The epistemology of al-Qirqisānī and its link with Islamic kalām

Abstract

In this study I will deal with epistemology, especially in terms of classification and definition of the sources of knowledge according to the Karaite Yaʻqūb al-Qirqisānī (10th century AD, in Baghdad). What kind of knowledge was considered as valid for the exegesis of the sacred text became one of the most important and polemic topics in mediaeval Islamic and Jewish theology. The debate around different types of knowledge gave rise to highly controversial philosophical questions, among which figure the following: “How do we know the existence of God and his unicity?” “Which is the knowledge that allows us to discern between the true and the false and between the acceptable and the reprehensible?” All these philosophical issues were debated by Muslim theologians at an initial stage and, later, transferred to the Jewish world in the 10th century CE by savants such as SaʻadiaGaon, al- Qirqisānī and Yefet b. ʻElī. Analysis of the relevant sources enabled us to ascertain the powerful impact contemporary Islamic thinking had on them, and particularly that expressed by the muʻtazilíschool.