Qadi Abd al-Jabbar and Ibn Taymiyyah's conception of prophethood

This study comparatively examines the concept of prophethood in Islamic thought through the ideas of Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār and Ibn Taymiyyah. The research investigates how both thinkers grounded the notion of prophethood, analyzing in particular their approaches to the concepts of reason, revelation, wisdom, and divine selection. As a representative of the Muʿtazilite tradition, Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār interprets prop-hethood as a rational necessity and a requirement of divine justice. According to him, prophethood is both a grace and a necessity through which God guides His ser-vants in matters beyond the reach of human reason. The sending of prophets is a manifestation of divine wisdom aimed at maintaining the moral and legal order of society. Ibn Taymiyyah, on the other hand, regards prophethood as an entirely revelation-centered institution. For him, prophethood cannot be attained through human knowledge or capability; it is solely the result of God's act of "iṣṭifāʾ," that is, divi-ne selection. Prophethood represents the reflection of divine mercy, justice, and wisdom. The attempts of philosophers and rationalist theologians to reduce prophet-hood to a psychological or symbolic phenomenon, according to Ibn Taymiyyah, amount to a distortion of the essence of revelation. As a result of the study, it has been observed that Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār's approach is human-centered, whereas Ibn Taymiyyah's approach is revelation-centered. Altho-ugh both thinkers agree that prophethood is a divine institution, they differ in their epistemological foundations and methodologies. This comparison is significant in demonstrating how the balance between reason and revelation is interpreted within Islamic theology. Keywords: Prophethood, Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār, Ibn Taymiyyah, revelation, reason, divine wisdom.