Science as Divine Signs: Al-Sanūsī’s Framework of Legal (<i>sharʿī</i>), Nomic (<i>ʿādī</i>), and Rational (<i>ʿaqlī</i>) Judgements
This article examines the Ashʿarī theological framework of Imam Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Sanūsī (d. 1490) and its potential for shaping contemporary Muslim engagement with science. At the heart of al-Sanūsī’s thought is a tripartite typology of judgements—legal (<i>ḥukm sharʿī</...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/5/549 |
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| Summary: | This article examines the Ashʿarī theological framework of Imam Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Sanūsī (d. 1490) and its potential for shaping contemporary Muslim engagement with science. At the heart of al-Sanūsī’s thought is a tripartite typology of judgements—legal (<i>ḥukm sharʿī</i>), nomic (<i>ḥukm ʿādī</i>), and rational (<i>ḥukm ʿaqlī</i>)—as articulated in <i>The Preliminaries of Theology</i> (<i>al-Muqaddimāt</i>). This classification distinguishes between rulings grounded in revelation, patterns observed in nature, and conclusions drawn from reason. Unlike other theological approaches, al-Sanūsī’s model integrates core Ashʿarī doctrines such as radical contingency, occasionalism, and divine command theory, offering a coherent synthesis of metaphysics, empirical inquiry, and ethics. Building on recent scholarship that re-engages with Ashʿarī theology in the context of Islam and science, this article argues that al-Sanūsī’s schema offers a meta-framework—one that positions science not merely as an object of analysis but as a locus for theology. |
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| ISSN: | 2077-1444 |