'Adud al-Din al-Iji’s Theological Works, The Chronology, Authorship Journey, and Interrelations

Abstract

ʿAḍud al-Dīn al-Ījī (d. 756/1355) is regarded as one of the most significant thinkers of the late Ash’arite school. He authored numerous works in the domains of theology and other sciences, many of which exerted a significant influence on Islamic thought, particularly with regard to their methodological approaches. The most prominent and well-known works of al-Ījī in theology are Al-ʿAqāʾid al-ʿAḍudiyya, Jawāhir al-kalām, Al-Mawāqif, and Risāla fī kalām Allāh. In addition to these, he has another work, al-ʿUyūn, which is a summary of Jawāhir al-kalām and is preserved in manuscript form. Of these major works, the most historically and academically significant is undoubtedly al-Mawāqif.

Al-ʿAqāʾid al-ʿAḍudiyya represents the author’s final work, and it is widely accepted that he composed it just twelve days prior to his death. When al-ʿUyūn/ʿUyūn al-Jawāhir is analysed, it is understood from both the author’s introduction and the content that it is a summary of Jawāhir al-kalām. This finding indicates that al-ʿUyūn was composed subsequent to al-Jawāhir. Indeed, the ambiguity in the chronology of al-Ījī’s theological works primarily concerns two works: Jawāhir al-kalām and al-Mawāqif. Presently, it is a widely accepted view that al-Ījī wrote Jawāhir al-kalām after completing al-Mawāqif. After all, the two works are similar in terms of their section headings and themes, and it seems logical to conclude that al-Ījī simply omitted detailed proofs and discussions in al-Jawāhir, keeping its focus purely on core arguments. However, an examination of the prefaces of both books reveals that al-Ījī dedicated al-Jawāhir to the Ilkhanid vizier Ghiyāth al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Rashīd al-Dīn (d. 736/1335) and alMawāqif to Amīr Jamāl al-Dīn Abū Isḥāq (d. 758/1357) of the Injū dynasty. This information suggests that al-Jawāhir was composed before al-Mawāqif. Contemporary studies have therefore posited the hypothesis that Jawāhir alkalām was written before al-Mawāqif, contradicting the prevailing perspective that Jawāhir al-kalām is a summary of al-Mawāqif and was written subsequent to it.

In order to ascertain the existence of all available versions of al-Mawāqif, a comprehensive analysis of all copies of the work was conducted, with particular emphasis on al-Ījī’s own autograph copy. Firstly, the authorship of the copy in the Topkapi Palace Museum Library was determined. Furthermore, in determining the versions of the text and its final form, the corrections made by al-Kirmānī to the text of al-Mawāqif in his work al-Kawāshif sharḥ al-Mawāqif were also taken into consideration.

The present article sets out to ascertain the chronology of al-Ījī’s five theological works. It has been determined that al-Mawāqif, Jawāhir al-kalām, and al-ʿUyūn were written in the chronological order listed above, and that they are in an organic relationship with each other, with al-Mawāqif serving as the original text, al-Jawāhir serving as a concise rendering of al-Mawāqif, and al-ʿUyūn being yet another concise rendering of al-Jawāhir. Furthermore, it is observed that the author demonstrates a degree of conceptual stability in his theological works, as he presents no significant alterations to his thought processes. This conclusion is reached by comparing the subjects of al-Ījī’s works, examining their manuscripts, and taking into account the information found in significant commentaries on his works.

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