Book contents
6 - Prophethood and the Value of Divine Guidance
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 December 2017
Summary
When listing the precepts of religion, Murtaḍā mentions three: divine unicity, divine justice and prophethood (nubuwwa). But he notes that although prophethood is a precept (aṣl) of religion, theologians (namely the Muʿtazilis) usually do not enumerate it among the five precepts because it is implicitly included in the precept of divine justice. This classification he finds objectionable, saying that by the same token the only precepts that should be explicitly mentioned are divine unicity and justice since the other three Muʿtazili precepts (the station between the two stations, the promise and the threat, and enjoining the good and forbidding the wrong) may also go under justice; this is not to mention the fact that for Imamis the list should also include the Imama. But despite this appreciation for prophethood, Murtaḍā's writings on it are considerably less extensive than his writings on the Imama. The reason is probably the relative lack of controversy surrounding prophethood, as much of the discussion on it involved Muslim theologians answering the objections of non-Muslim theologians. Since Murtaḍā's project is first and foremost directed at systematising and consolidating Imami Shiʿi teachings, it is natural that his investment in the question of prophethood is on a different level than his investment in the Imama. After all, most of what he would say agrees with the general contours of other theological schools; the real difference concerns aspects of their doctrine that could contradict Imami beliefs. However, prophets being also Imams according to Murtaḍā, the works on the Imama may also be considered works on prophethood. In this chapter, the focus is on the distinctive features of prophethood; the features in common with the Imama are addressed in the theoretical part of the chapter on the Imama. Some of these common points, however, are most elaborately argued as part of the prophethood doctrine due to considerations such as their Qurʾānic basis (as in the question of comparing prophets and Imams to angels) and their pertinence to prophethood in terms of the primary function of the office (as in one of the two arguments for infallibility). Such points are thus given more attention in this chapter despite not being related exclusively to prophethood.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Shi'i Doctrine, Mu'tazili Theologyal-Sharif al-Murtada and Imami Discourse, pp. 182 - 210Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2017