Nawbakhtī: An Independently-Minded Imāmī Theologian

In this paper the write reviews the evidence that Nawbakhtī was contemporary to Sayyid al-Murtaḍā and Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Baṣrī, thus locating him to the end of the fourth century AH and the beginning of the fifth; and he also states that Nawbakhtī adapted the views of different schools of thought which he accepted.

Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. Nawbakht was an important Imāmī philosophical theologian whose life history is the subject of much controversy. Figuring out the era in which he lived is significant for two reasons. On one hand, we become aware of the inter-sectarian influences and impressionabilities within Islamic tradition. On the other hand, the relation between philosophy and theology can be elucidated.

Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. Nawbakht, more commonly known as Nawbakhtī, today is remembered as being the author of al-Yāqūt fī ʿilm al-kalām, a work of rational theology with Muʿtazilī and philosophical tendencies which discusses important matters of creed. Nawbakhtī is one of the earliest philosophical theologians of the Imāmiyyah Shīʿa for whom there is uncertainty regarding key details of his life. Indeed, speculations of the time in which Nawbakhtī is said to have lived range from the second century AH to just before the fall of Baghdad in the first half of the seventh century AH.

Bibliographic Information

Title: Nawbakhtī: An Independently-Minded Imāmī Theologian

Author: Saideh Sadat Nabavi

Published in: Journal of Shi‘a Islamic Studies, Autumn 2016 . Vol. IX . No. 4

 Language: English

Length: 11 pages

Nawbakhtī: An Independently-Minded Imāmī Theologian