In Beyond Schools: Muammad b. Ibrhm al-Wazrs (d. 840/1436) Epistemology of Ambiguity, Damaris Wilmers provides the first extensive analysis of Ibn al-Wazrs thought and its role in the Sunnisation of the Zaydiyya, emphasizing its significance for conflicts between schools of thought and law beyond the Yemeni context. Contrasting Ibn al-Wazrs works with those of his Zaydi contemporary Amad b. Yay b. al-Murta, Damaris Wilmers offers a study of a number of heretofore unedited texts from 9th/15th century Yemen when Zaydi identity was challenged by an increasing theological and legal diversity. She shows how Ibn al-Wazr, who has been classed with different schools, actually de-emphasized school affiliation and developed an integrative approach based on a unique theory of knowledge.
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1 Life and Intellectual Environment of Ibn al-Wazīr and Ibn al-Murtaḍā 1 Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. al-Wazīr’s (d. 840/1436) Biography 2 Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā b. al-Murtaḍā (d. 840/1436) as a Scholar 3 Conclusion
2 Ibn al-Wazīr’s Works 1 Al-Amr bi-l-ʿuzla 2 Al-ʿAwāṣim wa-l-awāṣim 3 Al-Āyāt al-mubīnāt 4 Āyāt al-aḥkām al-sharʿiyya 5 Al-Burhān al-qāṭiʿ fī ithbāt al-ṣāniʿ 6 Al-Ḥusām al-mashhūr 7 Al-Istiẓhār bi-l-dalīl al-samʿī fī ʿadam wuqūʿ al-ṭalāq al-bidʿī 8 Īthār al-ḥaqq ʿalā l-khalq 9 Kitāb al-Qawāʿid 10 Kitāb fī l-tafsīr 11 Majmaʿ al-ḥaqāʾiq wa-l-raqāʾiq fī mamādiḥ rabb al-khalāʾiq 12 Manẓūma shiʿriyya fī uṣūl al-fiqh 13 Masāʾil arbaʿa tataʿallaq bi-l-muqallad wa-l-mustaftī 14 Masʾalat ikhtilāf al-Muʿtazila wa-l-Ashʿariyya fī ḥamd Allāh ʿalā l-īmān 15 Masāʾil mustakhrajāt 16 Masāʾil shāfiyāt 17 Masāʾil sharīfa 18 Mukhtaṣar mufīd fī ʿulūm al-ḥadīth 19 Muthīr al-aḥzān fī wadāʿ shahr Ramaḍān 20 Nuṣrat al-aʿyān 21 Qubūl al-bushrā bi-l-taysīr lil-yusrā 22 Al-Rawḍ al-bāsim 23 Al-Taʾdīb al-malakūtī 24 Taḥrīr al-kalām fī masʾalat al-ruʾya 25 Takhṣīṣ āyāt al-jumʿa 26 Tanqīḥ al-anẓār fī maʿrifat ʿulūm al-āthār 27 Tarjīḥ asālīb al-Qurʾān ʿalā asālīb al-Yūnān 28 Additional Works Ascribed to Ibn al-Wazīr
3 Central Concepts of Ibn al-Wazīr’s Epistemological Thought 1 Definitions of Knowledge 2 Definitions of the Means to Possess Knowledge 3 The Proof of God’s Existence (ithbāt al-ṣāniʿ) 4 The Argument from the Absence of Evidence (al-istidlāl bi-l-ʿadam) 5 Conclusion
4 Central Concepts of Ibn al-Wazīr’s Theological Thought 1 God’s Wisdom (ḥikma) as the Key to Harmonization 2 Harmonized Doctrine: God’s Names (asmāʾ) and Attributes (ṣifāt) 3 Harmonized Doctrine: God’s Will (irāda) 4 Harmonized Doctrine: Human Actions (afʿāl al-ʿibād) and Free Will (ikhtiyār) 5 Conclusion
5 The Structure of Legal Authority in Ibn al-Wazīr’s Thought 1 The Theory of Infallibilism and the Probability of Ijtihād 2 The Possibility of Ijtihād and the Existence of Mujtahids 3 Taqlīd and Concepts of Following 4 The Requirements (shurūṭ) for Ijtihād 5 Divisibility (tajazzuʾ) of Ijtihād and the Discerning Student (al-ṭālib al-mumayyiz) 6 Extrapolation of Principles (takhrīj) 7 The Muqallid’s Commitment to a Legal School (iltizām) 8 Conclusion
6 Conclusion
BibliographyIndex of Pre-Modern AuthorsIndex of Geographical NamesIndex of Pre-Modern BooksIndex of Quran CitationsIndex of Arabic Terms
Damaris Wilmers, Ph.D. (2015), Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, works at the National Records and Archives Authority in Muscat. Her research and publication has focused on theological and legal diversity in Yemen. She has recently developed an interest in Oman“s intellectual history.
