The heart of Islamic philosophy had and is still being kept...

The heart of Islamic philosophy had and is still being kept pumping by the efforts of Shia scholars who have been imbued with this spirit by their Imams, especially the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (a.s.). Shia philosophers did not approach philosophical argumentation with the same methodology of kalaam , shuttling between demonstrative wisdom ( himkah burhaniyya ) and a dialectic one ( hikmah jadaliyya ).

Rather, they succeeded in reinforcing the fundamental beliefs of Islam, inspired by the Holy Qur’an and the emanations of the great Imams of religion. That is why if we want to compile a list of Shia scholastic theologians, meaning those expounders of Islamic Shia beliefs, we will include in it a group of transmitters of hadith and philosophers.

This is so because Shia traditions ( hadith ) and philosophy have served the purpose of kalaam in a better way than the science of speculative theology ( kalaam ) itself. However, if it is meant those scholars who fell under the sway of Mu’tazilite and Ash’arite are speculative theologians, we should confine the list to a very small number. And yet, we do not see any reason for this.

Putting aside the statements of the great Imams (a.s.) on beliefs, which are contained in their sermons, reports, and supplications, the first among Shia scholars, who wrote a book on this subject was Ali bin Ismael bin Maythem at-Tammar. Maythem at-Tammar himself was a companion of Imam Ali (a.s) and was a great orator and communicator.

His grandson Ali bin Ismael lived during the lifetime of Amr bin Obaid and Abul Huthail al-Allaf, who were among the first generation of Mu’tazilite scholastic theologians in the first half of the second century of the Islamic era (i.e. Hijri ). Among the disciples of Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) [148/765], there was a group who earned the name, “scholastic theologians – mutakalimmeen )”, such as Hisham bin al-Hakam [d.

198 H/812 CE], Hisham bin Salim, Humran bin A’yen, Abu Ja’far al-Ahwal, known as Mu’min at-Taq, and Qais bin Masir. In his monumental compendium of hadith , al-Kafi, al-Kulaini reports on a debate that took place between this group and an opposing one, with whose results Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.) was joyful. Those scholars were instructed by Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq during the first half of the second century of the Islamic era.