al-Baqillani
Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ṭayyib al-Bāqillānī (Arabic: أَبُو بَكْر مُحَمَّد بْن ٱلطَّيِّب ٱلْبَاقِلَّانِيّ; 950 – 5 June 1013), was a Sunni Muslim scholar and polymath who specialized in speculative theology, jurisprudence, logic, and hadith. He spent much of his life defending and strengthening the Ash’ari school of theology within Islam. An accomplished rhetorical stylist and orator, al-Baqillani was held in high regard by his contemporaries for his expertise in debating theological and jurisprudential issues. Al-Dhahabi referred to him as “the learned imam, incomparable master, foremost of the scholars, author of many books, and example of articulateness and intelligence.”
Abu Bakr al-Baqillani, a prominent Islamic theologian, is recognized for contributing to the development of the “kalām atomism” theory, which essentially proposed that matter is composed of indivisible particles called atoms, created by God and capable of being created and destroyed according to divine will, aligning with the Ash’ari school of Islamic thought; this concept differed from the Greek atomic theory by allowing for divine intervention in the atomic realm.
Key points about al-Baqillani’s atomic theory:
-
Kalām philosophy:
Al-Baqillani’s atomic theory falls under the field of “kalām,” a form of Islamic theology that uses rational arguments to explain religious doctrines.
-
Divine creation and destruction:
Unlike earlier Greek atomists, al-Baqillani believed that atoms were created by God and could be annihilated by him, meaning they were not eternal or indestructible.
-
Indiscernible atoms:
Some scholars attribute the idea that atoms are indistinguishable from each other in terms of size and shape to Abu al-Hudhayl, considered a founder of kalām atomism.