Hisham ibn Hakam

Abā Muḥammad Hishām ibn al-Ḥakam al-Kūfī al-Kindī (, d. either 795–6 AD or after 803 AD or 815 AD) commonly known as Hisham ibn al-Hakam, was a Shia Muslim scholar, theologian (mutakallim) and a companion of Imams Jafar al-Sadiq (732–765) and Musa al-Kadhim (765–799). He was famous for his debates regarding Imamate, free will (jabr) and the existence of God. His hadith is considered trustworthy by all Shia scholars. He authored numerous works and treatises on various subjects, including Imamate, refutation of the Mu'tazilites and Qadariyah (determinists) and on Aristotle. His work regarding Imamah apparently formed the base of Firaq al-Shi'a, one of the primary sources on Shiite sects until the 9th century, by Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Musa al-Nawbakhti.

Biography The exact year of the birth of Hisham is not clear— nor is the year of his death—, but it is understood from several sources that he was born from Hakam in Kufa, the centre of Iraqi's Shiites, in the beginning of the second century AH, and grew up in Waset. Other sources claim he was from Baghdad. As a young man, he lived a few years in Baghdad where he was conducting business. His family were mawali (non-Arab clients) of the tribe of Kinda, who lived in Kufa at the time.

He was interested in Islamic theology and in his youth he was a follower of Jahm bin Safwan, leader of the Jahmi Sect. Afterwards during some debates with Jafar al-Sadiq, he became one of his followers. Of his first visit to the seventh Shiite imam, he himself says that one day while selling fabric under a shaded tree, Musa al-Kadhim happened to ride by. "He turned his face to me and said, 'O Hisham, selling something in the shadows is similar to cheating, and cheating is unlawful in Islam.'" It is said that Hisham was skillful in debates, and that he said: "By God, till this day when I am standing here, nobody has defeated me in religious discourses." As Alexander Hainy Khaleeli underlines, the accusation of anthropomorphism is very unusual for a Shiite, as this belief is not sanctioned by any Shiite authority. In fact, Hisham ibn al-Hakam, according to Livnat Holtzman and Miriam Ovadia is even "presented in the sources as the most notorious archetype of a corporealist." They cite the report by Abu 'l-Hudhayl that "Hisham declared that God was a three-dimensional body, because only bodies have existence." Abu 'l-Hudhayl allegedly pointed to a mountain on the outskirts of Mecca (Mount Abu Qubays) and asked Hisham if his God was greater or the mountain, to which Hisham apparently answered that the mountain was bigger than God.

Indeed surprising is the variety of forms of anthropomorphism attributed to Hisham ibn al-Hakam: from the idea that God has a three-dimensional body smaller than a mountain, to the idea that 'God is an eternal, luminous body' or that God's body is a light (like) other lights, solid (muṣmat) and of the appearance of a pearl whose every facet is uniform. Al-Razi also reported the famously attributed belief that Hisham ibn al-Hakam professed that God has no foreknowledge of things. As Hainy Khaleeli points out, it is surprising to observe that, if Hisham actually held such beliefs, he never reported any such thing from the Imams, while he was a proficient reporter of Imami hadith. Besides, there is no source ever showing Hisham professing any such beliefs himself. Al-Sharif al-Murtada suggests that ibn al-Hakam's expression that God has 'a body unlike other bodies' is simply badly formulated, or expressed in opposition to the Mutazilites who were claiming that 'God is a thing unlike other things', in order to show that their claim led to an unacceptable conclusion.

Reported debates

On Imamate Hisham wrote many books concerning the subject of the Imamate, and scholars of his time regarded him as the defender of the doctrine of "Imamate" and the "eye of the shiite" as he was a watchful protector of those who apposed imamat. Kitab al-Imama (Book on the Imamate) Kitab al-Dalalat ala Huduth al-Ashya (Book on the Signs for the Creation of Things) Kitab al-Radd ala al-Zanadiqa (Book on the Answers to the Unbelievers) Kitab Ashab al-Ithnayn (Book on the Companions of the Two Persons) Kitab al-Tawhid (Book on the Oneness of Allah) Kitab al-Radd ala Hisham al-Jawaliqi (Book on the Answers to Hisham al-Jawaliqi) Kitab al-Radd ala Ashab al-Tabaiya (Book on the Answers to those Who Believe in Natures) Kitab al-Shaykh wa al-Ghulam (Book on the Old Man and the Boy) Kitab al-Tadbeer (Book on Management) Kitab al-Maydan (Book on the Field) Kitab al-Mizan (Book on the Balance) Kitab al-Radd ala men qala fi Imamat al-Mafdul (Book on the Answers to Those Who Believe in the Imamate of the Less Excellent) Kitab Ikhtilaf al-Nas fi Imamat al-Mafdul (Book on that the People are Different over the Imamate of al-Mafdul) Kitab al-Wasiya wa al-Radd ala men ankereha (Book on the Testament and the Answers to Those Who Deny It) Kitab al-Jabur wa al-Qadar (Book on Compulsion and Fate). Kitab al-Hakamayn (Book on the Two Arbitrators) Kitab al-Radd'ala al-Muʿtazila fi Telha wa al-Zubayr (Book on the Answers to the Muʿtazilites Concerning Telha and al-Zubayr) Kitab al-Qeder (Book on Fate) Kitab al-Alfad (Book on the Words) Kitab al-Ma„rifa (Book on Knowledge) Kitab al-Istita'a (Book on Capability) Kitab al-Themaniyat Abbwab (Book on Eight Chapters) Kitab al-Radd ala Shaytan al-Taq (Book on the Answers to Shaytan al-Taq) Kitab al-Akhbar kayfa tufteh (Book on How the Traditions Are Opened) Kitab al-Radd ala Aristotle fi al-Tawhid (Book on the Answers to Aristotle in Monotheism) Kitab al-Radd ala al-Muʿtazila (Book on the Answers to the Muʿtazilites) Kitab al-Majalis fi al-Imama (Book on the Gatherings concerning the Imamate) Kitab Ilal al-Tehreem (Book on the Causes of Prohibition) Kitab al-Radd ala al-Qederiya (Book on the Answers to the Fatalists) Imam Musa read it, and praised him saying: "He has left nothing!" Kitab al-Fara'id (Book on the Religious Duties).