A LOST LEGACY OF CRITICAL ENGAGEMENT:
IBN AL-QAYYIM ON DIVINE DETERMINATION
(qadar)

Abstract

This research aims to challenge a popular contemporary Traditionalist trend of intra-Muslim
theological disengagement and isolation, which is justified by a conception of a puritan
Traditionalist theology entirely hypothetically based on scripture and a utopian monolithic
understanding of the first three generations of Islam (the Salaf). One of the many inevitable
consequences of such a popular trend is one of intolerance and hence sectarianism. Intra-Muslim
theological disengagement amongst modern Traditionalists and the problems therein will be
challenged by proving that the theology of the Traditionalist scholar, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d.
751/1350), whose work is a main reference for contemporary Traditionalists, is much indebted to
his critical engagement and intra-Muslim dialogue with fellow non-Traditionalist theologians
and philosophers. This will be evident in my analysis of Ibn al-Qayyim’s discussions on topics
related to divine determination, which is a fundamental doctrine to Muslims. In fact, Ibn al-
Qayyim successfully develops a compatibilist position of dual agency on the problem of free will
and determinism, a traditionalist rational objectivism position in the debate on meta-ethics and a
four-fold theodicy of optimism on the problem of evil. Ibn al-Qayyim’s theological
developments evidently defy contemporary intra-Muslim theological disengagement and the
conception of a puritan Traditionalist theology. At the core of this thesis is an implication which
seeks to promote dialogue amongst contemporary Muslims and Traditionalist Islam.