|jurists]].<ref>Clinton Bennett, ''The Bloomsbury Companion to Islamic Studies'', p. 119. {{ISBN|1-4411-2788-7}}.</ref>

After its first beginnings in the late [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad period]], the Kalām experienced its rise in the early [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] period, when the [[al-Mahdi|Caliph al-Mahdi]] commissioned Mutakallimūn to write books against the followers of Iranian religions, and the [[Barmakids|Barmakid]] vizier [[Yahya ibn Khalid]] held Kalām discussions with members of various religions and confessional groups in his house. Until the 10th century, the [[Mu'tazilism|Muʿtazilites]] were considered the real "masters of the Kalām". Later, two important [[Sunni]] Kalām schools emerged: the [[Ash'arism|Ashʿariyya]] and the [[Maturidism|Maturidiyya]]. They positioned the Kalām particularly against the growing [[Neoplatonic]] and [[Aristotelianism|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 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".

==Definition==
=== Definitions of Kalām in chronological order ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Author with death date !! Region !! Kalām is… !! Arabic or Persian original text
|-
| [[al-Farabi]] (d. 950) || [[Syrian]] || "a mental ability through which man can help the established views and actions expressed by the founder of a religion to triumph and can refute everything that contradicts them by statements" || ''malaka yaqtadir bi-hā al-insān ʿalā nuṣrat al-ārā wa-l-afʿāl al-maḥdūda allatī ṣarraḥa bi-hā wāḍiḥ al-milla wa-tazyīf kull mā ḫālafa-hā bi-l-aqāwīl''<ref name="Farabi107">{{Harvnb|Al-Farabi|1949|p=107}}</ref>
|-
| [[Abu al-Hassan al-Amiri]] (d. 992) || [[Baghdad]], [[Nishapur]] || "the linguistic effort to defend religion" || ''al-muǧāhada ʿan ad-dīn bi-l-lisān''<ref name="al-Amiri95">{{Harvnb|Abu al-Hassan al-Amiri|1988|p=95}}</ref>
|-
| [[Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi]] (d. 1023) || Baghdad, [[Rayy]], [[Shiraz]] || "a way of considering the foundations of religion, in which the deliberation is based on reason alone."	|| ''bāb min al-iʿtibār fī uṣūl ad-dīn yadūr an-naẓar fīhi ʿalā maḥḍ al-ʿaql''<ref name="Tauhidi294">{{Harvnb|Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi|1993-4|p=94}}</ref>
|-
| [[Abu al-Yusr al-Bazdawi]] (d. 1099) || [[Transoxiana]] || "the explanation of those questions which constitute the foundations of religion, which it is an individual duty to learn." || ''bayān al-masāʾil allatī hiya uṣūl ad-dīn allatī hiya taʿallumuhā farḍ ʿain''<ref name="Bazdawi15">{{Harvnb|Abu al-Yusr al-Bazdawi|2003|p=15}}</ref>
|-
|Sharaf al-Din Ibn al-Tilimsani al-Fihri (d. 1260) || Ägypten || "the knowledge of the evidence of divinity and divine messengership, as well as the things on which their knowledge depends, namely the possibility and temporal origin of the world and the refutation of everything that is incompatible with this" || ''al-ʿilm bi-ṯubūt al-ilāhīya wa-r-risāla wa-mā yatawaqqaf maʿrifatuhumā ʿalaihi min ǧawāz al-ʿālam wa-ḥudūṯihī wa-ibṭāl mā yunāqiḍ ḏālik''<ref name="IbnTilimsani43">{{Harvnb|Ibn al-Tilimsani|2010|p=43}}</ref>
|-
| [[Shams al-Din al-Samarqandi]] (d. 1303) || [[Samarkand]] || "a science that investigates the nature and attributes of God and the states of [[Contingency (philosophy)|contingent]] entities in the beginning and at the return according to the law of Islam" || ''ʿilm yubḥaṯ fīhi ʿan ḏāt Allāh wa-ṣifātihī wa-aḥwāl al-mumkināt fī l-mubtadaʾ wa-l-maʿād ʿalā qānūn al-islām''<ref name="Samarqandi66">{{cite book|author=[[Shams al-Din al-Samarqandi]]|editor=Ahmad Abdurahman al-Sharif|title=Al-Sahaʾif al-Ilahiya|url=https://archive.org/details/1291Pdf_201812/page/66/mode/2up?view=theater|location=[[Kuwait]]|publisher=Maktabat al-Falah|date=1985|page=66}}</ref>
|-
| [[Adud al-Din al-Iji]] (d. 1355) || Īj near [[Shiraz]] || "the science by which one can prove religious dogmas by citing arguments and averting doubts" || ''ʿilm yuqtadar maʿa-hū ʿalā iṯbāt al-ʿaqāʾid ad-dīnīya, bi-īrād al-ḥuǧaǧ wa-dafʿ aš-šubah''<ref name="Igi7vanEss37">{{Harvnb|Adud al-Din al-Iji|1966|p=37}}</ref>
|-
| [[al-Taftazani]] (d. 1390) || [[Taftazan]] || "the knowledge of religious dogmas based on certain evidence" || ''al-ʿilm bi-l-ʿaqāʾid ad-dīnīya ʿan al-adilla al-yaqīnīya''<ref name="Taftazani163">{{Harvnb|al-Taftzani|1998|p=163}}</ref>
|-
|-
| [[Ibn 'Arafa]] (d. 1401) || [[Tunis]] || "the knowledge of the decrees of divinity, the sending of messengers, their truthfulness in all their communications, and that on which any of them is specifically based, as well as the establishment of their proofs by a skill that is believed to avert doubts and resolve uncertainties" || ''al-ʿilm bi-aḥkām al-ulūhīya wa-irsāl ar-rusul wa-ṣidqihā fī kull aḫbārihā wa-mā yatawaqqaf šaiʾ min ḏālik ʿalaihi ḫāṣṣan bihī wa-taqrīr adillatihā bi-qūwa hiya maẓinna li-radd aš-šubuhāt''<ref>{{Harvnb|Ibn'Arafa|2004|p=78}}</ref>
|-
| [[Ibn Khaldun]] (d. 1406) || [[Tunis]] || "a science that involves the disputation of religious dogmas with rational arguments and the refutation of innovators who deviate from the teachings of the ancients and the Sunnis." || ''ʿilm yataḍamman al-ḥiǧāǧ ʿan al-ʿaqāʾid al-īmānīya bi-l-adilla al-ʿaqlīya wa-r-radd ʿalā l-mubtadiʿa al-munḥarifīn fī l-iʿtiqādāt ʿan maḏāhib as-salaf wa-ahl as-sunna''<ref name="IbnKhaldun580">{{Harvnb|Ibn Khaldun|2001|p=588}}</ref>
|-
| [[Al-Kamal ibn al-Humam|Ibn al-Humām]] (d. 1457) || [[Egypt]] || "the knowledge of the individual about the dogmas of the Islamic religion that are incumbent upon him through the evidence" || ''maʿrifat an-nafs mā ʿalaihā min al-ʿaqāʾid al-mansūba ilā dīn al-islām ʿan al-adilla''<ref name="IbnHumam5">{{cite book|author=[[Al-Kamal ibn al-Humam]]|title=Al-Musayara fi Ilm al-Kalam|url=https://archive.org/details/al-musayara/page/n3/mode/1up|location=[[Cairo]]|publisher=Al-Maṭbaʿa al-Mahmudiya, Cairo|date=1929|page=5}}</ref>
|-
| [[Taşköprüzade]] (d. 1561) || Ottoman Empire || "the science of proving religious truths by providing arguments for them and removing doubts from them" || ''ʿilm yuqtadar maʿa-hū ʿalā iṯbāt al-ḥaqāʾiq ad-dīnīya, bi-īrād al-ḥuǧaǧ ʿalai-hā wa-dafʿ aš-šubah ʿan-hā''<ref name="Taschköprüzade132"/>
|-
| [[Abd al-Razzaq Lahiji]] (d. 1661) || [[Iran]] || "a theoretical skill with which one can prove religious dogmas" || ''ṣināʿa naẓarīya yuqtadar bi-hā ʿalā iṯbāt al-ʿaqāʾid ad-dīnīya''<ref name="LahidschiI51">{{Harvnb|Abd al-Razzaq Lahiji|2011|p=51}}</ref>
|-
| al-Tahānawī (d. 1745) || [[North India]] || "a science by which one can prove religious dogmas to one's fellow men by citing arguments and averting doubts" || ''ʿilm yuqtadar maʿa-hū ʿalā iṯbāt al-ʿaqāʾid ad-dīnīya ʿalā l-ġair, bi-īrād al-ḥuǧaǧ wa-dafʿ aš-šubah''.<ref name="TahanawiI29">{{Harvnb|al-Tahānawī|1996|p=29}}</ref>
|-
| [[Morteza Motahhari]] (d. 1979) || Iran || "a science that discusses Islamic dogmas, i.e. what one must believe in from an Islamic point of view, in such a way that it explains, proves and defends them" || ''ʿilmi ast ke darbāre-ye ʿaqāyed-e eslāmī yaʿnī ānče az naẓar-e eslām bāyad bedān moʿtaqed būd va īmān dāšt, baḥs̱ mīkonad be īn naḥw ke ānhā toużīḥ mīdehad va darbāre-ye ānhā estedlāl mīkonad va az ānhā defāʿ mīnamāyad''<ref name="MutahhariIII57">{{Harvnb|Morteza Motahhari|1991|p=57}}</ref>
|-
|}

===Kalām as apologetics===
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 a mental ability through which man can refute everything that contradicts the views and actions established by the founder of the religion,<ref name="Farabi107" /> the latter as "the defence of religion with the tongue".<ref name="al-Amiri95" /> 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 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.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Louis Gardet]]|title="Ilm al-kalām" in [[The Encyclopaedia of Islam]]|publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]]|volume=3|page=1142}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Gardet">{{cite book|author=[[Louis Gardet]], M.M Anawati|title=Introduction à la théologie musulmane|publisher=[[Librairie philosophique J. Vrin]]|date=1981|pages=6–20}}</ref>

The Indian scholar ʿAbd an-Nabī al-Ahmadnagarī (d. 1759) even believed that 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 the "lamp of prophethood".<ref>{{cite book|author=Abd an-Nabī al-Ahmadnagarī|title=Gami al-Ulum fi Istilahat al-Funan, al-Mulaqqab bi-Dustur al-Ulama|url=https://archive.org/details/1_20201011_20201011_0539/%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%88%D9%85%20%D9%81%D9%8A%20%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%86%D9%88%D9%86-%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%A1%203%20/page/n93/mode/2up|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=[[:de:Dar al-Kotob al-ilmiyah|Dar al-Kotob al-'Ilmiyya]]|date=2000|volume=3|page=95}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Al-Ghazali]]|editor=[[Rashid Rida]]|title=Gawahir al-Qur'an|url=https://archive.org/details/1004Pdf_201804/page/n19/mode/1up|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=Dar Iḥya al-Ulum|date=2000|page=39}}</ref>

=== Kalām as the science of religious foundations or dogmas ===
Several Muslim authors defined kalām by its relationship to 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."<ref name="Tauhidi294" />  [[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."<ref name="Bazdawi15" />

[[Ibn al-Athir]] (d. 1233) in his book ''al-Lubāb fī Tahḏīb al-Ansāb'' was the first to define kalām science as "the science of the foundations of religion" (ʿilm Uṣūl al-Dīn).<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Ibn al-Athir]]|title=Al-Lubab fi Tahḏib al-Ansab|url=https://archive.org/details/alkamela2000_gmail_1_20150219/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%A8%20%D9%81%D9%8A%20%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%B0%D9%8A%D8%A8%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%A8%203/page/n159/mode/2up?view=theater|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=Dar al-Sadir|date=1980|volume=3|page=161}}</ref> [[Ibn Khallikan]] (d. 1282) and [[Siraj al-Din Urmavi]] (d. 1283) even equated kalām science with the foundations of religion itself.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Ibn Khallikan]]|editor=Ihsan Abbas|title=Wafayat al-A'yan wa-Anba Abna al-Zaman|url=https://archive.org/details/WAQ17074/04_17078/page/n270/mode/2up|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=Dar al-Sadir|date=1978|volume=4|page=271}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=[[Siraj al-Din Urmavi]]|title=Al-Risala al-Garre fi al-Farq Baina Nau'ai al-Ilm al-Ilahi wa-l-Kalam|date=2012|page=75}}</ref> 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 the books on kalām was entitled "Section of the Books of the Science of the Foundations of Religion, i.e. the Science of Kalām".<ref>{{cite book|author=Abdurrahman Atçıl |editor=[[Gülrü Necipoğlu]] |editor2=[[Cemal Kafadar]] |editor3=[[Cornell Fleischer]] |url=https://www.academia.edu/34966562|title=Treasures of Knowledge. An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/03–1503/04)|publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]]|chapter=The Kalām (Rational Theology) Section in the Palace Library Inventory|year=2019|pages=367–388}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Taschköprüzade132" /> At-Tahānawī explains this equation by saying that the Kalām is the basis of the religious legal sciences and that they are based on it.<ref>{{Harvnb|al-Tahānawī|1996|p=31}}</ref>

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."<ref name="Igi7vanEss37" /> 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).<ref name="Taschköprüzade132" /><ref name="TahanawiI29" /> For [[al-Taftazani]] (d. 1390), Kalām is "the knowledge of religious dogmas based on certain evidence",<ref name="Taftazani163" /> for [[Ibn Khaldun]] (d. 1406) "a science that includes the disputation of the dogmas of faith with rational arguments"<ref name="IbnKhaldun580" /> and for [[Morteza Motahhari]] (d. 1979) "a science that discusses the Islamic dogmas  [...] in such a way that it explains, proves and defends them".

==Linguistic==
===Theories about the origin of the term===
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 the discipline that deals with the rational justification of one's own religious doctrines:

* [[Al-Shahrastani]] (d. 1153) suggested that the name was coined by the [[Mu'tazila]]. They called this science by this name either because the speech of God was the main question around which their disputations and controversies revolved, so that the whole science was called by it.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Al-Shahrastani]]|editor=Ahmad Fahmi Muhammad|title=al-Milal wa-n-niḥal|url=https://archive.org/details/waq32299/page/n21/mode/2up|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=[[:de:Dar al-Kotob al-ilmiyah|Dar al-Kotob al-'Ilmiyya]]|date=1992|page=23}}</ref>
* Ibn at-Tilimsanī (d. 1260) considered three different possibilities: 1. the name Kalām comes from the fact that the Mutakallimūn began the chapters in their books with the phrase: "Chapter of speech about..." ( bāb al-kalām fī... ); 2. When the [[Zahiri]]tes were asked about one of the problems of this science, they replied: "That is that about which we are forbidden to speak". This happened repeatedly, so that after a time it was called "the science of (forbidden) speech", with the expression "forbidden" eventually being dropped; 3. Science was called ʿilm al-kalām because its learning is one of the most important means of bringing out the intellectual power of speech by which man is distinguished from other living beings.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ibn al-Tilimsani|2010|p=42}}</ref>
* [[Al-Taftazani]] (d. 1390) gives a total of eight explanations for the name Kalām in his commentary on the confession of an-Nasafī , including the one that this science takes place solely in discussion ( mubāḥaṯa ) and exchange of speech ( idārat al-kalām ) and thus differs from other sciences that can also be practiced in the form of reflection ( taʾammul ) and reading of books ( muṭālaʿat al-kutub ). Another possibility that he discusses is that this science was considered to be speech par excellence because of the strength of its evidence, just as one says of the stronger of two statements: "This is the speech".<ref>{{Harvnb|al-Taftzani|2014|p=23}}</ref>
* [[Ibn Khaldun]] (d. 1406) suggested that the science of kalām was so called either because the fight against innovations did not require action, but was achieved solely through "speech" (kalām).<ref name="Ibn Khaldun 2001 589">{{Harvnb|Ibn Khaldun|2001|p=589}}</ref>
* [[Morteza Motahhari]] (d. 1979) stated the reason why the name originated from the habit of its scholars speaking (kalām), which is the opposite of silence and the Kalām scholars made statements on questions of faith where silence would have been necessary, imitating the [[Companions of the Prophet]] and the Muslims of the [[Tabi'un|second generation]], who had also remained silent on the matter.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Mutahhari |first=Murtadha |author-link=Morteza Motahhari |title=An Introduction to Ilm al-Kalam |url=https://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/vol3-no2/introduction-ilm-al-kalam-murtadha-mutahhari |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=al-islam.org|date=12 March 2013 }}</ref>

According to [[:de:Josef van Ess|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".<ref>{{Harvnb|Adud al-Din al-Iji|1966|p=66}}</ref> As for Western scholarship, [[:fy:Tjitze de Boer|Tjitze de Boer]] and [[Duncan Black MacDonald]] suggested that the term kalām was derived from the Greek word logos.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[:fy:Tjitze de Boer|Tjitze de Boer]]|title=History of Philosophy in Islam|url=https://archive.org/details/geschichtederphi00boer/page/42/mode/2up?view=theater|location=[[Stuttgart]]|publisher=Frommann-Holzboog|date=1901|page=43}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=[[Duncan Black MacDonald]]|title="Ilm al-kalām" in The [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]|publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]]|volume=2|pages=717–723}}</ref> [[:de:Arent Jan Wensinck|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".<ref name="Wensinck 1932">{{cite book|author=[[:de:Arent Jan Wensinck|A. J. Wensinck]]|title=The Muslim Creed. Its Genesis and Historical Development|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.15039/page/79/mode/2up?view=theater|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|date=1932|pages=717–723}}</ref> [[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 the things of God).<ref name="Gardet" /> [[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."<ref name="Wensinck 1932" />

==History==
===The question of origin===

# [[Maimonides]] (d. 1204) believed that the Kalām was actually of Christian origin and only later became known to Muslims through translations.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Maimonides]]|translator=Michael Friedländer|title=The Guide for the Perplexed|publisher=|date=1974|page=19}}</ref> [[Franz August Schmölders]] rejected this theory as implausible as early as 1840 in his ''Essai sur les écoles philosophiques chez les Arabes''.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Franz August Schmölders]]|title=Essai sur les écoles philosophiques chez les arabes|url=https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10046931?page=155|publisher=Stuttgart et al|date=1985|page=}}</ref> 
# According to Ibn Khaldūn (d. 1406), the science of kalam arose from the fact that disagreements about the details of the doctrines of faith arose in the period after the first Muslims. Most of these disagreements were, in his opinion, caused by ambiguous Quranic verses ([[Mutashabih|Muḥkam and Mutashabih]]). They led to dispute, disputation and rational argumentation.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ibn Khaldun|2001|p=586}}</ref>
# [[Mohammed Abed al-Jabri]] (d. 2010) assumes that the Kalam arose in the middle of the 7th century, immediately after the arbitration that ended the war between [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]] and [[Mu'awiya I|Mu'awiya]]. During this period, Arab political discourse began to use religion as a mediator. The various parties sought religious legitimacy for their positions, which was the first step in the theoretical formation of what was later called the science of Kalam. Thus, in its historical reality, this science is not just a discourse on the doctrine of faith, but a "practice of politics in religion".<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Mohammed Abed al-Jabri]]|title=Takwīn al-ʿaql al-ʿarabī|url=https://archive.org/details/overalllibrary_gmail_20170305_1757/page/n345/mode/2up?view=theater|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=The Centre: Journal of Arabic Studies|date=2002|page=347}}</ref>

In fact, the origins of the kalām are obscure. This is also due to the fact that the specifically theological meaning of the words kalām and mutakallim was very slow to gain acceptance. Mutakallim initially only referred to a "speaker with a specific function".<ref>{{cite book|author=[[:de:Josef van Ess|Josef van Ess]]|title=Theology and Society in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries of the Hijra. A History of Religious Thought in Early Islam|publisher=[[De Gruyter]]|date=1991|volume=1|page=50}}</ref>

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 the [[Sunnah]] and acting according to the truth.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Abd al-Aziz al-Duri|title=Ahbar al-Daula al-Abbasiya wa-Fihi Ahbar al-Abbas wa-Waladihi|url=https://archive.org/details/Akhbar_201608/page/n311/mode/2up|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=Dar al-Tali|date=1971|page=310}}</ref>  [[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]].<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Shlomo Pines]]|title=A Note on an Early Meaning of the Term Mutakallim in Israel Oriental Studies 1|url=https://www.academia.edu/32678499|publisher=[[Tel Aviv University]]|date=1971|page=225}}</ref>

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) is said to have said: "I have argued and spoken with the people. Indeed, I love to speak with the [[Shia]]."<ref>{{cite book|author=Abu Zakariya al-Azdi|editor=Ali Habiba|title=Tarikh al-Mausil|url=https://archive.org/details/1964p.d.f1787/page/n39/mode/2up?view=theater|publisher=|date=1967|page=5}}</ref> The fact that the verb kallama is used here for "to speak with", from which the word kalām is derived, is seen by [[:de:Josef van Ess|Josef van Ess]] as an indication that the specifically theological meaning of the kalām concept may have already developed at this time.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[:de:Josef van Ess|Josef van Ess]]|title=The Beginnings of Islamic Theology" in JE Murdoch and ED Sylla: The Cultural Context of Medieval Learning: Proceedings of the First International Colloquium on Philosophy, Science, and Theology in the Middle Ages|publisher=[[D. Reidel]]|date=1975|page=89}}</ref>

According to a report quoted in the ''Kitab al-Aghani'' by [[Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani]] (d. 967), there were six representatives of the Kalam (aṣḥāb al-kalām) in [[Basra]]: the two [[Mu'tazilism|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.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani]] |translator=Ihsan Abbas |translator2=Ibrahim al-Sa'afrin |translator3=Bakr Abbas |title=Kitab al-Agani|url=https://archive.org/details/AlAghani__1438/Al-Aghani_03/page/n97/mode/2up|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=Dar Sadir|date=2008|volume=III|page=101}}</ref> Since Wāsil died around 748, the Kalām must have existed in 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."<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Abdullah Ansari]]|editor=Abu Gabir al-Ansari|title=Dham al-Kalam wa-ahlihi|url=https://archive.org/details/FPzkazka/zka0/|location=[[Amman]]|publisher=Maktabat al-Guraba al-Atariya|date=2008|volume=IV|pages=116–221}}</ref> [[Ibn Taymiyya]] (d. 1328), on the other hand, believed that 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]].<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Ibn Taymiyyah]]|editor=Muhibb al-Hatib|title=Al-Muntaqa min Manahig al-i-Tidal|url=https://archive.org/details/waq16222/page/n527/mode/2up?view=theater|location=[[Riyadh]]|publisher=Al-Risala al-Amm al-Idarat al-Buhut al-Ilmiya|date=1993|page=528}}</ref> 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 the [[Muʿtazila]] and the [[Qadariya]], with Wasil ibn Ata again playing the decisive role.<ref name="Taschköprüzade132">{{Harvnb|Taşköprüzade|2001|vol=2|p=148}}</ref> 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 caliph [[al-Mahdi]] (r. 775–785) was the first ruler to commission Mutakallimūn representing [[Islam]] to write books against [[Mulhid]] from the circle of the [[Manichaeism|Manichaeans]], [[Bardaisan|Bardesanites]] and [[Marcionism|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.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[al-Masudi]]|translator=Barbier de Meynard et Pavet de Courteille|title=Muruj ad-Dahab wa-Maʿadin al-Jawhar|url=https://archive.org/details/lesprairiesdor08masuuoft/page/292/mode/2up|publisher=|date=1861–1877|volume=VIII|page=293}}</ref>

===Formative years===
In early Islam, the ''Ahl al-Kalām'' or "Kalamites" essentially referred to 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.<ref name=DWBRTMIT1996:15>[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought'', 1996]]: p.15</ref>)

In the times of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] (750–1258 AD), 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.<ref name=Fakhry-xvii-xviii>{{cite book| last=Fakhry |first=Majid |edition=second |title=A History of Islamic Philosophy |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |location=New York |year=1983 |pages=xvii-xviii }}</ref> One was how to rebut arguments "leveled at Islam by pagans, Christians and Jews".<ref name=Fakhry-xvii-xviii/> Another was how to deal with (what some saw as the conflict between) the [[Predestination in Islam|predestination]] of sinners to [[Jahannam|hell]] on 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 [[Hadith|Traditions]]) into some internal harmony".<ref name=Fakhry-xvii-xviii/> Other factors that might have led the establishment of kalam was an effort by some Islamic scholars to oppose the thoughs of ''[[Zandaqa]]'' in the Islamic world.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mutahhari |first=Murtadha |author-link=Morteza Motahhari |title=An Introduction to Ilm al-Kalam |url=https://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/vol3-no2/introduction-ilm-al-kalam-murtadha-mutahhari/introduction-ilm-al-kalam |access-date=2023-10-31 |website=al-islam.org |date=12 March 2013 |quote=These were: embracing of Islam by various nations who brought with them a series of (alien) ideas and notions; mixing and coexistence of the Muslims with people of various religions, such as, the Jews, the Christians, the Magians, and the Sabaeans, and the ensuing religious debates and disputes between the Muslims and those peoples; the emergence of the Zanadiqah in the Islamic world - who were totally against religion - as a result of the general freedom during the rule of the 'Abbasid Caliphs (as long as it did not interfere in the matters of state politics); the birth of philosophy in the Muslim world - which by itself gave birth to doubts and skeptical attitudes.}}</ref>

Later schools of Kalam like the [[Ibn Kullab|Kullabis]], [[Ash'arism|Asharites]] and [[Maturidism|Matuiridis]] representing as [[Sunni|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]].<ref name="EncyclopediaofIslam">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Gardet |author-first=Louis |year=1978 |title=Kalām |editor1-last=Bosworth |editor1-first=C. E. |editor1-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |editor2-last=van Donzel |editor2-first=E. J. |editor2-link=Emeri Johannes van Donzel |editor3-last=Heinrichs |editor3-first=W. P. |editor3-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs |editor4-last=Lewis |editor4-first=B. |editor5-last=Pellat |editor5-first=Ch. |editor5-link=Charles Pellat |editor6-last=Dumont |editor6-first=C. |editor7-last=Paterson |editor7-first=M. |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam#2nd edition, EI2|Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition]] |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=4 |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0421 |isbn=978-90-04-16121-4}}</ref> This was unlike the [[Mutazilites]], whose kalam instead prioritised reason over revelation to the point where the Quran and hadith would only be accepted if it aligned with their interpretation of rationalism.<ref name=":0" /> The [[Hanbali school|Hanbali]] school and followers of [[Ahmad ibn Hanbal|Ahmed Ibn Hanbal]] would generally avoid kalam and philosophical talk all together, seeing it as an innovation, and only address it out of necessity.<ref name=":1" /> However, Ahmad ibn Hanbal also provided an episode of long feud of Mu'tazila Quran creationism doctrine opposed by the scripturalists (Atharism) doctrine that Quran as ''shifat'' (attribution) of God which championed by [[Ahmad ibn Hanbal]], the founder of [[Hanbali school]].<ref name="Ushul Shunnah; Walid">{{cite book |author1=Walid ibn Muhammad Nabih ibn Sayf an-Nashr |editor1-last=ibn 'Ied al-Abbasi |editor1-first=Muhammad |title=أصول السنة |trans-title=Principle of Sunnah |year=1996 |publisher=Maktaba Ibn Taymiyyah |page=50 |url=https://almoqtabas.com/ar/publications/view/26800509189058926 |access-date=9 August 2024 |language=Ar |quote=Footnote 13}}</ref><ref name="Creed Ahmad ibn Hanbal; Williams">{{cite journal |author1=W. Williams|title=Aspects of the Creed of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal: A Study of Anthropomorphism in Early Islamic Discourse |year=2002 |journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=441–463 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/S0020743802003021 |language=En}}</ref><ref name="Ahmad ibn Hanbal; Shaukat Ali">{{cite book |author1=Shaukat Ali |title=Millenarian and Messianic Tendencies in Islamic History |year=1993 |publisher=Publishers United |page=118 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CATYAAAAMAAJ |access-date=9 August 2024 |language=En}}</ref><ref name="Ahmad ibn Hanbal; Malaysia">{{cite book |title=Pemikiran Islam di Malaysia: sejarah dan aliran |year=1997 |publisher=Gema Insani |isbn=979-561-430-4 |page=137 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iRtOVSAYGLAC |access-date=9 August 2024 |language=Ms}}</ref> [[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.<ref>{{cite book |author1=brahim bin 'Amir Ar-Ruhaili |title=Sikap Ahlussunnah wal Jama'ah terhadap Ahli Bid'ah dan Pengikut Hawa Nafsu (Jilid: 2) |trans-title=The Attitude of Ahlussunnah wal Jama'ah towards Heretics and Followers of Lust (Volume: 2) |year=2019 |publisher=Darul Falah |isbn=978-979-3036-74-8 |pages=96–97 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8uW3DwAAQBAJ |access-date=12 August 2024 |language=Id}}</ref> 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 the said matter about the nature of Quran.<ref name="Mustafa Said al-Khin; Ibn Abi Du'ad">{{cite book |author1=Musthafa Said Al-khin |editor1-last=Zirzis |translator=Muhammad Misbah |editor1-first=Achmad |title=Sejarah Ushul Fikih |trans-title=History of Ushul Fiqih |year=2014 |publisher=Pustaka Al-Kautsar |location=East Jakarta, Id |page=235 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9wHeDwAAQBAJ |access-date=9 August 2024 |language=Id}}</ref> The [[Hanbali school|Hanbali scholars]] and followers of Ahmad ibn Hanbal rarely mention about kalam in their teaching, as they consider it as [[bid'ah]] (heresy).<ref name=":1" /> 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 [[Muʿtazila|Mu'tazilites]] led by Ahmad ibn Abi Du'ad.<ref>{{harvnb|Turner|2010|p=95}}; {{harvnb|Melchert|1996|pp=321–25}}; {{harvnb|Ibn Khallikan|1871|pp=66, 69–70}}; {{harvnb|Yarshater|1985–2007|loc=v. 34: p. 75}}.</ref> The caliph also attempted to reconcile with Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and finally, in March 852, he ordered that all prisoners held on account of the innquisition against the Sunnis be released.<ref>{{harvnb|Turner|2010|pp=95–98}}; {{harvnb|Melchert|1996|pp=325–26}}; {{harvnb|Hinds|1993|pp=4–5}}; {{harvnb|Zetterstéen|Pellat|1960|p=271}}; {{harvnb|Ibn Khallikan|1871|p=70}}; {{harvnb|Yarshater|1985–2007|loc=v. 34: pp. 116-19}}.</ref>

===The heyday under the early Abbasids===
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 [[Buyid dynasty|Buyids]] of [[Ray, Iran|Ray]] from 979 to 995.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Al-Shahrastani]]|translator=Theodor Haarbrücker|title=Al-Milal wa al-Nihal|url=https://archive.org/details/abulfathmuhamma00haargoog/page/n55/mode/2up?view=theater|publisher=Halle|date=1850–1851|language=German|volume=1|page=28}}</ref>

One of the most important promoters of kalam discussions in the early Abbasid period was the [[Barmakids|Barmakid]] [[Yahya ibn Khalid]], who served as [[vizier]] under [[Harun al-Rashid]]. [[Ya'qubi|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 [[:fr:Ḍirār ibn ʻAmr|Dirar ibn Amr]] (d. 815) as examples of mutakallimīn of this period.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Ya'qubi|Al-Yaʿqūbī]]|editor=Abdurahman Abdallah al-Saqir|title=Musakalat al-Nas li-Zamanihim|url=https://archive.org/details/20200526_20200526_1608/%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%83%D9%84%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B3_%D9%84%D8%B2%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%87%D9%85/page/99/mode/2up?view=theater|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=Gadawil|date=2019|language=Arabic|page=100}}</ref> According to 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.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Ibn Babawayh]]|editor=Husain al-A'lami|title=Musakalat al-Nas li-Zamanihim|url=https://archive.org/details/348783478349/page/n339/mode/2up?view=theater|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=Mu'assasat al-A'lami|date=1991|language=Arabic|page=339}}</ref> This discussion group is also mentioned by al-Masʿūdī . According to his report, many Islamic mutakallimūn participated in this discussion, including [[Mu'tazilism|Muʿtazilites]] such as [[:de:Abū l-Hudhail|Abu l-Hudhail]], [[Ibrahim al-Nazzam]] and [[Bishr ibn al-Muʿtamir]], [[Imamate in Shia doctrine|Imamites]] such as [[Hisham ibn al-Hakam]], one [[Kharijite]] and one [[Murji'ah|Murjite each]], as well as representatives of other worldviews and faiths, including the Mobed of the [[Zoroastrians]].<ref>{{cite book|author=[[al-Masudi]]|translator=Barbier de Meynard et Pavet de Courteille|title=Muruj ad-Dahab wa-Maʿadin al-Jawhar|url=https://archive.org/details/lesprairiesdor06masuuoft/page/368/mode/2up?view=theater|publisher=|date=1861–1877|volume=VI|pages=368–375}}</ref>

The Caliph [[al-Ma'mun]] also distinguished himself by promoting the Kalam. [[Ya'qubi|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.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Ya'qubi|Al-Yaʿqūbī]]|editor=Abdurahman Abdallah al-Saqir|title=Musakalat al-Nas li-Zamanihim|url=https://archive.org/details/20200526_20200526_1608/%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%83%D9%84%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B3_%D9%84%D8%B2%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%87%D9%85/page/103/mode/2up?view=theater|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=Gadawil|date=2019|language=Arabic|page=104}}</ref>

[[Al-Jahiz]] (d. 869), who wrote one of 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 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 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.<ref>{{Harvnb|al-Jahiz|1979|p=244}}</ref> 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 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]].<ref>{{Harvnb|al-Jahiz|1979|p=246}}</ref>

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 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.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Al-Jahiz]]|editor=Abd as-Salam M. Harun|title=Risala fi nafy at-tasbih|url=https://ia803207.us.archive.org/22/items/rsagahfp_202007/01_RsaGah.pdf#page=278|location=[[Cairo]]|publisher=|date=1979|language=Arabic|volume=1|page=285}}</ref>

===10th and 11th centuries: Spread from Iraq to the east and west===
Until 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 [[Khuzestan Province|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]] reports in his book ''[[Surat Al-Ard]]'' that he saw two porters in 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.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Ibn Hawqal]]|editor=[[Johannes Hendrik Kramers]]|title=Book of Surat al-Ard|publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]]|date=1967|isbn=|page=255}}</ref>

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]].<ref name="Ibn Khaldun 2001 589"/> In 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 the mainstream [[Shafi'ism|Shafi'ite ideology]] in the Islamic world during the [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuk era]].<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Wilferd Madelung]]|title=Religious Trends in Early Islamic Iran|publisher=[[Iran Heritage Foundation]]|date=22 September 1988|isbn=978-0-88706-701-3|page=28}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[W. Montgomery Watt]]|title=Islamic Philosophy and Theology|publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]]|date=8 August 2019|isbn=978-1-4744-7347-7|page=76}}</ref> One of his students, [[Abu Dharr al-Harawi]] was the first to introduce the Ash'ari doctrine to the [[Masjid al-Haram|Holy Sanctuary]] of [[Mecca]]. Among the hundreds of [[Al-Andalus|Andalusi]] and [[Maghrebi]] pupils that Abu Dharr al-Harawi trained to become [[faqih|jurists]] and [[qadi|judges]], and who helped Ash'arism expand to their home countries are [[Abu al-Walid al-Baji]] and [[Abu Imran al-Fasi]].<ref name="research">{{cite web|author='Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Tahir|url=https://www.arrabita.ma/blog/دور-أبي-ذر-الهروي-في-نشر-الأشعرية-بالمغ/|title=دور أبي ذر الهروي في نشر الأشعرية بالمغرب|language=ar|trans-title=The role of Abu Dharr al-Harawi in the spread of Ash'ari theology in Morocco|publisher=[[:ar:الرابطة المحمدية للعلماء|Muhammadiya Association of Scholars]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230413032508/https://www.arrabita.ma/blog/%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D8%B0%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%8A-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%86%D8%B4%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%BA/|archive-date=13 Apr 2023}}</ref> However, research shows that his students were not the first to introduce Ash'arism as there were already known Ash'ari presence in the [[Tunisia]] such as [[Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani]] and [[Abu 'l-Hasan 'Ali ibn Khalaf al-Qabisi|Abu al-Hassan al-Qabisi]].<ref name="research" /><ref>{{cite book|author=[[Al-Bayhaqi]]|title=Allah's Names and Attributes|translator=[[Gibril Fouad Haddad]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PM7wz92Tq6oC|date=1999|publisher=[[Islamic Supreme Council of America]]|isbn=978-1-930409-03-3|pages=17–18}}</ref><ref>Aaron Spevack, ''The Archetypal Sunni Scholar: Law, Theology, and Mysticism in the Synthesis of Al-Bajuri'', p 55. State University of New York Press, 1 Oct 2014. {{ISBN|143845371X}}</ref><ref>{{EI2|title=Ibn <u>Sh</u>araf al-Qayrawānī|author-link=Charles Pellat|first=Charles|last=Pellat|volume=3|pages=936–937|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_3374}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|author=Aaminah-Kulsum Patel|title=The Ascent of Adam: Re-Evaluating the First Prophet in Quranic Exegesis|url=https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/studentTheses/the-ascent-of-adam|publisher=[[King's College London]]|date=1 July 2022|isbn=|page=211}}</ref> Shortly after, the Ash'ari theology became the mainstream doctrine of the [[Maliki]] school.<ref>{{cite book|author=Henri Lauzière|title=The Making of Salafism: Islamic Reform in the Twentieth Century|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|date=17 November 2015|isbn=978-0-231-54017-9|page=}}</ref>

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 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 a heterodox theological movement and extreme rationalists. The group would continue to exist and primarily follow [[Shia]] and [[Ibadi]].<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Richard C. Martin]], Mark Woodward, Dwi S. Atmaja|title=Defenders of Reason in Islam, Mu'tazililism from Medieval School to Modern Symbol|date=3 March 2016|publisher=[[Oneworld Publications]]|isbn=9781786070241|page=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Malik|first1=Hamza|title=The Grey Falcon: The Life and Teaching of Shaykh ʿAbd Al-Qādir Al-Jīlānī|publisher=[[Brill Academic Publishers|Brill]]|date=2 October 2018|isbn=9789004383692|page=51}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=[[Joseph A. Kéchichian]]|title=A Sultanate that Endures, Oman in the World from Qaboos Bin Sa'id to Haitham Bin Tariq|date=8 February 2023|publisher=[[Liverpool University Press]]|isbn=9781837643998|page=26}}</ref>

===Post-classical period and “conservatism”===

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 the South Asian [[madrasas]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Khaled El-Rouayheb, [[Sabine Schmidtke]]|title=The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Philosophy|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|date=2017|isbn=9780199917389|page=375}}</ref> The book also played an important role in [[Education in the Ottoman Empire|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 [[Al-Taftazani|Saʿd ad-Dīn at-Taftāzānī]], as a basis for teaching.<ref>{{cite book|author=Muḥammad ibn Abī-Bakr Sāčaqlızāde|title=Tartib al-ulum|url=https://archive.org/details/FP71694/mode/2up?view=theater|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=Dar al-Basa'ir al-Islamiya|date=1996|pages=149}}</ref> The work contains an introductory chapter at the beginning in which the author discusses the definition, subject, utility, rank, problems and naming of the science of Kalām.<ref>{{Harvnb|Adud al-Din al-Iji|1966|p=37-60}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Jeffry R. Halveson; chapter 2">{{cite book |author1=Jeffry R. Halverson |title=Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism |year=2010 |pages=33–57 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230106581_3 |access-date=9 August 2024 |publisher=SpringerLink |language=En |chapter=2: The Demise of 'Ilm al-Kalam|doi=10.1057/9780230106581_3 |isbn=978-0-230-10658-1 }}</ref> However, the science of Kalam experienced a revival in the 17th and 18th centuries in what is now [[Mauritania]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Gunhild Graf|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328223402|title=Ilm al-kalām in Mauritania based on Moorish commentaries on the Iḍāʾat ad-duǧunna fī iʿtiqād ahl as-sunna by al-Maqqarī (st. 1041/1632)|language=German|publisher=[[Asian studies]]|year=2018|doi=10.1515/asia-2018-0008|page=757}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|author=Muhammad ibn 'Umar al-Bartallī|title=Fatḥ al-Sakur fi Maʿrifat aʿyan Ulama al-Takrur|url=https://archive.org/details/Fath_Shakur_fi_Ulama_Takrour/page/n180/mode/2up?view=theater|date=1981|page=181}}</ref> 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 was limited to commentaries and glosses.<ref>{{cite book|author=Michael Kemper|url=https://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/iud/content/pageview/358325|title=Sufis and scholars in Tatarstan and Bashkiria, 1789–1889. The Islamic discourse under Russian rule|publisher=[[Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg]]|date=1998|doi=10.1353/imp.2011.0085|page=221}}</ref>

However, the early modern period was a phase of "frozen conservatism" for Kalām science, as Louis Gardet writes.<ref name="Gardet" /> Muslim scholars also diagnosed a decline in this discipline. The Ottoman-Turkish scholar [[:tr:İsmail Hakkı İzmirli|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 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).<ref>{{cite book|author=[[:tr:İsmail Hakkı İzmirli|İsmail Hakkı İzmirli]]|title=Muhassalu al-Kalam fi al-Hikme|url=https://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/eyayin/pdf/OGT01091.pdf#page=86|location=[[Istanbul]]|publisher=Evkaf-ı İslamiye Matbaası|date=1981|page=181}}</ref>

===Modern attempts at revival===
Mulla Sadra, 17th AD [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver Shia]] philosopher and mystic; has felt that he owed to the greek philosophy, for the development of kalam as Islamic discourse.<ref name="Mulla Sadra; Corbin">{{cite book |author1=Henry Corbin |author1-link=Henry Corbin |title=History Of Islamic Philosophy |year=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-19889-3 |page=256 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l9bgAwAAQBAJ |access-date=22 August 2024}}</ref> Modern philosopher [[Federico Campagna]] has suspected the similarity between the unique cosmological kalam philosophy taught by Mulla Sadra with Hindu Vedic [[Upanishads]] philosophy.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Federico Campagna |author1-link=Federico Campagna |title=Technic and Magic: The Reconstruction of Reality |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-350-04403-6 |page=130 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRJUDwAAQBAJ |access-date=23 August 2024}}</ref> In retrospect, Muhammad Kamal from Islamic studies at the [[Melbourne]] institute has stated Mulla Sadra philosophy was influenced by [[Avicenna]] and [[Ibn Arabi]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Muhammad Kamal |title=Mulla Sadra's Transcendent Philosophy |year=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-09370-1 |pages=42, 50, 52 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cd0GDAAAQBAJ |access-date=23 August 2024}}</ref>

[[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 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.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Bogdana Todorova |title=KHOMEINI'S POLITICAL-RELIGIOUS APPROACH OF THE 'IRANIAN NATION' |year=2020 |journal=Politics and Religion • Politologie des Religions |volume=XIV |issue=1 |pages=45, 47, 52 |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=885343 |access-date=22 August 2024 |publisher=Bulgarian Academy of Sciences}}</ref>

== As an Islamic discipline ==
{{Muslim Beliefs|width=22.0em|Five Pillars}}
Although seeking knowledge in Islam is considered a religious obligation, the study of kalam is considered by Muslim scholars to fall beyond the category of necessity and is usually the preserve of qualified scholars, eliciting limited interest from the masses or common people.<ref name="Bennett119">{{cite book |last1=Bennett |first1=Clinton |title=The Bloomsbury Companion to Islamic Studies | publisher=Bloomsbury Academic  | date=2012 |isbn=978-1-4411-2788-4 |page=119}}</ref>

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.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Black Macdonald |first1=Duncan |title=Development of Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence, and Constitutional Theory, Chapter=III | publisher=The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd| date=2008 |isbn=978-1-58477-858-5 |page=187}}</ref>

Similarly, the Islamic scholar [[al-Ghazali]] held 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.<ref name="Bennett119"/>

==Criticism==
Despite the dominance of kalam as an intellectual tradition within Islam, some scholars were critical of its use. For example, [[Hanbali school|Hanbali]] school and followers of [[Ahmad ibn Hanbal|Ahmed Ibn Hanbal]] would generally avoid kalam and philosophical talk all together, seeing it as an [[bid'ah|innovation]].<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Duncan Black MacDonald]]|title=Development of Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence and Constitutional Theory|date=2008|publisher=Macdonald Press|isbn=978-1-58477-858-5|page=197}}</ref> The same sentiments is also found within the [[Zahiri]] school.;<ref name="Ibn Hazm about Kalam">{{cite book |author1=Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (Egypt) research team |editor1=Artawijaya |translator1=Masturi Ilham |translator2=M. Abidin Zuhdi |translator3=Khalifurrahman Fath |title=Ensiklopedi Aliran dan Madzhab Di Dunia Islam |trans-title=Encyclopedia of Schools and Schools of Thought in the Islamic World |year=2015 |publisher=Pustaka Al-Kautsar; [[:ar:المجلس الأعلى للشؤون الإسلامية (مصر)|Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (Egypt)]] |location=[[Jakarta]] |page=664 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=btveDwAAQBAJ |access-date=14 August 2024 |language=Id}}</ref> The modern [[Wahhabi]] and [[Salafi]] movements generally consider kalam to be an [[bid'ah|innovation]] and reject its usage.<ref>{{cite book|author=Saul Silas Fathi|title=Gods and Religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-B3-EAAAQBAJ|date=22 December 2023|publisher=Writers Republic LLC|isbn=9798891004665|page=615}}</ref>

The [[Hanbali]] [[Sufi]], [[Khwaja Abdullah Ansari]] wrote a treatise entitled ''Dhamm al-Kalam'' where he criticized the use of kalam.<ref name=":0">Jeffry R. Halverson, Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam, 2010: p 37. {{ISBN|0-230-10658-7}}</ref>

[[Ibn al-Jawzi]], 12th AD Hanbali scholar; has explained that that [[Ulama]] and [[Fiqh]] of his contemporary have considered kalam as "...useless discipline..".<ref name="Sharh Aqida Ahl sunnah; Yazid Jawas">{{cite web |author1=Yazid bin Abdul Qadir Jawas |author1-link=Yazid bin Abdul Qadir Jawas |title=Dalil 'Aqli (Akal) Yang Benar Akan Sesuai Dengan Dalil Naqli/Nash Yang Shahih: Penjelasan Kaidah Keenam Dalil aqli (akal) yang benar akan sesuai dengan dalil Naqli/nash yang shahih |trans-title=The correct 'Aqli (reason) argument will be in accordance with the authentic Naqli/Nash argument: Explanation of the Sixth Rule The correct aqli (reason) argument will be in accordance with the authentic Naqli/Nash argument |url=https://almanhaj.or.id/3425-dalil-aqli-akal-yang-benar-akan-sesuai-dengan-dalil-naqlinash-yang-shahih.html |website=Almanhaj |date=13 November 2012 |access-date=10 August 2024 }} Chapter 6 of= {{Cite book|year=2006|language=id|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xuTGWJr8n18C|title=Syarah Aqidah Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama'ah|publisher=Pustaka Imam As-Syafi'i|isbn=978-979-3536-64-4|oclc=949744119}} References from:
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* {{cite book |author1=Ahmed ibn Muhammad ad-Dahlawi Al-Madani |editor1=Hasan al-Halabi |title=تاريخ أهل الحديث تعيين الفرقة الناجية وأنها طائفة أهل الحديث |trans-title=History of the People of Hadith: Determining the Saved Sect and That It Is the Sect of the People of Hadith |year=1985 |publisher=السعودية مكتبة الغرباء الأثرية |pages=116–117 |url=http://dlibrary.mediu.edu.my/bib/26634 |access-date=10 August 2024 |language=Ar }}
* {{cite book |author1=Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab al-Aqil |editor1-last=Al-Ansari |editor1-first=Hammad |url=https://aqeeda.sa/scientific-researchs/1961/ |title=منهج الامام الشافعي في احصاء العقيدة |trans-title=Imam Al-Shafi'i's approach to enumerating the creed |year=2021 |chapter=1 |publisher=[[Islamic University of Madinah]] |pages=74–75, 121 |access-date=10 August 2024 }}
* {{cite book |author1=Ibn Abi al-Izz |author2=al-Adhra'i al-Salihi al-Dimashqi |author1-link=Ibn Abi al-Izz |editor1-last=al-Arna'ut |editor1-first=Shu'ayb |editor2-last=ibn al-Muhsin al-Turki |editor2-first=Abdullah |editor1-link=Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut |title=شرح العقيدة الطحاوية |trans-title=Explanation of the Creed of al-Tahawiyyah |year=1997 |publisher=العاشرة |location=Beirut |pages=17–18 |url=https://shamela.ws/book/8352 |access-date=10 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240810125209/https://shamela.ws/book/8352 |archive-date=10 August 2024 |language=Ar |url-status=bot: unknown }}
* {{cite book |author1=Al-Baghawi |author1-link=Al-Baghawi |editor1-last=al-Arna'ut |editor1-first=Shu'ayb |editor2-last=Zuhair ash-Shawish |editor2-first=Muhammad |editor1-link=Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut |title=شرح السنة |trans-title=Explanation of the Sunnah |year=1983 |publisher=المكتب الإسلامي |location=Damascus, Beirut |page=217 |url=https://shamela.ws/book/7891 |access-date=10 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240506181606/https://shamela.ws/book/7891 |archive-date=6 May 2024 |language=Ar |chapter=1 |url-status=bot: unknown }}
* {{cite book |author1=Al-Suyuti |author1-link=Al-Suyuti |title=الأمر بالاتباع والنهي عن الابتداع المؤلف |trans-title=The command to follow and the prohibition of innovation |page=70 |url=http://www.islamicbook.ws/amma/alamr-balatbaa-walnhi-an-alabtdaa.html |access-date=10 August 2024 |language=Ar }}
* {{cite book |author1=Ibn 'Abd al-Barr |author1-link=Ibn 'Abd al-Barr |editor1-last=Al-Zuhairi |editor1-first=Abu Al-Ashbal |title=جامع بيانل علمي وفضله |trans-title=Jāmiʻ bayān al-ʻIlm wa-faḍlihi (A comprehensive scientific statement and its merits) |publisher=دار ابن الجوزي |location=Sa |year=1994 |page=217 (1st edition), 941 (2nd edition) |url=https://shamela.ws/book/22367 |access-date=10 August 2024 |language=Ar }}</ref> He described 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.<ref name="kalam vs Aqida; Ibn al-Jawzi; Ibn Hajar">{{cite web |author1=Abu Minhal |title=Ilmu Filsafat, Perusak Akidah Islam |trans-title=Philosophy damaging Aqida |year=2010 |url=https://almanhaj.or.id/3453-ilmu-filsafat-perusak-akidah-islam.html |website=Almanhaj |publisher=Yayasan Lajnah Istiqomah (Lajnah Istiqomah institute) |access-date=13 August 2024 |language=Id }} concise references from:
* {{cite book |author1=Ibn al-Jawzi |author1-link=Ibn al-Jawzi |editor1-last=al-Masihi Suwaidan |editor1-first=Hassan |title=كتاب صيد الخاطر |trans-title=Book of Hunting the Mind |year=2004 |publisher=دار القلم |location=Damascus |page=226 |url=https://shamela.ws/book/12028 |access-date=13 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240813201017/https://shamela.ws/book/12028 |archive-date=13 August 2024 |language=Ar |url-status=bot: unknown }}
* {{cite book |author1=Muhammad Ishaq Kandu |title=منهج الحافظ ابن حجر في العقيدة |trans-title=The Methodology of Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar in Creed |year=2011 |publisher=موقع الدرر السنية على الإنترنت dorar.net |url=https://dawa.center/file/4285 |access-date=13 August 2024 |chapter=3 |page=1446 }}</ref>

[[Ibn Qudamah|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 the simple and pious faith of the early Muslims.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Halverson|2010|page=[https://archive.org/details/theologycreedsun00halv/page/n46 38]}}.</ref>

Al-Dhahabi, 14th AD Hanbali scholar and historian; has made his derogatory statement towards kalam scholar by comparing them with [[Amr ibn Hisham|Abu Jahl]], the reviled figure in Islam during the time of Muhammad.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Abu Isma'il Muslim al Atsari |title=Majalah as-Sunnah |trans-title=As-Sunnah magazine |year=2000 |publisher=Lajnah Istiqomah Surakarta Foundation |location=[[Surakarta|Solo]], Indonesia |url=https://almanhaj.or.id/2602-jangan-mengambil-ilmu-dari-ahli-bidah.html |access-date=23 August 2024 |language=Id |chapter=Jangan Mengambil Ilmu dari Ahli Bid'ah (en. do not take knowledge from innovators)}} quote from: {{cite book |author1=Bakr bin Abdullah Abu Zaid bin Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Bakr bin Othman bin Yahya bin Ghayhab bin Muhammad |editor1-last=Abu Zaid |editor1-first=Bakr |title=حلية طالب العلم |trans-title=Student's ornament |year=1994 |location=[[Riyadh]], Saudi Arabia |publisher=دار العاصمة للنشر والتوزيع |page=39 |url=https://shamela.ws/book/9884 |access-date=23 August 2024 |language=Ar |quote=[[Siyar A'lam al-Nubala']], 4/472}}</ref>

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 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.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Birgit Krawietz |author2=Georges Tamer |title=Islamic Theology, Philosophy and Law: Debating Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur des islamischen Orients |year=2013 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-028540-6 |pages=276–277 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5noBQAAQBAJ |access-date=22 August 2024}}</ref> In general, Ibn Taymiyya has detailed his criticism in ''Ar-Radd 'ala al-Mantiqiyyin''. Regarding al-Ghazali in particular, Through 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 the important aspect of literal meanings, while it kept al-Ghazali busy with irrelevant semantic argumentations.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Zaid Al-Sharif |title=آراء الغزالي وابن تيمية في الحد المنطقي |trans-title=Al-Ghazali and Ibn Taymiyyah's views on the logical definition |year=2015 |url=https://www.alukah.net/sharia/0/82681/%D8%A2%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%BA%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A-%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%86-%D8%AA%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%82%D9%8A/ |website=alukah.net |publisher=لألوكة |access-date=25 August 2024 |language=Ar}} References:
* Al-Mustasfa, pp. 11-14, 19-24
* Ar-Radd 'ala al-Mantiqiyyin, pp. 45, 48, 50-53, 55-57, 61, 64, 68, 70, 72, 80-83, 101, 103-104, 113, 114, 117-119, 121.
* Majmu' Al-Fatawa, vol. 9, pp. 23-25.
</ref>

[[Al-Shawkani]], a 18th AD Atharism,<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-691-13484-0|editor-last=Bowering|editor-first=Gerhard|location=Princeton, NJ|pages=506–507|quote="al-Shawkani, Muhammad b. 'Ali (1760–1834)... dismissed speculative theology (kalām) and reason-based arguments as idle talk and was a staunch Salafi in matters of creed"}}</ref><ref name="al-Shawkani; anti kalam">{{Cite book|last=Haykel |first=Bernard|title=Revival and Reform in Islam: The Legacy of Muhammad Al-Shawkani|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-521-52890-0|location=Cambridge, UK |page=104|chapter=The Absolute Interpreter and Renewer of the Thirteenth Century AH|quote="Shawkänī, as was mentioned already, was opposed to kaläm, which he regarded as a science that led to more confusion than clarity for the believer. He admits that he felt confused by it (lam azdad bihā illā þpiratan) and he found it to consist of idle talk (khuza"balār)... Shawkānī appears to fit more properly, though perhaps not entirely, in the Hanbalī tradition, which rejected outright many of the theological claims made by the various schools of kalām."}}</ref> [[Zahiri]] scholar,<ref name="Zahiri Madhhab; Shawkani">{{cite book |author1=Ahmad Farid Al-Mazidi |title=المذهب العارف ومذاهب أخرى (دائرة المعارف -8-) |trans-title= |date=2023 |publisher=f Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah دار الكتب العلمية‎. |isbn=978-2-7451-8264-7 |pages=iii, 28, 31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K27dEAAAQBAJ |access-date=20 August 2024}}</ref> early [[Salafi movement]] figure,<ref>Ali, Mohamed Bin. "Salafis, salafism and modern salafism: what lies behind a term?." (2015).</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-691-13484-0|editor-last=Bowering|editor-first=Gerhard|location=Princeton, NJ|pages=484, 506|quote="Shawkani .. is a prominent authority for the Salafi version of Islam"}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author=Bernard Haykel |author2=Thomas Hegghammer |author3=Stéphane Lacroix |title= Saudi Arabia in Transition: Insights on Social, Political, Economic and Religious Change|publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2015|isbn=978-1-107-00629-4 |location=New York, USA |page=158 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last= Orkaby |first= Asher |title= Yemen: What Everyone Needs to Know |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2021|isbn=978-0-19-093226-8|location=New York, USA |pages=120, 160 }}</ref> and [[Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab]] contemporary;<ref>{{Cite book|last=Abualrab |first=Jalal |title=Biography and Mission of Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab|publisher=Madinah Publishers and Distributors |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-9856326-9-4 | location=New York, NY |page=497}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=ul Haq|first=Asim|date= August 2011|title=Al Imam al-Shawkani (d. 1250H) on the Writings, Da'wah and Adversaries of Shaykh Muhammad Bin Abd Al-Wahhab |url=http://www.wahhabis.com/articles/ytouz-imam-al-shawkani-d-1250h-on-the-writings-dawah-and-adversaries-of-shaykh-muhammad-bin-abd-al-wahhaab.cfm |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724110456/http://www.wahhabis.com/articles/ytouz-imam-al-shawkani-d-1250h-on-the-writings-dawah-and-adversaries-of-shaykh-muhammad-bin-abd-al-wahhaab.cfm |archive-date=24 July 2014|website='Wahhabis'.com}}</ref> has expressed his view for literal theological interpretation and opposition to kalam (speculative theology).<ref name="Shawkani anti kalam 2">{{Cite book |last=Moussa |first=Mohammed |title=Politics of the Islamic Tradition: The thought of Muhammad al-Ghazali |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-138-84121-5 |location=New York, USA |pages=56–59 |chapter=3: Renewal in the formation of the Islamic tradition}}</ref><ref name="Shawkani anti kalam 3">{{Cite book |last=Leaman |first=Oliver |title=Routledge Handbook of Islamic Ritual and Practice |publisher=Routledge |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-367-49123-9 |location=New York, NY |page=128}}</ref><ref name="Shawkani anti kalam 4">{{Cite book |last=Vassiliev |first=Alexei |title=The History of Saudi Arabia |publisher=Saqi Books |year=1998 |isbn=0-86356-399-6 |location=London, UK |page=146}}</ref><ref name="Shawkani anti kalam 5">{{Cite book |author=Carr Brian |author2=Indira Mahalingam |title=Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy |publisher=Routledge |year=1997 |isbn=0-203-01350-6 |location=London, UK |page=931}}</ref><ref name="umma">{{Cite web|url=http://umma.ws/Fatwa/family/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060501222723/http://umma.ws/Fatwa/family/ |archive-date=2006-05-01 |title=Fatwa: What does 'family' mean? |website=Umma.ws}}</ref>

[[Siddiq Hasan Khan]], 19th AD North Indian Salafi scholar,<ref name="Schmidtke 2014 428">{{Cite book|last1=Schmidtke |first1=Sabine |title=The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology |last2=El-Rouayheb |first2=Khaled |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-969670-3 |  location=New York |page=428 |chapter=Theology and Logic }}</ref> co-founder of [[Ahl-i Hadith]] movement,<ref>{{cite book|last=Meijer|first=Roel|title=Global Salafism: Islam's New Religious Movement|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0-19-933343-1|location=New York|page=127|chapter=Salafism In Pakistan: The Ahl-e Hadith Movement|quote="The Jama'at Ahl-e Hadith, an elitist politico religious movement aimed at islah (reform), has its origins in the early 1870s. Like other Sunni reform movements, it claims to continue the tradition of Shah Waliullah Dehlavi (1703–1762) whom it regards as the first modern Ahl-e Hadith member and draws on ideas of Syed Ahmed Barelvi (Ahmed Shaheed) (1786–1831), follower of Shah Abdul Aziz (1746–1824), the son of Shah Waliullah, and the Yemenite qadi Mohammad ibn Ali al Shawkani (1775–1839)."}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Sophie Gilliat-Ray|title=Muslims in Britain: An Introduction|date=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-83006-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CUFGGwAACAAJ|page=104}}</ref> and also [[Nawab]] (viceroy) of [[Bhopal State]];<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nizami|first=Khaliq AHmad|title=The Impact of Ibn Taymiyya on South Asia|journal=Journal of Islamic Studies|year=1990|publisher=Oxford University Press|volume=1|pages=139–140|doi=10.1093/jis/1.1.120 |jstor=26195671|quote="After Shah Wali Allah, the most powerful advocate of Ibn Taimiyya's ideology was Nawab Sayyid Muhammad Siddiq Hasan Khan (1832–1890).."}}</ref> has rejected kalam as he regards it as "full of speculations". It was stated by himself that his opposition towards kalam were influenced by the thoughts of Al-Shawkani, Al-San'ani and Ibn Taymiyya.<ref>{{Cite book|editor1-last=Krawietz|editor1-first=birgit|editor2-last=Tamer|editor2-first=Georges|title=Islamic Theology, Philosophy and Law: Debating Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya|publisher=Walter De Gruyter|year=2013|isbn=978-3-11-028534-5|location=Berlin, Germany|pages=195–196|chapter=Screening Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān's Library: The Use of Ḥanbalī Literature in 19th-Century Bhopal}}</ref><ref name="Schmidtke 2014 428"/>

[[Rashid Rida]], 19th century AD reformer of Islamics school;<ref name="Olidort 2015 52–62">{{Cite thesis|last=Olidort|first=Jacob|title=In Defense of Tradition: Muhammad Nasir Al-Din Al-Albani and the Salafi Method|publisher=Princeton University|year=2015|location=Princeton, New Jersey, USA|pages=52–62|chapter=A New Curriculum: Rashīd Riḍā and Traditionalist Salafism|quote="Rashīd Riḍā presented these core ideas of Traditionalist Salafism, especially the purported interest in ḥadīth of the early generations of Muslims, as a remedy for correcting Islamic practice and belief during his time."}}</ref> 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 the Ash'arite theology as ineffective against philosophical doubts.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lauziere|first=Henri|title=The Making of Salafism: Islamic Reform in the Twentieth Century|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2016|isbn=978-0-231-17550-0|location=New York|page=46 }}</ref>

[[Al-Albani]], prominent figure of [[Salafi]]sm and modern era Hadith scholar; considered kalam doctrine as misguided in the [[Aqidah|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.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Yusuf Abu Ubaidah as-Sidawy |title=15 Alasan Kokohnya Aqidah Salaf Shalih |trans-title=Do You Know Where Allah Is? |url=https://abiubaidah.com/tahukah-anda-di-mana-allah/comment-page-1/#_ftn29 |website=Yusuf Abu Ubaidah Official |date=13 March 2010 |access-date=9 August 2024 |language=Id}} concise reference text from: {{cite book |author1=Al-Albani |author1-link=Al-Albani |title=Irwaul Ghalil |trans-title=The stability of the Salaf's creed and its safety from changes |year=2003 |publisher=Najla Press |location=Saudi Arabia |url=https://elibrary.staidaf.ac.id/index.php?p=show_detail&id=573 |access-date=9 August 2024 |language=Ar |chapter=1 |page=113}}</ref>

Manzoor Elahi, 21th century AD [[Bangladesh]]i 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,<ref>{{cite book |editor1-link=Abubakar Muhammad Zakaria|last1=Ilahi |first1=Muhammad Manzoor |editor-last1=Zakariya |editor-first1=Abu Bakr Muhammad |title="Samāja sanskārē saṭhika ākīdāra gurutba" (The Importance of Right Aqeedah in Social Reformation)|publisher=[[Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawah, and Guidance|Islamic Propagation Office in Rabwah]] |location=  Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |pages=11–12|url=https://d1.islamhouse.com/data/bn/ih_articles/single3/bn_somaj_songoskare_sothik_aqidar_gurutto.pdf |access-date=23 November 2022 |language=bn}}</ref>
{{blockquote|The Mutaqallimin called 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 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 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 the Islamic creed of [[al-Burooj]] {{Cite quran|85|16|s=ns}} chapter regarding the attribute of God's name as [[Names of God in Islam#List of names|omnipotent (al-Jabbār)]]; which contain the attribute of capability to perform any wills (yurīd). ʻUthmān views that kalam's doctrine omitted such attribute by human's logic only.<ref name="Sharh Aqida Ahl sunnah; Yazid Jawas" />

==Schools==
=== Sunni kalam schools ===
* [[Ibn Kullab|Kullabi]]
* [[Ashʿari]]
* [[Maturidi]]
* [[Zahiri]]

=== Shia kalam schools ===
*[[Imamate (Twelver doctrine)|Twelver]] ''([[Theology of Twelvers]])''
*[[Imamah (Ismaili doctrine)|Ismāʿīlī]]
**[[Imamate in Nizari doctrine|Nizari]]
**[[Musta'li]]
***[[Hafizi]]
***[[Tayyibi Isma'ilism|Tayyibi]]

== See also ==
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
* ''[[Istihsan al-Khawd fi 'Ilm al-Kalam]]''
* [[Al-Fiqh al-Akbar]]
* [[Apologetics]]
* [[Jewish Kalam]]
* [[Kalam cosmological argument]]
* [[Logic in Islamic philosophy]]
* [[Logos (Christianity)]]
* [[Mihna]]
* [[Qadr (doctrine)]]
* [[Scholasticism]]
* [[Tawhid]]
}}

== Appendix ==
===Notes===
{{Notelist}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

=== References ===

====Primary sources====
{{refbegin}}

* {{cite book|author=[[Al-Jahiz]]|title=Risalah fi Sina'ah al-Kalam|url=https://archive.org/details/rsagahfp_202007/04_RsaGah/page/n239/mode/2up|location=[[Cairo]]|publisher=|date=1979|volume=IV|pages=241–250}}
* {{cite book|author=[[Al-Farabi]]|title=Ihsa al-Ulum|url=https://shiabooks.net/library.php?id=10042|location=[[Cairo]]|publisher=Dar al-Fikr al-Arabi|date=1949|pages=107–113}}
* {{cite book|author=[[Abu al-Hassan al-Amiri]]|title=Al-Ilam bi-Manaqis al-Islam|url=https://archive.org/details/AlElamBemaqebAlIslam/page/n1/mode/2up?view=theater|location=[[Riyadh]]|publisher=Dar al-Asala|date=1988|pages=107–113}}
* {{cite book|author=[[Abu al-Yusr al-Bazdawi]]|editor=[[:de:Hans-Peter Linss|Hans-Peter Linss]], Ahmad Higazi as-Saqqa|title=Al-Ilam bi-Manaqis al-Islam|url=https://archive.org/details/19332/usool-al-deen/page/14/mode/2up?view=theater|location=[[Cairo]]|publisher=[[Al-Azhar Al-Sharif]]|date=1985|page=66}}
* {{cite book|author=Ibn al-Tilimsani|editor=Nizar Ḥamadi|title=Sharḥ Maʿalim Usul al-Din|url=https://archive.org/details/zcbzz32_yahoo/page/n41/mode/2up|location=[[Amman]]|publisher=Dar al-Fatḥ|date=2010|volume=1|pages=42–44}}
* {{cite book|author=[[Adud al-Din al-Iji]]|translator=Josef van Ess|title=The Epistemology of Adudaddin al-Iji|publisher=[[Franz Steiner Verlag]]|date=1966|chapter=Al-Mawaqif fi 'ilm al-Kalam|pages=30–60}}
* {{cite book|author=[[Al-Taftazani]]|editor=Salih Musa Sharaf|title=Sharh al-Maqasid|url=https://archive.org/details/SHMAQT01_201611/SHMAQT01/page/n161/mode/2up|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=Alam al-Kutub|date=1998|volume=1|pages=163–187}}
* {{cite book|author=[[Al-Taftazani]]|editor=Salih Musa Sharaf|title=Sharh al-Aqaʾid al-Nasafiya|url=https://archive.org/details/SharNasafiya/page/n23/mode/2up|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=Dar Ihya al-Turat al-Arabi|date=2014|volume=1|pages=22–24}}
* {{cite book|author=[[Ibn 'Arafa]]|editor=Nizar al-Hamadi|title=Al-Muhtasar al-Kalami|url=https://archive.org/details/ahbab_20150930_1847/page/n75/mode/2up|location=[[Kuwait]]|publisher=Dar al-Diya|date=2014|page=78}}
* {{cite book|author=[[Ibn Khaldun]]|editor=Ḫalil Sahada, Suhail Zakkar|title=Al-Muqaddima|url=https://archive.org/details/waqtkhldon/tkhldon1/page/n579/mode/2up?view=theater|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=Dar al-Fikr|date=2001|volume=1|pages=580–591}}
* {{cite book|author=[[Taşköprüzade]]|title=Miftah al-Saʿada wa-Misbah al-Siyada|url=https://archive.org/details/maktabah2000_gmail_20160903_0411/page/n537/mode/2up|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=[[:de:Dar al-Kotob al-ilmiyah|Dar al-Kotob al-'Ilmiyya]]|date=1985|volume=2|pages=132–161}} 
* {{cite book|author=[[Abd al-Razzaq Lahiji]]|editor=Akbar Asad Alizada|title=Sawariq al-Ilham fi Sharh Tagrid al-Kalam|url=|location=[[Qom]]|publisher=Muʾassasat al-Imam al-Sadiq|date=2011|pages=41–73}} 
* {{cite book|author=al-Tahānawī|editor=Rafiq al-Agam, Ali Daḥrug|title=Kitab Kassaf Istilahat al-Funan wa al-Umm
|url=https://archive.org/details/ahbab_1_20150622/%D9%83%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%81%20%D8%A5%D8%B5%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%86%D9%88%D9%86%201/page/n87/mode/2up?view=theater|location=[[Beirut]]|publisher=Maktabat Lubnan|date=2011|volume=1|pages=29–31}} 
* {{cite book|author=[[Morteza Motahhari]]|editor=Rafiq al-Agam, Ali Daḥrug|title=Magmuʿa-i Atar|url=http://lib.eshia.ir/11051/3/57|location=[[Tehran]]|publisher=Intisarat-i Sadra|date=1991|volume=3|pages=57–67}}
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{{refend}}

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{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* Eissa, Mohamed. [https://www.gorgiaspress.com/theology-and-legal-theory-in-the-fiftheleventh-century ''The Jurist and the Theologian: Speculative Theology in Shāfiʿī Legal Theory'']. [[Gorgias Press]]: Piscataway, NJ, 2017. {{ISBN|978-1-4632-0618-5}}.
* Wolfson, Harry Austryn, ''The Philosophy of the Kalam,'' Harvard University Press, 1976, 779 pages, {{ISBN|978-0-674-66580-4}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=fuv8J-g7EdAC Google Books], [https://archive.org/details/ThePhilosophyOfKalam text at archive.org]

== External links ==
* [http://masud.co.uk/kalam-and-islam/ Kalam and Islam by Sheikh Nuh Keller]
* [http://www.livingislam.org/k/ki_e.html Kalam and Islam], Living Islam
* [https://www.encyclopedie-humanisme.com/?Islamic-Kal%C4%81m Islamic Kalām: Rational Expressions of Medieval Theological Thought], Encyclopedia of Mediterranean Humanism

{{Islam topics |collapsed}}
{{Islamic philosophy}}
{{Islamic theology}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Kalam| ]]
[[Category:Islamic terminology]]
[[Category:Arabic words and phrases]]