The Role of the Theory of “Meaning” in Hishām ibn al-Ḥakam’s Account of the Nature of God’s Will

The theory of “meaning” was deployed by theologians (mutakallimūn) of the School of Kūfa, particularly Hishām ibn al-Ḥakam, as an ontological approach to analyzing and explaining divine acts and God’s attributes of action. Of God’s attributes of action, will is the most prominent, which is known by the great theologian in this period of the history of Imāmī Kalām as “motion.” Hishām ibn al-Ḥakam believed that will is what transpires out of power and volition, although it is different from other entities and creatures in the world. Thus, he posited an existence for will independently of God’s essence and act—what he referred to as “meaning.” The view was derived from some Imāmī hadiths according to which will was created separately from other creatures.