Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn aṭ-Ṭayyib al-Bāqillānī ( ar, أبو بكر محمد بن الطيب الباقلاني; c. 950 - 5 June 1013), often known as al-Bāqillānī for short, or reverentially as Imām al-Bāqillānī by adherents to the Ash'ari ' aqidah, was a famous Sunni Islamic theologian,

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

, and logician who spent much of his life defending and strengthening the Ash'ari school of thought within

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. An accomplished rhetorical stylist and orator, al-Baqillani was held in high regard by his contemporaries for his expertise in debating theological and

jurisprudential Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning ...

issues.Ansari, Hassan, Melvin-Koushki, Matthew, Tareh, Masoud, Khodaverdian, Shahram, Omidi, Jalil and Gholami, Rahim, “al-Bāqillānī, Abū Bakr”, in: ''Encyclopaedia Islamica'', Editors-in-Chief: Wilferd Madelung and, Farhad Daftary. Al-Baqillani is often given the honorary epithets ''Shaikh as-Sunnah'' ("Doctor of the Prophetic Way"), ''Lisān al-Ummah'' ("Voice of the Community"), ''Imād ad-Dīn'' ("Pillar of the Faith"), ''Nāsir al-Islām'' ("Guardian of Islam"), and ''Saif as-Sunnah'' ("Sword of the Prophetic Way") by Ash'aris. Born in Basra in 330 AH / 950 CE, he spent most of his life in Baghdad, and studied theology under two disciples of al-Ash'ari, Ibn Mujahid at-Ta'i and Abul-Hasan al-Bahili.Richard C. Martín, Encyclopedia of Islam & the Muslim World, Volume 1, p 105. He also studied jurisprudence under the Maliki scholars Abu 'Abdillah ash-Shirazi and Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani. After acquiring expertise in both Islamic theology and Maliki jurisprudence he expounding the teachings of the Ash'ari school, and taught Maliki jurisprudence in Baghdad. He held the office of chief Qadi in Baghdad and in 'Ukbara, a town not far from the capital. Al-Baqillani became a popular lecturer, and took part in debates with well-known scholars of the day. Because of his debate skill, the Amir 'Adud ad-Dawlah dispatched him as an envoy to the Byzantine court in Constantinople and he debated Christian scholars in the presence of their king in 371/981. He died in 403 AH / 1013 CE. He supported the doctrine of the apologetic miracle being proof of prophecy, the non-creation of the Qur'an, intercession, and the possibility of seeing God. Ibn Taimiyyah called al-Baqillani 'the best of the Ash'ari mutakallimun, unrivalled by any predecessor or successor'.

Works

Fifty-five titles of works written by al-Baqillani have been listed, the great majority on legal and theological matters, and many written against his opponents.David Richard Thomas, Christian Doctrines in Islamic Theology, p 121. Vol. 10 of History of Christian-Muslim Relations Series. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2008. * '' Al-Inṣāf fīmā Yajib I'tiqāduh'' * ''I‘jāz al-Qur’ān'' (The Inimitability of the Qur'an) * ''Al-Intiṣār lil-Qur’ān'' * ''Al-Taqrīb wal-Irshād aṣ-Ṣaghīr'' * ''Kitāb Tamhīd al-Awāʼil wa-Talkhīṣ ad-Dalāʼil'' (The Introduction) * ''Manāqib al-A’immah al-Arba‘ah''

References

External links

Biography of Imâm Al Bâqillânî by Al Qâdî 'Iyâd Al Yahsubî

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baqillani Asharis Malikis Mujaddid Sunni Muslim scholars Sunni imams People from Basra 10th-century Muslim scholars of Islam 10th-century jurists 11th-century jurists 10th-century Arabs 11th-century Arabs 940s births 1013 deaths Year of birth uncertain