Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism.

• Author: Voll, John O.
• Position: Book review

Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism. By JEFFRY R. HALVERSON. New York: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN, 2010. Pp. vii + 188. $75.

The narrative of the history of Islamic theology accepted by most scholars is seriously flawed, according to Jeffry R. Halverson. Halverson describes the "flawed narrative" as stating that "the 'triumph' of Ash'arism in Sunni Islam" imposed "anti-rational authoritarian control over the shareah" and erroneously identified Ash'atism with creedal literalism" (p. 146). This book is the presentation of Halverson's refutation of this basic narrative as applied to both medieval and modern Islamic history.

The general theme of the book is that the advocates of strict textual literalism, identified as "Atharis," opposed the rationalism involved in theology ('ilm al-kalam) and were victorious by the fifteenth century. The result was "the virtual demise of kalam [theology]," which meant "the demise of the rational discourse" that had created the foundations of the early theological intellectual enterprise (p. 2). A consequence of this development was an emphasis on creedal statements of faith "free from the perplexing proofs that characterized theological treatises" (p. 39). Halverson argues that this Athari victory set the ideological foundations for modern and contemporary Islamist movements.

Major erroneous elements in the standard historical narrative, according to Halverson, are the identification of the theological tradition of Abu 1-Hasan al-Ash'ari with the Athari victory and the assumption that Ash'arism and Maturidism, the second major theological tradition, are fundamentally similar while, in Halverson's view, Ash'arism is distinct from both Ath'arism and Maturidism. In Halverson's view a revival of theology, especially Ash'arism, can provide the basis for "a vigorous Islamic liberalism" with the "ability to respond to the challenges of modern governance and reconcile the modern nation-state with traditional Sunni beliefs and practices" (p. 141).

Following an introduction that sets out the major themes of the book, Halverson presents (in chapter one) a survey of the "elaborate constructions of rigorous intellectual discourses" that established the "foundational postulates of Sunni Islam," noting "what the rationalism of theology is capable of producing in contrast to Athari thought" (p. 31). Chapter two presents the history of the decline of the intellectual discipline...