Mastering Theology: Getting the Balance Right
This is the fourth in a series of articles on mastering the science of theology drawn from a seminar delivered by Dr Hamza al-Bakri & Dr Omar Qureshi. The full seminar can be found here: Mastering Theology
How does a student of theology stay confident in the science while maintaining a critical mindset?
Balancing a Critical Mind With a Confident Heart
Reaching the level of mastery in verification requires the ability to craft an argument, which means being in conversation with people arguing against your position. The critical mindset required is internal to the science.
Confidence is a separate question. It concerns the science as a whole: its epistemology and the overall structure it rests on. A student should have confidence in the framework of theology itself.
Two Extremes From the Last Century
Losing this distinction leads to extremity. In the past century, some became so critical that they began doubting the science itself and tried to build a replacement field they called the new science of theology (ilm al-kalam al-jadid).
Others went the opposite direction: overconfidence that hardened into stagnation. This leaves the science unable to move forward. The balance sits between the two— critique on one side, confidence in the framework on the other.
Confidence as a way to Gain Knowledge
A saying often repeats in this context: knowledge will not give you some of itself until you give it all of yourself. Offer it a portion of yourself, and you receive nothing; offer it everything, and you may receive something back. The same is true of confidence—until a student trusts the science, it will not give itself.
In the last century, some approached theology merely as an experiment, to see what studying it might produce. That stance does not lead to mastery. Shaykh al-Islam Mustafa Sabri (Allah have mercy on him), offers a contrasting example. He passed away in the 1950s, having studied theology in a traditional way.
In his multi-volume work Mawqif al-ʿAql, he engages confidently with a range of philosophical ideas, from Kant to Hume to Descartes, using the science of theology as his main tool throughout. He understood Kant well, even though he read him in translation rather than the original German. The confidence shows in the work itself.
The Question of Where to Start
A second question follows naturally from this: what is the map for a student proceeding carefully through theology, and how should they go about this difficult path? The fundamentals present in every science apply here first. A student needs to see the science as a whole.
Among these fundamentals, the most important is the subject and the goal of the science. For theology, the subject is our beliefs, and the goal is establishing and defending them. Whoever enters a science holding its principles enters aware of what they are doing. Whoever does not has taken a chaotic step, and chaos follows from it.
Two Reasons Often Given for Studying Kalam
There are two misconceptions students commonly bring to theology. The first: studying it in order to convey Islam to non-Muslims. The second: studying it to address the youth of our time. Both goals need refining before they hold up.
On the first: it may not be that theology itself is the tool for explaining the religion of Islam generally. If a specific issue is raised, however, theology may then be needed.
On the second: the issues youth encounter are not always deep theological issues. It could be desire, identity questions, or a whole host of other things unrelated to theology. Bringing theology into a situation like this can sometimes only increase the doubts already out there—someone may be confronted with a question they had never even considered before.
For both reasons, the goal has to be thought through carefully. That same care carries into the next question: how theology relates to the other Islamic sciences, the subject the next article takes up.
Related Articles
Mastering Theology: The Path to Deep Understanding – To truly know something is not to have read about it but to possess it. First in this series.
Mastering Theology: The Inner Discipline – Mastering theology requires more than intelligence; it calls for a particular kind of character. Second in this series.
Mastering Theology: The Critical Mindset – How does a student of theology stay confident in the science while maintaining a critical mindset? Third in this series.
