Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism

Abstract

[...]the efforts of such scholars "may yet bear fruit in the years to come, but the world will have to wait patiently and see" (p. 157).

Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism. By Jeffry R. Halverson. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. Pp. vii + 188. $75.

The narrative of the history of Islamic theology accepted by most scholars is seriously flawed, according to Jeffry R. Halverson. Halverson describes the "flawed narrative" as stating that "the 'triumph' of Ash'arism in Sunni Islam" imposed "anti-rational authoritarian control over the shari'ah" and erroneously identified Ash'arism with creedal literalism" (p. 146). This book is the presentation of Halverson's refutation of this basic narrative as applied to both medieval and modem Islamic history.

The general theme of the book is that the advocates of strict textual literalism, identified as "Äthans," opposed the rationalism involved in theology (Ulm al-kaläm) and were victorious by the fifteenth century. The result was "the virtual demise of kalam [theology]," which meant "the demise of the rational discourse" that had created the foundations of the early theological intellectual enterprise (p. 2). A consequence of this development was an emphasis on creedal statements of faith "free from the perplexing proofs that characterized theological treatises" (p. 39). Halverson argues that this Athari victory set the ideological foundations for modem and contemporary Islamist movements.

Major erroneous elements in the standard historical narrative, according to Halverson, are the identification of the theological tradition of Abu 1-Hasan al-Ashcan with the Athari victory and the assumption that Ashcarism and Mätundism, the second major theological tradition, are fundamentally similar while, in Halverson's view, Ashcarism is distinct from both Atharism and Mätundism. In Halverson's view a revival of theology, especially Ashcarism, can provide the basis for "a vigorous Islamic liberalism" with the "ability to respond to the challenges of modem governance and reconcile the modern nation-state with traditional Sunni beliefs and practices" (p. 141).

Following an introduction that sets out the major themes of the book, Halverson presents (in chapter one) a survey of the "elaborate constructions of rigorous intellectual discourses" that established the "foundational postulates of Sunni Islam," noting "what the rationalism of theology is capable of producing in contrast to Athari thought" (p. 31). Chapter two presents the history of the decline of the intellectual discipline of theology and its replacement by the creedal literalism of Atharism. In chapter three Halverson presents modem Islamism as a product of this creedal approach, and then examines the thought of the leaders associated with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, especially cUmar al-Tilmisäni (d. 1986), Muhammad al-Ghazäli (d. 1996), and Yösuf al-Qaradäwi. These thinkers are viewed as continuing the tradition of "creedal Ash'arism," but in a "progressive and moderate" form (p. 81). Al-Tilmisäni's life and career as leader of the Brotherhood is covered in chapter four, emphasizing "the important demarcation of al-Tilmisäni's moderate, nonviolent Islamism from the revolutionary radicalism" of extremist groups (p. 122). In chapter six Halverson turns to a different contemporary movement, the Taliban in Afghanistan, showing that the "Taliban is not a representative of the Maturidite school of kalam or even its creedal manifestation. Their orientation is clearly Athari" (p. 125).

The final two chapters of the book present Halverson's analysis of "Ash'arite semiotics," arguing that this approach can provide the basis for a much-needed Islamic liberalism. In the current contexts of the growing importance of "public religion," needed sociopolitical reform must "be religiously justified . .. [and] Ash'arite theology offers an 'orthodox' medium for such reforms to take place" (p. 141). In the conclusion Halverson argues that major Muslim liberal and reformist intellectuals, such as Fazlur Rahman, Farid Esack, Amina Wadud, and others, tend to be outside of the tradition of kaläm and their efforts are "doomed to failure" because "any attempt at a revival of theology must be pursued through one of the two existing Sunni schools that possess orthodox credentials in order for it to have any credibility among Muslims at all" (p. 146). He concludes by noting the works of contemporary Ashcarite scholars Muhammad al-Ninowy and Said Foudah as indicating possible lines of successful revival of kaläm but the "subtleties of Ash'arite doctrine and proofs are generally beyond many at the present moment" (p. 147). As a result, the efforts of such scholars "may yet bear fruit in the years to come, but the world will have to wait patiently and see" (p. 157).

Halverson provides a thought-provoking revision of the common narrative of the decline of Muslim theological thought, involving a positive evaluation of the contributions of Ashcarite theology and a clear description of the negative contributions of creedal literalism in both medieval and modem times. However, Halverson's revisionist narrative remains solidly embedded within the broader, now widely contested, "Golden Age" narrative, which views the history of Islam and Muslim societies as beginning with an age of great dynamism in the caliphate period, followed by a long era of stagnation and decline. His presentation of the demise of cilm al-kaläm by the end of the fifteenth century c.E. accepts the assumption of intellectual life becoming static and dominated by an anti-rationalism that represented "a more stable, fixed, distinctly creedal enterprise" (p. 54).

Utilizing a very narrow definition of theology and focusing on one particular tradition of thought within that discipline, Halverson continues the older "Golden Age" narrative that portrays Islamic history between the time of the caliphs and the modem age as a time of intellectual rigidity and stagnation. As much recent scholarship has shown,1 this old narrative presents a highly inaccurate description of more than half a millennium of dynamic history in which Islam was transformed from a regional faith to a global community of believers.

Despite his adherence to the old narrative of a long era of stagnation, Halverson provides an important contribution to understanding the intellectual potential of the legacy of kaläm in the contemporary world as an alternative to the literalist creedalism that is at the core of contemporary militant extremism. His analysis gives attention to important but often-ignored dimensions of contemporary Muslim life and thought.

Footnote

1. See, for example, the presentations and discussions in the Scholars Forum in "Beyond Golden Age and Decline: The Legacy of Muslim Societies in Global Modernity, 1300-1900," a project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and organized by George Mason University (14-15 March 2011). Available at www. muslimmodernities. org.