Jewish Theological Systematization in the Context of Islamic Culture

Abstract

Among the most important Jewish encounters with other cultures and civilizations, the encounter with Islamic culture was, in our view, the most important. This encounter was in some aspects like their encounter with the ancient civilization, but the impacts were more valuable and constructive. Under Islamic rule, the Jews not only had a sense of security but also enjoyed a relatively satisfactory freedom of thought and religion. Their encounter with Islamic theology was more through their acquaintance with Mu'tazilite theology, which emerged at the beginning of the eighth century, and it was this encounter that resulted in theological and philosophical systematization in Jewish thought. The impacts of Mu'tazilite theology on Jewish theological thought can be found in three areas: (1) content-oriented impacts, (2) methodological impacts, and (3) systematization of theology and philosophy.