A Theological Text

The kitāb al-fisal wa'l-nihal by Ibn Hazm has been expanded by the insertion of pamphlets which were originally separate works; see Friedlaender's article in the Noeldeke Festschrift. The British Museum manuscript Or. 843 does not contain these additions, but does contain a summary of theological ideas which is not in the printed book. This summary is in five sections, the tenets of the Qadariyya, Murji'a, Khawārij, and Shī'a, and what was thought about 'Alī. Friedlaender published the passage on the Shl'a in Heterodoxies of the Shiites, 1, 78 f., so there is no need to repeat it here. Expositions of Muslim dogma tend to be static; this one tries to be dynamic., to show that one idea grew out of another, often as a reaction. The passage is simple and does not need a translation, but some notes may be useful. As the copy was made some years ago and the MS. is not available, there is no point in attempting a full critical apparatus

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