Halil İbrahim Delen

The book under study is "Kitāb al-Uṣūl" and its commentary "Sharḥ al-Uṣūl" written by Ibn Ḥallād al-Basrī, one of Abū Ḥāshim al-Jubbāʾī's leading students. This work is the result of the Mu'tazilite Manuscripts Project conducted by Sabine Schmidtke and D. E. Sklare, and has been published in an edited edition by Camilla Adang, Wilferd Madelung, and Sabine Schmidtke. The study, entitled "-A Critical Edition of the Ziyādāt Sharḥ al-uṣūl by the Zaydī Imām al-Nāṭiq bi-l-ḥaqq Abū Ṭālib Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥusayn b. Hārūn al-Buṭḥānī " begins with quotations from Ibn Ḥallād's Kitāb al-uṣūl or its incomplete commentary, Sharḥ al-uṣūl. This is followed by various quotations written in addition to Ibn Ḥallād's incomplete commentary, which are mostly from Kādī ʿAbd al-Jabbār's Sharḥ. Then the commentary of the Zaydī Imam Nāṭīq-Bilḥāq is added, and finally, the text is completed by the commentary of his student and annotator, Abū al-Ḳāsīm Aḥmad b. Mahdī al-Ḥasan. Although the text does not directly define the usūl al-hamsa, the reader can recognize this progression. Beginning with tawhid, the text moves on to justice, followed by va'd-va'id, and finally concludes with topics such as predestination, sustenance, accident, and fate.

Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Baṣrī is among one of the most important theologians of the late period Muʿtazila. He is the representative of a pioneering circle regarding kalām-philosophy dialogue, as well as someone who enabled Muʿtazilī thought to evolve into a different dimension after his death. Unfortunately, most of al-Baṣrī’s work have not reached to the present day. However, they have been quoted and constantly referenced by his followers and scholars from various sects and schools. In particular, his works have become the source texts for following generation of Muʿtazilī scholars. In addition, quotations of al-Baṣrī by Fakhr al-Dīn Rāzī who is considered to be as one of the essential figures who have carried the kalām-philosophy merge to its peak, has created a distinct awareness in the later period (mutaʾaḫḫirūn) of kalām tradition. This study aims to explore the thought system of Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Baṣrī. Al-Baṣrī’s available works, his followers’ works, and the references given to al-Baṣrī’s works by the upcoming generation of scholars are to be traced. The fact that there is a diversity in the sources, and hence collecting the citations and compiling them in detail is a challenge for this study. Although there is a need for an extensive literature review in this way, it is also advantageous that of the majority of the sources content with al-Baṣrī’s general opinions. This research takes off by firstly explicating the literature about al-Baṣrī, and then goes on the explore his life, works, teachers, and finally his network of interaction. Later, examines al-Baṣrī’s opinions on knowledge, existence, tawhid, justice, prophecy and samʿiyyāt in four different chapters.

Although the issue of Imāmate was not initially seen as being one of the central subjects of Kalām, by the time it has gained importance especially after the Shīʿa started debating the matter in terms of credential aspects and as a result, it came to be covered as a specific chapter in Kalām books. The Muʿtazilite scholars on the other hand, did not lag from the relevant debates and included the matters that were related to Imāmate, in their works. Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Baṣrī who was portrayed among one of the most influential figures of late Muʿtazila and was also recognized as the founder of Ḥusayniyya branch within the school, wrote extensively on the subject at stake. From among his works, Imāmate chapter of Sharḥ al-Uṣūl al-Khamsa has managed to survive. Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Baṣrī’s work is crucial not only because it included Imāmate discussions prior to him, but also it determined the directions in which the relevant debates took place since many refutations were written against it. Considering that Baṣrī’s work reflects the issues of his time in terms of both content and classification, it plays a significant role in the development of Islamic political thought and Imāmate discussions. Including the debates on Imāmate, this work extensively discusses the rational defenses of 10th century Shite Imāmate theory. The only extant copy of al-Baṣrī’s work is preserved at Glaser collection from VI/XIII. century under the heading number 114 at the Austrian National Library in Vienna. This study provides an examination regarding the authorship of Imāmate fragment of Sharḥ al-Uṣūl al-Khamsa, analyses the main characteristics of the manuscript, its contents and its approach to the Imāmate discussions; and finally provides the critical edition of al-Baṣrī’s mentioned work to the attention of researchers.