The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (321 page)

(Arab., ‘appearance’). The occurrence of new circumstances which bring about the alteration of an earlier determination on the part of God. The issue related to this term is extremely controversial in Islam, because it implies that God can ‘change his mind’—i.e. it threatens the attribution of immutability, omnipotence, and
qadr
(see
ALL
H
).
Bad
' rests particularly on the Quranic claim that God will change his determination to punish sinners, provided that they repent. It is reinforced by mansukh (
naskh
, abrogation of one part of the Qur'
n by another).

 
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(‘descendant of Badara’). The ancient Indian sage, living around the 1st cent. BCE (though some suggest much later, e.g. 3rd/4th cent. CE), who propounded the basic teachings of
Ved
nta
which are expressed in the
Brahmas
tra
and later developed by
a
kara
,
R
m
nuja
, and their successors. Although
a
kara attributed the authorship of the
Brahmas
tra
to B
dar
ya
a, others have attributed the work to the legendary compiler of the
Mah
bh
rata