ʿAbd Al-Jabbār and Bāqillānī on the Meaning of Miracles (Muʿjizāt): a Study of Convergences and Divergences

Abstract This article presents the technical terminology, concepts, and theological principles developed by Bāqillānī and ʿAbd al-Jabbār in Kitāb al-Bayān and the Mughnī (respectively). It traces the convergences and divergences in their approaches to the word muʿjiz and describes the parallel methodological processes through which they critique postulates established by the “language users or experts” ( ahl al-lugha ). I argue that we can better understand how the meaning of the word muʿjiz was contested in medieval Islam and how its semantic range was established by reading Muʿtazilī (ʿAbd al-Jabbār) and Ashʿarī-Sunnī (Bāqillānī) texts alongside one another. An examination of how claims to the authority over the meaning of the word muʿjiz are made and the social significance of such claims are also central themes of this study.