Abd al-Jabbar ibn Ahmad


ʿAbd al-Jabbar ibn Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbar al-Hamadani al-Asadabadi, Abu ʿl-Hasan was a Mu'tazilite theologian, a follower of the Shafi‘i school. Abd al-Jabbar means "servant of the powerful." He was born in Asadabad near Hamadan, Iran. He settled in Baghdad, until he was invited to Rey in 367 AH/978 CE by its governor, Sahib ibn Abbad, a staunch supporter of the Mu'tazila. He was appointed chief Qadi of the province. On the death of ibn 'Abbad, he was deposed and arrested by the ruler, Fakhr al-Dawla, because of a slighting remark made by him about his deceased benefactor. He died later in 415 AH/1025 CE.
His comprehensive "summa" of speculative theology, the Mughni, presented Mu`tazili thought under the two headings of God's oneness and his justice. He argued that the Ash'arite separation between the eternal speech of God and the created words of the Qur'an made God's will unknowable.

Works

He was the author of more than 70 books.

''Tathbit Dala’il''

Abd Al-Jabbar produced an anti-Christian polemic text Tathbit Dala’il Nubuwwat Sayyidina Muhammad,. Shlomo Pines proposed that part of this work incorporated a polemical text written by Jewish Christians of the fifth or sixth century against followers of Paul, and insisting on the necessity of Gentile believers' conversion to Judaism and adherence to Mosaic law. Pines noted that the Arabic text showed departures from the Peshitta, and may have used an alternative Syriac or Aramaic source that had been preserved by this community of Jewish Christians.