Mowlānā Jalāl-al Din Balkhi and the Problem of Fate and Freedom

Subject Areas : Mytho

ناصر  نیکوبخت ¹ (دانشیار زبان و ادبیات فارسی دانشگاه تربیت مدرس)

Received: 2015-05-25 Accepted : 2015-05-25 Published : 2009-06-22

Keywords: love, kalam, Predestination and Free will, Mowlānā's Masnavi, Jalāl-al Din Mohammad Balkhi,

Abstract :

    The problem of reconciling predestination (jabr) and free will (ekhtiyār) has preoccupied the minds of many Islamic theologians. Shi'ism holds an intermediate position between the Ash'arite and al-Jahmiya predestination and the Mu'tazilite doctrine of freedom (tafwid). Mowlānā Jalāl-al Din Balkhi, the Persian mystic, is an Ash'arite himself, yet his deep mystical inclinations give a different color to this central issue of Kalam (Islamic theology). Considering his ideas about "Love", this article studies Mowlānā's method in solving the problem of jabr and ekhtiyar.