Abu al-Barakat al-Nasafi ( ar, أبو البركات النسفي), was an eminent

Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named aft ...

scholar, Qur'an exegete (

mufassir Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...

), and a

Maturidi Māturīdī theology or Māturīdism ( ar, الماتريدية: ''al-Māturīdiyyah'') is one of the main Sunnī schools of Islamic theology, founded by the Persian Muslim scholar, Ḥanafī jurist, reformer (''Mujaddid''), and scholastic th ...

theologian. He is perhaps best known for his Tafsir ''Madarik al-Tanzil wa Haqa'iq al-Ta'wil'' ( ar, مدارك التنزيل وحقائق التأويل, lit=The Perceptions of Revelation and the Truths of Interpretation). He was one of the foremost figures of the classical period of

Hanafi jurisprudence The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools (maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named afte ...

and one of the major scholars of the

school in the

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

tradition, which developed in parallel with Hanafiyya, who made a tremendous contribution in the field of

Islamic sciences The Islamic sciences ( ar, علوم الدين, ʿulūm al-dīn, lit=the sciences of religion) are a set of traditionally defined religious sciences practiced by Islamic scholars ( ), aimed at the construction and interpretation of Islamic relig ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

, especially to the dissemination of the Hanafian order and teachings of the Maturidi school in the

Islamic world The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. In ...

and left a great amount of scientific heritage. He successfully worked in different branches of

Islamic studies Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...

such as

tafsir Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...

fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...

and

kalam ''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...

. For his contribution to Islamic sciences he was given an honorable title of "Hafiz al-Din" (Protector of the Religion). He was praised by

'Abd al-Hayy al-Lucknawi Abdul Hayy Lucknawi Firangi Mahali (1264 - 1304 A.H./1848 - 1886 C.E) was an Indian Islamic scholar of Hanafi school of Islamic thought. Lineage Abdul Hayy was born in Banda, India, in 1847. He was a descendant of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. Early ...

, and

Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī or ''Ibn Ḥajar'' ( ar, ابن حجر العسقلاني, full name: ''Shihābud-Dīn Abul-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn Nūrud-Dīn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī al-Kināni'') (18 February 1372 – 2 Febru ...

described him as the " 'Allamah of the World", and

Ibn Taghribirdi Jamal al-Din Yusuf bin al-Amir Sayf al-Din Taghribirdi ( ar, جمال الدين يوسف بن الأمير سيف الدين تغري بردي), or Abū al-Maḥāsin Yūsuf ibn Taghrī-Birdī, or Ibn Taghribirdi (2 February 1411— 5 June 1470; ...

gave him the honorable title of " Shaykh al-Islam". Some scholars ranked him as

mujtahid ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ar, اجتهاد ', ; lit. physical or mental ''effort'') is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a le ...

in Hanafi fiqh.

Name

Abu al-Barakat 'Abd Allah b. Ahmad b. Mahmud Hafiz al-Din al-Nasafi (an ascription to the city of

Nasaf Qarshi ( uz, Qarshi/Қарши, ; fa, نخشب ''Nakhshab'') is a city in southern Uzbekistan. It is the capital of Qashqadaryo Region. Administratively, Qarshi is a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlement Qashqadaryo. It ...

Transoxania Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of ...

, modern

Qarshi Qarshi ( uz, Qarshi/Қарши, ; fa, نخشب ''Nakhshab'') is a city in southern Uzbekistan. It is the capital of Qashqadaryo Region. Administratively, Qarshi is a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlement Qashqadaryo (tow ...

in southern

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

Birth

His birth date is unknown, but he was born in Izaj. It was also said that he was born in

Sogdiana Sogdia ( Sogdian: ) or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid Emp ...

(present-day Southern

and Western

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

Teachers

He studied under some teachers and masters, such as: * Shams al-A'imma Abu al-Wajd Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Sattar b. Muhammad al'Imādi al-Kardari (d. 642 AH). * Hamid al-Din 'Ali b. Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Darir al-Ramushi al-Bukhari (d. 666 AH). * Badr al-Din Jawahir-Zadah Muhammad b. Mahmud b. 'Abdelkarim (d. 651 AH).

Students

His pupils were: * Muzaffar al-Din ibn al-Sa'ati, author of the Majma' al-Bahrain wa Multaqa al-Nayyirain (d. 694/1294 — 1295). * Husam al-Din Husayn b. 'Ali al-Sighnaqi, a commentator on the al-Hidaya (d. 714/1314 — 1315).

Books

Some of his most celebrated works are: * ''Madarik al-Tanzil wa Haqa'iq al-Ta'wil'' ( ar, مدارك التنزيل وحقائق التأويل, lit=The Perceptions of Revelation and the Truths of Interpretation). * ''Kanz al-Daqa'iq'' ( ar, كنز الدقائق, lit=The Treasure of Exactitudes) is a summary of Islamic legal prescriptions according to the Hanifite school of sharia law. * ''Manar al-Anwar fi Usul al-Fiqh'' ( ar, منار الأنوار في أصول الفقه, lit=The Lighthouse casting Light on the Principles of Jurisprudence). * '' 'Umdat al-Aqa'id'' ( ar, عمدة العقائد, lit=Basic Pillar of the Creeds). A treatise on

(Islamic theology), expounding

dogmas, with a refutation of the doctrines of the

Shi'a Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

and other sects. The work was edited by the English orientalist

William Cureton William Cureton (180817 June 1864) was an English Orientalist. Life He was born in Westbury, Shropshire. After being educated at the Adams' Grammar School in Newport, Shropshire and at Christ Church, Oxford, he took orders in 1832, became chapl ...

and published in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1843, under the title of 'Umdat 'Aqidat Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah ( ar, عمدة عقيدة أهل السنة والجماعة, lit=Pillar of the Creed of the Sunnites) he also wrote comments to this book and called it ''Al-I'timad'' ( ar, الاعتماد, lit=The Reliance). * ''Al-Musaffa fi Sharh al-Manzuma al-Nasafiyya fi al-Khilafiyyat'' ( ar, المصفى في شرح المنظومة النسفية في الخلافيات, lit=Exposition of al-Nasafi's Didactic Poem on the Divergences). A commentary work on Abu Hafs 'Umar al-Nasafi's ''al-Manzumah fi al-Khilafiyyat'' which is a book on controversions and differences between law schools.

Death

He died in 710/1310 in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

on a Friday evening of the month Rabi' al-Awwal. He was buried in the city of Izaj located between

Khuzestan Khuzestan Province (also spelled Xuzestan; fa, استان خوزستان ''Ostān-e Xūzestān'') is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it covers ...

and

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

. According to Kurashi and

, his date of death was 701 AH = 1301 AD.

References

{{Authority control Hanafi fiqh scholars Maturidis 14th-century Muslim theologians Quranic exegesis scholars Shaykh al-Islāms Sunni imams Sunni fiqh scholars Sunni Muslim scholars People from Izeh 1310 deaths 1301 deaths