Teori Keqadiman Alam: Kajian Perbandingan Antara Kosmologi Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī dan Kosmologi Ibn Taymiyyah

(The Pre-Eternity of The Universe Theory: Comparative Study Between Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī's Cosmology & Ibn Taymiyyah's Cosmology)

Abstract

The ontological status of this universe is one of the main cosmological discussion in Islamic tradition. Acting as an antithesis to the theory of the pre-eternity of the universe proposed by the philosophers, the scholars of kalam summarize various arguments to prove the novelty of the universe and refute the claims of the pre-eternity of the universe which are said to be burhānī in status. Interestingly, in this matter, the theory of the pre-eternity of the universe serves as a meeting point between two figures from different schools and lines of thought, namely Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606 H), a kalam and tafsir scholar from the Ash‘arī school, and Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 H), a hadith scholar from the Ḥanbalī school, both of whom oppose this theory. Considering the potential variety of kalam arguments that can be utilized, this study aims to examine the positions of al-Rāzī and Ibn Taymiyyah and their responses to the theory of the pre-eternity of the universe. This literature-based study uses document analysis methods to obtain sufficient data for formulating their positions. Data were collected through scholarly books, theses, texts, and academic articles. The study found that both figures strongly reject the belief that this universe has no beginning for each of its entities (afrād), but they disagree on the ontological status of the universal concept (naw‘) of this universe, where al-Rāzī believes it is also has a beginning, while Ibn Taymiyyah believes otherwise. They were also found to have different views on the chain of creation of the universe, but they agree in criticizing the causality theory (ta‘līl) of philosophers on this issue. This indirectly shows that the use of kalām and philosophy in the theological issues is something that cannot be avoided by any figures involved in sophisticated theological issues. This study also has the potential to provide a new lens in the discourse of the debate between Islamic streams, particularly between Ash'ariyyah and Salafiyyah-Wahhābiyyah, and to show the variations of dialectical methods in cosmological issues that can be utilized in contemporary cosmological issues.