Bishr Ibn Al-Muʿtamir
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Abū Sahl Bishr ibn al-Muʿtamir ibn Bishr al-Ḥilālī (died 825) was a
Muʿtazilite Mu'tazilism (, singular ) is an Islamic schools and branches, Islamic theological school that appeared in early Islamic history and flourished in Basra and Baghdad. Its adherents, the Mu'tazilites, were known for their neutrality in the dispute be ...
Zaydite theologian and founder of the Bishriyya school in
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
.


Life

The place of Bishr's birth is unknown. Baghdad,
Kūfa Kufa ( ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Along with Samarra, Karbala, Kadhimiya and Najaf, ...
and
Baṣra Basra () is a port city in southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq border at the north-easternmost extent ...
have all been proposed. Likewise, the date of his birth is unknown, although he was an old man at his death. He studied Muʿtazilite (theology) in Baṣra under Bishr ibn Saʿīd, Abū ʿUthmān al-Zaʿfarānī and Muʿammar ibn ʿAbbād al-Sulamī. He later moved to Baghdad to teach. Among his most prominent students were Thumāma ibn Ashras and Abū Mūsā al-Murdār. Article translated by Keven Brown. In Baghdad, Bishr worked as a slave trader. He was an ardent
Zaydi Zaydism () is a branch of Shia Islam that emerged in the eighth century following Zayd ibn Ali's unsuccessful rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate. Zaydism is one of the three main branches of Shi'ism, with the other two being Twelverism ...
te missionary, who once promised to convert two people per day, and a staunch advocate of ''
jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
'', who financed individual warriors. Caliph
Hārūn al-Rashīd Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rāshīd (), or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Hārūn al-Rāshīd (), was the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from September 786 until ...
(), an opponent of Muʿtazilism, imprisoned Bishr for his alleged Rāfiḍī sympathies. Bishr denied the charge. In prison, he wrote 40,000 verses on justice, monotheism and the threat of judgement. They circulated widely and increased his influence, so the caliph released him. He was a friend of the caliph's vizier, Faḍl ibn Yaḥyā. He later joined the court of the Caliph
al-Maʾmūn Abū al-ʿAbbās Abd Allāh ibn Hārūn al-Maʾmūn (; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name al-Ma'mun (), was the seventh Abbasid caliph, who reigned from 813 until his death in 833. His leadership was marked by t ...
in
Merv Merv (, ', ; ), also known as the Merve Oasis, was a major Iranian peoples, Iranian city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, near today's Mary, Turkmenistan. Human settlements on the site of Merv existed from the 3rd millennium& ...
. According to
al-Qalqashandī Shihāb al-Dīn Abū 'l-Abbās Aḥmad ibn ‘Alī ibn Aḥmad ‘Abd Allāh al-Fazārī al-Shāfiʿī better known by the epithet al-Qalqashandī (; 1355 or 1356 – 1418), was a medieval Arab Egyptian encyclopedist, polymath and mathemati ...
, Bishr was a signatory of the 817 decree of the caliph that named
ʿAlī al-Riḍā Ali al-Rida (, 1 January 766 – 6 June 818), also known as Abū al-Ḥasan al-Thānī, was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the eighth imam in Twelver Shia Islam, succeeding his father, Musa al-Kazim. He is also part of th ...
as his successor.


Works

Ibn al-Nadīm Abū al-Faraj Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq an-Nadīm (), also Ibn Abī Yaʿqūb Isḥāq ibn Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Warrāq, and commonly known by the ''nasab'' (patronymic) Ibn an-Nadīm (; died 17 September 995 or 998), was an important Muslim ...
attributes 24 titles to Bishr, mostly polemical works. Another 25 titles are cited by other authors. Many of his theological works were in verse. Only two long poems (''
qaṣīda The qaṣīda (also spelled ''qaṣīdah''; plural ''qaṣā’id'') is an ancient Arabic word and form of poetry, often translated as ode. The qasida originated in pre-Islamic Arabic poetry and passed into non-Arabic cultures after the Arab Mus ...
''s) on the wonders of creation, including the lives of insects, are preserved in
al-Jāḥiẓ Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Basri (; ), commonly known as al-Jahiz (), was an Arab polymath and author of works of literature (including theory and criticism), theology, zoology, philosophy, grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, philology, lin ...
's ''Ḥayawān''. The rest are known only from fragments quoted in other Muʿtazilite works, like al-Khayyāṭ's ''Kitāb al-Intiṣār''. He wrote treatises criticizing his Muʿtazilite colleagues, such as Abū l-Hudhayl, and made attempted refutations of
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
,
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
,
Kharijism The Kharijites (, singular ) were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the conflict with his challeng ...
and
Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...
. He wrote, in verse, one of the earliest works intending to prove
Muḥammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
's prophethood. One of the works Ibn al-Nadīm ascribes to him is a versification of ''
Kalīla wa-Dimna ''Kalīla wa-Dimna'' or ''Kelileh o Demneh'' () is a collection of fables. The book consists of fifteen chapters containing many fables whose heroes are animals. A remarkable animal character is the lion, who plays the role of the king; he has ...
''. Bishr is best known for his concept of the 'engendered act' (''tawallud''), which refers to the effects engendered or caused by an act of the human will but that are not themselves directly willed. He held humans morally responsible for the effects brought about by their will. He held that the human will was independent of God, which led to accusations of unbelief, although his primary motivation appears to have been to avoid accusing God of evil. Bishr subscribed to the Zaydite view of the imamate. He regarded
ʿAlī Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...
as superior among the companions of Muḥammad and accepted his legitimacy, but distinguished superiority from right of succession. He rejected the legitimacy of the last six years of
ʿUthmān Uthman ibn Affan (17 June 656) was the third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruling from 644 until Assassination of Uthman, his assassination in 656. Uthman, a second cousin, son-in-law, and notable Companions of the Prophet, companion of ...
's caliphate. Politically, he was a Shīʿī. He regarded the Khawārij as rebels.


References

{{reflist 8th-century births 825 deaths Mu'tazilites Philosophers from the Abbasid Caliphate