Abdurrahîm Fedâî's Treatise on Irâda Juz'iyya: Edition, Translation and Analysis

Abstract

The questionof human agency has been one of the fundamental problems that concernedscholars throughout history. This is testified by the observation that a richintellectual literature has accumulated on the issue in the course of time. Inthe tradition of Islamic thought especially the Kalâm scholars appear to havebrought depth and breadth to the question within the possibilities of thetheological schools to which they belonged. Against the approach of theJabriyya that absolutely negated human free will, the Mu'tazila assigned abroad room to human agency. This led the Ahl al-Sunna scholars to adopt asynthesis between the two extremes. While the Ash'ari school, which embodiesprominent figures of Kalâm, has proposed solutions based on certain principles,scholars of the Maturidi school appear to have pursued a perpetuated quest,from the first period to the end. The Ottoman ulama, who were the Maturidis ofthe later period, tried, in their newly composed risâlas, to developwith fresh verifications the interpretations of their Maturidi predecessors.Although the Maturidiyya continued to be the dominant thought, it is noteworthythat some scholars in the Ottoman realm nevertheless composed works in theAsh'ari line. In his Risâlat al-Irâdat al-Juz'iyya, which constitutesthe subject of this study, Abdurrahîm Fedâ'î Efendi, both a member of the ulemaand a sufi figure, levels harsh criticism from an essentially Ash'ariperspective against contemporary Maturidi ulama's understanding of irâdajuz'iyya. The identification of his critiques will contribute to ourapprehension of the nature of the deepening Maturidi-Ash'ari strife in thelater (muta'akhkhirîn) period on the question of human agency (irâda).