Ash‘arism Encounters Avicennism: Sayf Al-Dīn Al-Āmidī (d. 631/1233) on Creation

Competing theories about the origins of the cosmos have always entailed distinctive and often antithetical conceptions of who, or what, caused it. Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidī developed his doctrine of creation at a particularly poignant moment in Islamic intellectual history, in which the traditions of theology (kalām) and Hellenised philosophy (falsafa) were forced into an encounter which would permanently alter the theological landscape. In this talk, taking impetus from the case of al-Āmidī, I consider the options available for intellectuals who, like him, encounter a system of thought which is both rationally and theologically compelling, but which also threatens to undermine entrenched convictions.