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'Ilm al-kalam denotes a discipline of Islamic thought generally referred to as 'theology or as 'scholastic theology'. The discipline, which evolved from the political and religious controversies that engulfed the Muslim community in its formative years, deals with interpretations of religious doctrine and the defence of these interpeatations by means of discursive arguments. The rise of kalam came to be closely associated ewith the Mu'tazila, a rationalist school that emerged at the beginning of the second centuryah (seventh centuryad) and rose to prominence in the following century. The failure of the Mutazila to follow up their initial intellectual and political ascendancy by imposing their views as official state doctrine seriously discredited rationalism, leading to a resurgence of traditionalism and later to the emergence of the Ash'ariyya school, which attempted to present itself as a compromise between the two opposing extremes. The Ash'artite' school gained acceptability within mainstream (Sunni) Islam. However, kalam continued to be condemned, even in this 'orthdox' garb, by the dominant traditionally-inclined school. The book is intended to assist students and teachers who are interested in this subject.