'Ilm
al-kalam is one of
the Islamic sciences. It discusses the fundamental Islamic beliefs and
doctrines which are necessary for a Muslim to believe in. It explains them,
argues about them, and defends them. The scholars of Islam divide Islamic
teachings into three parts:
(i)
Doctrines ('aqa'id): These constitute the issues which must be
understood and believed in, such as, the Unity of God, the Divine Attributes,
universal and restricted prophethood, etc. However, there are certain
differences between Muslim sects as to what constitutes the basic articles of
faith (usul al-Din) in which belief is necessary.
(ii)
Morals (akhlaq): These relate to the commands and teachings relating to
the spiritual and moral characteristics of human beings, such as, justice,
God-fearing (taqwa), courage, chastity, wisdom, endurance, loyalty,
truthfulness, trustworthiness, etc., and prescribe 'how' a human being should
be.
(iii) The
Law (ahkam): Here the issues relating to practice and the correct manner
of performing acts, such as, prayers (salat), fasting (sawm), hajj,
jihad, al- 'amr bil ma'ruf wa al-nahy 'an al-munkar, buying, renting,
marriage, divorce, division of inheritance and so on, are discussed.
The
science which deals with the first of the above-mentioned is 'ilm al-kalam. The
study of the second is 'ilm al-'akhlaq (ethics). The study of the third
is called 'ilm al-fiqh (the science of jurisprudence). That which is
subjected to division in this classification is the corpus of Islamic
teachings; that is, those things which constitute the content of Islam. It does
not include all those Islamic studies which form the preliminaries for the
study of Islamic teachings, such as, literature, logic, and occasionally
philosophy.
In this classification the criterion behind division is the relationship of
Islamic teachings to the human being: those things which relate to human reason
and intellect are called 'aqa'id; things which relate to human qualities
are called akhlaq; and those things which relate to human action and
practice are included in fiqh.
In any
case, 'ilm al-kalam is the study of Islamic doctrines and beliefs. in
the past, it was also called "usul al-Din" or "'Ilm
al-tawhid wa al-sifat".
