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Debating the Freethinker

A Study and Translation of Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Khayyāṭ’s Kitāb al-intiṣār


Edited and Translated by Mushegh Asatryan
Appositely named Intiṣār—meaning both ‘victory’ and ‘defense’—Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Khayyāṭ’s book is the refutation of a refutation and an angry polemic against much else, including Muslims and non-Muslims, atheists and freethinkers. Above all, it is a demonstration of the dialectic method praised by the Muʿtazili school as the sole correct method of truth-finding in matters relating to God, to physics, to ethics, and to politics. This book priovides an English translation of this work of classical Arabic theology, accompanied by the Arabic text and and an introduction that focuses on the religious and intellectual milieu that informed al-Khayyāṭ’s writing, the sectarian environment where he lived, and the culture of debate in which he participated.
Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC
Availability: In stock
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-4632-4740-9
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Publication Status: Forthcoming
Publication Date: Aug 3,2025
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 7 x 10
Page Count: 392
Languages: English
ISBN: 978-1-4632-4740-9
$95.00 (USD)
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Appositely named Intiṣār—meaning both ‘victory’ and ‘defense’—Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Khayyāṭ’s book is the refutation of a refutation and an angry polemic against much else, including Muslims and non-Muslims, atheists and freethinkers. Above all, it is a demonstration of the dialectic method praised by the Muʿtazili school as the sole correct method of truth-finding in matters relating to God, to physics, to ethics, and to politics. This book priovides an English translation of this work of classical Arabic theology, accompanied by the Arabic text and and an introduction that focuses on the religious and intellectual milieu that informed al-Khayyāṭ’s writing, the sectarian environment where he lived, and the culture of debate in which he participated.

Appositely named Intiṣār—meaning both ‘victory’ and ‘defense’—Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Khayyāṭ’s book is the refutation of a refutation and an angry polemic against much else, including Muslims and non-Muslims, atheists and freethinkers. Above all, it is a demonstration of the dialectic method praised by the Muʿtazili school as the sole correct method of truth-finding in matters relating to God, to physics, to ethics, and to politics. This book priovides an English translation of this work of classical Arabic theology, accompanied by the Arabic text and and an introduction that focuses on the religious and intellectual milieu that informed al-Khayyāṭ’s writing, the sectarian environment where he lived, and the culture of debate in which he participated.

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Contributor

MusheghAsatryan

Table of Contents (v)

Acknowledgements (vii)

Debaters, Writers, and Heretics in the Abbasid Empire: Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Khayyāṭ and His World (1)

The Book and the Author (1)

Books and Authors in Abbasid Culture (4)

The Shiʿis (7)

Prophets and Rebels (8)

Writers and Heretics (10)

Dialecticians (12)

The Zanādiqa (16)

Manicheans (16)

Dahrīs (18)

The Muʿtazilis: Theologians in Society (24)

The Culture of Debate (27)

Controversies around Debating: Knowledge, Dialectics, Traditionism (32)

A Note on the Text (38)

Bibliography (39)

Abbreviations (39)

Primary Sources (39)

Secondary Sources (41)

Translation of Kitāb al-intiṣār (49)

Index of Qurʾanic Citations (377)

General Index (379)