Islamic Philosophy and Theology, I

I recently got my hands on a copy of W. Montgomery Watt's Islamic Philosophy and Theology: An Extended Survey and am planning to work my way through it before summer ends. This will be my first systematic exposure to Islamic philosophy and theology, and consequently I want to take notes on this book as I'm reading it to be able to refer to them as I learn more. Why take notes online? Well, since I'm just starting off, I'd greatly appreciate being pointed to new sources that will give me more details on what puzzles me and what may be controversial. I don't even know if this is the best introductory source available, for instance! The other great advantage of posting notes online is that it forces me to keep my notes (decently) clear, (relatively) coherent, and (somewhat) systematic, in the fear that some poor soul with too much free time on their hands may actually want to read it.

I'm going to keep updating this post adding new posts as I get further through the book. All quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the 1985 Edinburgh University Press edition of the book.

First, a little bit on the organization of the book. Its overall organization is chronological and not thematic or sectarian. This approach has its problems—most importantly, it makes it a little more difficult to explore the gradual shifting of the contours of a particular school of thought or ideology. However, it has the virtue of framing philosophical developments within a particular social, historical, and political context, and this is probably a good thing in an introduction. Consequently, the notes I take on particular sects or terms may appear to be incomplete or inaccurate; if such is the case, then it's likely that it is an effect of the chronological organization of the book.