David ibn Merwan al-Mukkamas
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David (abu Sulaiman) ibn Merwan al-Mukkamas al-Rakki (
Daniel al-Ḳumisi," and in Al-Hiti
's chronicle this name is also spelled with a ẓade (Jew. Quart. Rev. ix.432).
Polemical works
David, the father of Jewish philosophy, was almost unknown until the latter part of the 19th century. The publication of
Karaism, on the ground that he is quoted by Karaite scholars, and is called by Hadasi
"ger ẓedeḳ" (pious proselyte).
The discovery by
David al-Hiti in his chronicle of Karaite doctors, published by Margoliouth
(Jew. Quart. Rev. ix.432).
20 Chapters on Philosophy
In 1898 Harkavy discovered in the Imperial Library of
St. Petersburg
fifteen of the twenty chapters of David's philosophical work entitled Ishrun Maḳalat (Twenty Chapters). The subject-matter of these fifteen chapters is as follows:
- The Aristotelian categories
- Science and the reality of its existence
- The creation of the world
- The evidence that it is composed of substance and accidents
- The properties of substance and accident
- A criticism of those who maintain the eternity of matter
- Arguments in favor of the existence of God and His creation of the world
- The unity of God, refuting the Dualists, and the Christians
- The divine attributes
- Refutation of anthropomorphism and Christian ideas
- Why God became our Lord
- Showing that God created us for good and not for evil, and combating absolute pessimism as well as absolute optimism
- The utility of prophecy and prophets
- Signs of true prophecy and true prophets
- Mandatory and prohibitive commandments.
David as well as other Karaites—for instance,
Motazilite kalam, especially in his chapter on the attributes of God, wherein he holds that, though we speak of these attributes as we speak of human attributes, the two can not be compared, since nothing comes to Him through the senses as is the case with man. God's "life" is a part of His "being", and the assumption of attributes in the Deity can in no way affect His unity. "Quality" can not be posited of the Deity. In his tenth chapter, on "Rewards and Punishments," David holds that these are eternal in the future world. This chapter has many points in common with Saadia
, both drawing from the same source (Schreiner, Der Kalam, p. 25).
Other works
David quotes two others of his own works which are no longer in existence: Kitab fi al-Budud and Kitab fi 'Arḍ al-Maḳalat 'ala al-Manṭiḳ, on the categories. In one passage David relates that he had a philosophical disputation in
Arabic
authorities. It is possible that this accounts for the neglect of his work by the Jews.
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
- Fürst, in Literaturblatt des Orients, viii.617, 642;
- Gabriel Polak, Halikot Ḳedem, pp. 69 et seq.;
- Pinsker, Liḳḳuṭe Ḳadmoniyyot, ii.17 et seq.;
- Grätz, Gesch. v.285;
- A. Harkavy, Le-Ḳorot ha-Kittot be-Yisrael', in Grätz, Gesch. iii.498 et seq. (Hebr. transl.);
- idem, in Voskhod, Sept., 1898;
- Samuel Poznanski, in Jew. Quart. Rev. xiii.328;
- Steinschneider, in Jew. Quart. Rev. xi.606, xiii.450;
- idem, Hebr. Uebers. p. 378;
- David Kaufmann, Attributenlehre, Index, passim.
Recent Bibliography
- Sarah Stroumsa, Dawud ibn Marwan al-Muqammis's 'Ishrun Maqala (Etudes sur le judaisme medieval XIII, Leiden: Brill, 1989)
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "David (abu Sulaiman) ibn Merwan al-Mukkamas al-Rakki". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
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