Abstract

Because of the impact of Islam in the development of Arab culture, the first Arabic thinkers were theologians. Their main concern was not to prove God's existence or his creation of the world (both these facts being obvious in their view), but to solve questions related to human destiny. They argued about such questions as whether the Muslim who had committed a major sin had thereby lost his faith and deserted the community of believers, and about the exact status of human freedom. This second question was particularly perplexing since, if a person is the author of his own acts and therefore responsible for them, God's power would be curtailed, but on the other hand, if the person is not responsible, his freedom of action is suppressed and God would be unjust in punishing him for his bad deeds. (I make no distinction here between the terms “God” and “Allah,” since for Muslim authors the God of Islam is also the God of Judaism and Christianity.)