Directions of Samaritan religious and philosophical thought in the 11th – 18th centuries

Abstract

The article considers an overview of the main directions of religious and philosophical thought of the Samaritans, which took shape under the influence of Arab philosophy in the 11^th – 18^th centuries. Analyzing the handwritten monuments of the Samaritans (in particular, ʾAbū al-Ḥasan al-Ṣūrī, Munaǧǧā ibn Ṣadaqah, Ṣadaqah al-Ḥakīm, Ibrāhīm al-Qabāṣī, al-Ġazzāl al-Ġazzī and Ibrāhīm al-ʿAyyah), the author comes concludes that Samaritan thought is constructed by four dependent theological schools – Samaritan Kalam, Peripatetism, Sufism and Ishraqism. Within the framework of the general doctrine, implying the belief in Mount Gerizim Temple exclusivity, the sanctity of Samaritan Pentateuch, general eschatological teachings and the doctrine of the divine attributes, al-Ṣūrī and al-ʻAyyah developed their own version of the Mu’tazili and Maturidi kalam, Munaǧǧā and Ṣadaqah – the Peripatetic-Ismaili doctrine of Anima Mundi, al-Qabāṣī – the Sufi concept of spiritual hierarchy, and al-Ġazzī – the theory of the photic nature of movement, proposed by illuminationists. The study is preceded by an introduction covering the history of the theology of the Samaritans in the 4^th – 11^th centuries, as well as its connection with Jewish discourse.