The concerns of Kalam

Kalam essentially means theology, and the latter is widely understood to mean “the study of God.” Practitioners of Kalam are hence Mutakallimun. The Mutakallimun frequently use rational analysis and argument to understand, explain, test, critique, defend or promote a variety of religious topics. It is in this sense that Kalam also means ‘disputation’.

In the Islamic context, theology usually focus on seven issues ¹:

1. the concept of God
2. ontological and cosmological evidence to prove the existence of God
3. the cosmology of the relationship between God and the world He created
4. the ethics of God’s order with respect to free will, determinism, fate, good, evil, punishment and reward
5. the pragmatics of the language of religion and the function of human imagination
6. the relationship between reason (Aql) and revelation (Naql)
7. the politics of applying the divine rule to the Muslim community

Do you think that theology is an important and natural component of religion, especially Islam?

You should check out these posts:

• Obligation to know God- three different responses The development of Islamic theology has always been characterized by...
• The Unquenchable Thirst for Knowledge- Imam Al-Ashari Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Ismail al-Ashari was born in the...
• Sunni concerns over rising Shi’i influence MEMRI: Saudi-Jordanian Summit Discusses Iranian Influence In Region During their...
• The Wisdom of Musab al-Zarqawi One thing that the Jordan Initiative exposed is the existence...
• Mu’tazilla is not Godzilla There is no doubt that the Islamic concept of God...
• The Amman Message in light of Imam al-Ghazali’s Clear Criterion By all accounts, the Jordan Initiative was a remarkable achievement-...