Ibn Rawandi and His Defense of Kufa’s Theological Thought

Ibn Rawandi was Mu'tazili for a period and then became Imami. The author of the present article tries to deal with the issue by answering the following questions: How Ibn Rawandi accepted the Imami school and within the framework of which Imami intellectual trends? Has he, considering his Mu'tazili tendencies, somehow introduced the methods and content of the Mu'tazilah thoughts into Imami theology and thereafter created a certain literature in Imami theology or just followed the general flow of theology before him? With the aim to clarify the situation of Shia theology in the third century AH, as well as a clear idea of the Imami thought in theology school of Kufa and Baghdad, by way of comparison between Ibn Rawandi thoughts and Hisham ibn Hakam, the representative of the Imami theology in Kufa, the author of the paper concludes that Ibn Rawandi can be considered a follower of Imami theological method in Kufa. It seems that, Ibn Rawandi in a friendly encounter with Mu’tazilites attempted to explain the cognitive system of Imamia through revival of the Imami School of Theology in Kufa.