{"title":"The “Metaphysical Monster” and Muslim Theology","authors":"Sam Houston","doi":"10.35632/ajis.v40i3-4.3267","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"By placing Blackamerican Muslim theologian Sherman A. Jackson’s work, especially his Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering, in conversation with the work of American pragmatist William James, I explore the pragmatic dimensions of Islamic thought through an examination of Jackson’s account of classical Islamic theology put forward in response to the problem of Black suffering. In doing so, I argue that Jackson’s account both parallels and challenges a Jamesian account of religion. It parallels James in that it speaks of the “practical effectiveness” of the “web of beliefs” constituting Islamic doctrines of God in inculcating certain habits of seeing and acting in the world that best deal with the challenges of “black experience”; however, in this process, the category of “experience” itself and its role in the verification of belief is thoroughly interrogated. In his critical engagement with Black philosopher of religion William R.Jones, Jackson exposes the uncritical role played by “experience” in Jones’ thought, a charge which will be made of James as well. In making this argument about Jackson, I hope to provide an example of a Muslim theologian who makes explicit the pragmatic dimensions of religious doctrine, demonstrating that thick theological discourse can be practical. There are some people—and I am one of them—who think that the most practical and important thing about a man is still his view of the universe. —G.K. Chesterton, “Heretics”","PeriodicalId":34866,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Islam and Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Journal of Islam and Society","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.35632/ajis.v40i3-4.3267","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Arts and Humanities","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
By placing Blackamerican Muslim theologian Sherman A. Jackson’s work, especially his Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering, in conversation with the work of American pragmatist William James, I explore the pragmatic dimensions of Islamic thought through an examination of Jackson’s account of classical Islamic theology put forward in response to the problem of Black suffering. In doing so, I argue that Jackson’s account both parallels and challenges a Jamesian account of religion. It parallels James in that it speaks of the “practical effectiveness” of the “web of beliefs” constituting Islamic doctrines of God in inculcating certain habits of seeing and acting in the world that best deal with the challenges of “black experience”; however, in this process, the category of “experience” itself and its role in the verification of belief is thoroughly interrogated. In his critical engagement with Black philosopher of religion William R.Jones, Jackson exposes the uncritical role played by “experience” in Jones’ thought, a charge which will be made of James as well. In making this argument about Jackson, I hope to provide an example of a Muslim theologian who makes explicit the pragmatic dimensions of religious doctrine, demonstrating that thick theological discourse can be practical. There are some people—and I am one of them—who think that the most practical and important thing about a man is still his view of the universe. —G.K. Chesterton, “Heretics”
通过将美国黑人穆斯林神学家谢尔曼·a·杰克逊(Sherman A. Jackson)的著作,尤其是他的《伊斯兰教与黑人苦难问题》(Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering)与美国实用主义者威廉·詹姆斯(William James)的著作进行对比,我通过考察杰克逊对古典伊斯兰神学的描述来探讨伊斯兰思想的实用主义层面,这些描述是针对黑人苦难问题提出的。在这样做的过程中,我认为杰克逊的描述与詹姆斯的宗教描述既相似又挑战。它与詹姆斯的相似之处在于,它谈到了“信仰之网”的“实际有效性”,它构成了伊斯兰教的上帝教义,在世界上灌输了某些观察和行动的习惯,这些习惯最能应对“黑人经历”的挑战;然而,在这个过程中,“经验”的范畴本身及其在信念验证中的作用受到了彻底的质疑。在他与黑人宗教哲学家威廉·r·琼斯的批判性接触中,杰克逊揭露了“经验”在琼斯思想中所扮演的不加批判的角色,詹姆斯也将受到同样的指责。在关于杰克逊的争论中,我希望提供一个穆斯林神学家的例子,他明确地说明了宗教教义的实用主义维度,证明了厚重的神学话语可以是实用的。有些人——我就是其中之一——认为一个人最实际、最重要的还是他对宇宙的看法。-G.K。切斯特顿,“异教徒”