«He is the Longsuffering, the Guide of Wisdom…» Munaǧǧā al-Sāmīrī’s Natural Theology

Abstract

Munaǧǧā ibn Ṣadaqah al-Sāmīrī is one of the most influential Samaritan theologians of the 12^th–13^th centuries, the author of the monumental «Book of Differences [between Jews and Samaritans]» («Kitāb al-H̱ilāf»), which summarized not only legal and dogmatic controversies, but also the philosophical and religious concept of the author himself. This article examines in detail the natural-theological problems of the «Book of Differences»: in particular, Munaǧǧā’s reasoning about the essence of God, His oneness, attributes, justice, human free will and the necessity of Revelation. Particular attention is paid to the connection between Munaǧǧā’s concepts and the ideological context of his time: on the one hand, the dependence of the theologian’s teachings on the legacy of ʾAbū al-Ḥasan al-Ṣūrī and his «Book of Slaughter» («Kitāb al-Ṭabbāẖ», 11^th century) is traced, and on the other hand, possible parallels between them and the work of Muʻtazilite Basran mutakallimūn and Arab Peripatetics are traced. The analysis of primary sources leads us to the conclusion about Munaǧǧā’s independence in adapting various concepts of Arab philosophical discourse to the Samaritan worldview. Distancing himself from al-Ṣūrī, our Scribe teaches about human soul emanation from Universal Soul, describes the universal nature of God’s knowledge and the action. At the same time, he adopts in general terms of Muʻtazili doctrine: like his Basran colleagues he analyzes divine Selfhood, the objectivity of ethical and aesthetic characteristics, and the Mu’tazilite theory of entitlement (taklīf). The author of this article was unable to discover any dependence of Munaǧǧā’s natural theology on medieval rabbinic discourse.