Law and Intellectual Life
Carl W. Ernst
Introduction to Islamic Civilization
Outline
Intellectual Life in the 14th Century
Problem of “golden age” concept
Major figures of the era
Law
“Queen of sciences”
“closing of the gate of ijtihad”?
The Varieties of Religious Expression
Problem of defining “orthodoxy”/“heterodoxy”
Proliferation of Sufi orders
1. Intellectual life in the 14th
century
Not the end of the “Golden age” -- no
interruption of cultural life after Mongols
etc.
Islamic law not dependent on any
particular regime
Technical and scientific tendency of
Europe only after 16th-17th centuries
Debates on the causes of “Great Western
Transmutation,” technicalism
Problems in the analysis
“by the 13th century… philosophical
speculation had practically ceased”??
 A major error based on inadequate knowledge
of schools of Islamic philosophy in the East
(School of Shiraz Conference, December 2008)
Lack of autonomous universities made it
“next to impossible for a school of
thought to develop”??
 Also seriously ignores the continued existence
of scientific and philosophical research up to 18th
century
Mansuriyya Madrasa (Shiraz,
16th century)
Tombs of school founders of
Dashtaki family, residence
Major figures
Ibn Taymiya (d. 1327), law
Ibn al-Shatir (d. 1375), astronomy
Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406), history
Hafez (d. 1391), Persian poetry
Ibn Battuta (d. 1368), traveler
2. Law
Four schools of Sunni legal tradition all
mutually acceptable; but conformity
(taqlid) strong within schools
Characteristics of the legal scholar
(faqih, master of fiqh)
Independent judgment (ijtihad) as the
pinnacle of legal scholarship
“closing of the gate of ijtihad”?
Expressions of exaggerated respect for
legal founders misunderstood (by
Europeans) as implying the end of
independent thinking
Importance of understanding shari`a
(theoretical ideal of Islamic law) as the
cumulative collection of traditional
interpretations
Greater emphasis on legal reasoning in
Shi`ism
3. Varieties of religious
expression
Christians concepts of orthodoxy and
heterodoxy depend on a single center of
religious authority such as the papacy;
there is no Muslim equivalent
Exceptions in particular regimes: Kharijite
movement; `Abbasid Mu`tazili “inquisition”;
official support of Shafi`i school by Saljuqs
Rejection of “extremist” Shi`is (Druze,
Nusayris) as a way of defining emerging
12er positions [but contrast modern Syria]
More problems with the
analysis
The Sunni tradition was one of selfcensorship. It was inevitably
conservative and traditional in spirit,
leading to the withering of an
independent philosophical tradition and
the closing of the gate of ijtihad” (307)
 an overly broad statement that
overlooks creative Sunni engagement with
Sufi metaphysics and legal tradition
Proliferation of Sufi groups
Integration of Sufism into everyday
religious life of many or most Muslims
Provided women an acceptable avenue
of religious expression and leadership
Social roles of Sufi Masters and saintly
shrines
Sufism as social critique
Rarity of attacks on veneration of saints
Institutional power of Sufi centers
countered by “Sufi deviancy” of “self
blamers” (malamatiyya) and Qalandar
dervish dropouts
Charismatic figures in the Sufi
hierarchy: Mahdi (Messiah), Qutb
(center of the world), `Ali
Sufi Movements among the
Turks
Naqshbandis stress intense discipline of
silent dhikr meditation, adherence to
shari`a
Bektashi order varies significantly from
Sunni norms – seen in Turkish Alevis
 problematic concept of “syncretism” not very
useful here; assumes that there are “pure” forms
of religion that are superior
 erroneous connections made to Christian
heretical movement (Paulicians)
More Sufi movements
Safavid movement, founded by Sunni
leader Safi al-Din (d. 1334), eventually
turns into a Shi`i tribal movement that
establishes a kingdom in Iran (1504).
Chishtis in India
Mevlevis in Anatolia (Rumi)
Rifa`is in Arab regions
Qadiris all over
Outline
Intellectual Life in the 14th Century
Problem of “golden age” concept
Major figures of the era
Law
“Queen of sciences”
“closing of the gate of ijtihad”?
The Varieties of Religious Expression
Problem of defining “orthodoxy”/“heterodoxy”
Proliferation of Sufi orders