Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Maḥmūd al-Ḥanafī al-Māturīdī al-Samarḳandī
( fa, أبو منصور محمد بن محمد بن محمود الماتریدي السمرقندي الحنفي; 853–944 CE), often referred to as Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī for short, or reverently referred to as Imām al-Māturīdī by
Sunnī Muslims, was a
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
Muslim scholar of
Ḥanafī jurisprudence
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 a ...
,
scriptural exegete,
reformer (''mujaddid''), and
scholastic theologian
Scholasticism was a medieval school of philosophy that employed a Organon, critical organic method of philosophical analysis predicated upon the Aristotelianism, Aristotelian categories (Aristotle), 10 Categories. Christian scholasticism eme ...
(''mutakallim''), renowned for being the eponymous founder of the
Māturīdī school of
Islamic theology
Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding ''ʿaqīdah'' (creed). The main schools of Islamic Theology include the Qadariyah, Falasifa, Jahmiyya, Murji'ah, Muʿtazila, Bati ...
,
which became the dominant Sunnī school of Islamic theology in
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 ...
,
and later enjoyed a preeminent status as the theological school of choice for both the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
and the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
.
He was from a place called Māturīd or Māturīt in
Samarqand
fa, سمرقند
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from the top: Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zin ...
(today
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 ...
), and was known during his lifetime as ''
Shaykh al-Islām
Shaykh al-Islām ( ar, شيخ الإسلام, Šayḫ al-Islām; fa, شِیخُالاسلام ''Sheykh-ol-Eslām''; ota, شیخ الاسلام, Şhaykḫu-l-İslām or ''Sheiklı ul-Islam''; tr, Şeyhülislam) was used in the classical e ...
'' and ''Imām al-Hudā'' ("Leader of Right Guidance").
He was one of the two foremost Imams of the
Ashʿarite school in his time, along with its founder
Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī in matters of theological inquiry.
In contrast to his master al-Ashʿarī, who was a
Shāfiʿī 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 ...
, al-Māturīdī adhered to the
eponymous school of jurisprudence founded by
Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān, and to his
creed
A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets.
The ea ...
(''ʿaqīdah'') as transmitted and elaborated by the Ḥanafī Muslim theologians of
Balkh
), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001
, pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia
, pushpin_relief=yes
, pushpin_label_position=bottom
, pushpin_mapsize=300
, pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...
and
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 Tu ...
.
It was this theological doctrine which al-Māturīdī codified, systematized, and used to refute not only the opinions of the
Muʿtazilites, the
Karramites, and other heterodox groups, but also non-Islamic theologies such as those of
Chalcedonian Christianity
Chalcedonian Christianity is the branch of Christianity that accepts and upholds theological and ecclesiological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christolo ...
,
Miaphysitism
Miaphysitism is the Christological doctrine that holds Jesus, the "Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one 'nature' (''physis'')." It is a position held by the Oriental Orthodox Churches and differs from the Chalcedonian positio ...
,
Manichaeanism
Manichaeism (;
in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian prophet Mani (AD ...
,
Marcionism
Marcionism was an early Christian dualistic belief system that originated with the teachings of Marcion of Sinope in Rome around the year 144. Marcion was an early Christian theologian, evangelist, and an important figure in early Christian ...
, and
Bardaisan
Bardaisan (11 July 154 – 222 AD; syr, ܒܪ ܕܝܨܢ, ''Bardaiṣān''), known in Arabic as Ibn Daisan (ابن ديصان) and in Latin as Bardesanes, was a Syriac-speaking Assyrian or ParthianProds Oktor Skjaervo. ''Bardesanes''. Encyclopædia ...
ism.
Name
Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī's epithet or ''nisba'' refers to Māturīd or Māturīt, a locality in
Samarkand
fa, سمرقند
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
(today
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 ...
).
Teachers
He studied under his teachers, Muhammad bin Muqatil al-Razi (d. 248 H/ 662 CE), Abu Nasr al-Ayadi "al-Faqih al-Samarqandi" (d. 260 H?), Nusayr bin Yahya al-Balkhi (d. 268 H/ 881 CE), and
Abu Bakr al-Juzjani (d. 250 H?).
[Akimkhanov, Askar Bolatbekovich, et al. "Principles of Abu Mansur al-Maturidi, Central Asian Islamic theologian preoccupied with the question of the relation between the Iman/credo and the action in Islam." ''European Journal of Science and Theology'' 12.6 (2016): 165-176.][Çandur, Yasemin. Ebû Bekir Ahmed b. İshak el-Cûzcânî ve Cûzcâniyye. MS thesis. Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2015. p.6] He narrated Abu Hanifa's Kitab al-Alim wa Mut'alim from Abu Bakr al-Juzjani, who narrated it from Muhammad ibn Muqatil ar-Razi (and Abu Sulayman al-Juzjani).
His chains to Abu Hanifa are given as follows:
#He took from Muhammad bin Muqatil al-Razi (d. 248 H), from
Muhammad al-Shaybani
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Farqad ash-Shaybānī ( ar, أبو عبد الله محمد بن الحسن بن فرقد الشيباني; 749/50 – 805), the father of Muslim international law, was an Arab jurist and a dis ...
(d. 189 H), from Abu Hanifa (d. 150 H).
#He took from Abu Nasr al-Ayadi (d. 260 H?),
Nusayr al-Balkhi (d. 268 H) and
Abu Bakr al-Juzjani (d. 250 H?),
who all took from Abu Sulayman al-Juzjani (d. 200 H?),
who took from both
Muhammad al-Shaybani
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Farqad ash-Shaybānī ( ar, أبو عبد الله محمد بن الحسن بن فرقد الشيباني; 749/50 – 805), the father of Muslim international law, was an Arab jurist and a dis ...
and
Abu Yusuf
Ya'qub ibn Ibrahim al-Ansari () better known as Abu Yusuf ( ar, أبو يوسف, Abū Yūsuf) (d.798) was a student of jurist Abu Hanifa (d.767) who helped spread the influence of the Hanafi school of Islamic law through his writings and the gove ...
(d. 182 H), who both took from Abu Hanifa.
#He took from Muhammad bin Muqatil al-Razi and Nusayr al-Balkhi, who additionally both took from Abu Muti al-Hakam al-Balkhi (d. 199 H) and Abu Muqatil Hafs al-Samarqandi (d. 208 H), who both took from Abu Hanifa.
#He took from Abu Nasr al-Ayadi, who took from Abu Ahmad bin Ishaq al-Juzjani (died mid- third century), who took directly from
Muhammad al-Shaybani
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Farqad ash-Shaybānī ( ar, أبو عبد الله محمد بن الحسن بن فرقد الشيباني; 749/50 – 805), the father of Muslim international law, was an Arab jurist and a dis ...
, who took from
Abu Hanifa
Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān ( ar, نعمان بن ثابت بن زوطا بن مرزبان; –767), commonly known by his '' kunya'' Abū Ḥanīfa ( ar, أبو حنيفة), or reverently as Imam Abū Ḥanīfa by Sunni Mus ...
.
Students
Among his students: Ali bin Said Abu al-Hasan al-Rustughfani, Abu Muhammad Abdal-Karim bin Musa bin Isa al-Bazdawi, and
Abu al-Qasim al-Hakim al-Samarqandi
Al-Hakim Abu al-Qasim Ishaq al-Samarqandi ( ar, الحكيم أبو القاسم إسحاق السمرقندي), was a Sunni-Hanafi scholar, qadi ( judge), and sage from Transoxania who studied Sufism in Balkh with Abu Bakr al-Warraq. Some ...
.
Life
Al‑Maturidi was born at Maturid, a village or quarter in the neighbourhood of
Samarkand
fa, سمرقند
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
. Relatively little is known about the life of Maturidi, as the sources available "do not read as biographies, but rather as lists of works that have been enlarged upon by brief statements on his personage and a few words of praise."
[Ulrich Rudolph, ''Al-Māturīdī and the Development of Sunnī Theology in Samarqand'', trans. Rodrigo Adem (Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2015), p. 125] What is evident, however, is that the theologian lived the life of a pure scholar, as "nothing indicates that he held any public office, nor that he possessed more disciples, popularity, or association with the Sāmānid court of Bukhārā than anyone else."
It is accepted, moreover, that Maturidi had two principal teachers, namely Abū Bakr al-Jūzjānī and Abū Naṣr Aḥmad b. al-ʿAbbās al-ʿIyāḍī (d. ca. 874–892), both of whom played significant roles in the shaping of Maturidi's theological views.
Maturidi is said to have lived the life of an ascetic (''zāhid''),
[Ulrich Rudolph, ''Al-Māturīdī and the Development of Sunnī Theology in Samarqand'', trans. Rodrigo Adem (Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2015), p. 131] and various sources attribute numerous
miracles
A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...
(''karāmāt'') to him.
Although he is not usually considered a
mystic, it is nevertheless very possible that Maturidi had some interaction with the Sufis of his area, as "Hanafite theology in the region could not always be sharply separated from mystical tendencies,"
and many of the most important Hanafi jurists of the area were also Sufi mystics.
Theology
Maturidi defined
faith
Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion".
Religious people often ...
(''īmān'') as ''taṣdīḳ bi ’l-ḳalb'' or "inner assent, expressed by verbal confession (''ịḳrār bi ’l-lisān'')."
[Madelung, W., “al-Māturīdī”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.] For Maturidi, moreover, Islamic works (''aʿmāl'') are not a part of faith.
Additionally, Maturidi held that "faith cannot decrease nor increase in substance, though it may be said to increase through renewal and repetition."
Maturidi supported using allegorical interpretation with respect to the anthropomorphic expressions in the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
, though he rejected many of the interpretations the Mutazilites would reach using this method.
In other instances, Maturidi espoused using the traditionalist ''bilā kayf'' method of reading scripture, which insisted on "unquestioning acceptance of the revealed text."
Maturidi further refuted the Mutazilites in his defense of the
Attributes of God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
"as real and eternally subsisting" in the Essence of God (''ḳāʾima bi ’l-d̲h̲āt'').
His chief theological divergence from Ashʿarī was that he held the attributes of essence and action to be "equally eternal and subsistent in the Divine Essence."
Thus, "he insisted that the expressions 'God is eternally the Creator' and 'God has been creating from eternity (''lam yazal k̲h̲āliḳan'')' are equally valid, even though the created world is temporal."
Furthermore, Maturidi staunchly defended the
Beatific Vision (''ruʾya'', literally "vision
f God
F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''.
His ...
) against the Mutazilites, but "consistently rejected the possibility of ''idrāk'', which he understood as grasping, of God by the eyes."
Contrary to popular assumption, Al-Maturidi was not a student of
Al-Ash'ari
Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (; full name: ''Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq al-Ashʿarī''; c. 874–936 CE/260–324 AH), often reverently referred to as Imām al-Ashʿarī by Sunnī Muslims, was an Arab Muslim scholar ...
. The historian al-Bayadi (d. 1078 H) emphasised this saying, "Maturidi is not Ash'ari's follower, as many people would tend to think. He had upheld Sunni Islam long before Ashari, he was a scholar to thoroughly explain and systematically develop Abu Hanifa's and his followers' school".
Work
When Maturidi was growing up there was an emerging reaction against some schools within Islam, notably
Mu'tazili
Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
s,
Qarmati, and
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 ...
. Maturidi, with other two preeminent scholars, wrote especially on the creed of Islam, the other two being
Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari
Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (; full name: ''Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq al-Ashʿarī''; c. 874–936 CE/260–324 AH), often reverently referred to as Imām al-Ashʿarī by Sunnī Muslims, was an Arab Muslim scholar ...
in Iraq, and
Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tahawi
Abu Ja'far Ahmad al-Tahawi ( ar, أبو جعفر الطحاوي, translit=Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī) (843 – 5 November 933), or simply aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī (Arabic: ), was an Egyptian Arab Hanafi jurist and Athari theologian. He stud ...
in Egypt.
While
Al-Ash'ari
Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (; full name: ''Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq al-Ashʿarī''; c. 874–936 CE/260–324 AH), often reverently referred to as Imām al-Ashʿarī by Sunnī Muslims, was an Arab Muslim scholar ...
were Sunni together with Maturidi, he constructed his own theology diverging slightly from
Abu Hanifa
Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān ( ar, نعمان بن ثابت بن زوطا بن مرزبان; –767), commonly known by his '' kunya'' Abū Ḥanīfa ( ar, أبو حنيفة), or reverently as Imam Abū Ḥanīfa by Sunni Mus ...
's school. Gimaret argued that
Al-Ash'ari
Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (; full name: ''Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq al-Ashʿarī''; c. 874–936 CE/260–324 AH), often reverently referred to as Imām al-Ashʿarī by Sunnī Muslims, was an Arab Muslim scholar ...
enunciated that God creates the individual's power (qudra), will, and the actual act, which according to Hye, gives way to a
fatalist
Fatalism is a family of related philosophical doctrines that stress the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or destiny, and is commonly associated with the consequent attitude of resignation in the face of future events which are t ...
school of theology, which was later put in a consolidated form by
Al Ghazali
Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111; ), full name (), and known in Persian-speaking countries as Imam Muhammad-i Ghazali (Persian: امام محمد غزالی) or in Medieval Europe by the Latinized as Algazelus or Algazel, was a Persian polym ...
. According to Encyclopædia Britannica however, Al-Ashari held the doctrine of Kasb as an explanation for how free will and predestination can be reconciled. Maturidi, followed in
Abu Hanifa
Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān ( ar, نعمان بن ثابت بن زوطا بن مرزبان; –767), commonly known by his '' kunya'' Abū Ḥanīfa ( ar, أبو حنيفة), or reverently as Imam Abū Ḥanīfa by Sunni Mus ...
's footsteps, and presented the "notion that God was the creator of man's acts, although man possessed his own capacity and will to act". Maturidi and
Al-Ash'ari
Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (; full name: ''Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq al-Ashʿarī''; c. 874–936 CE/260–324 AH), often reverently referred to as Imām al-Ashʿarī by Sunnī Muslims, was an Arab Muslim scholar ...
also separated from each other in the issue of the attributes of God, as well as some other minor issues.
Later, with the impact of
Turkic society states such as
Great Seljuq Empire
The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian tradition, Turko-Persian, Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qiniq (tribe), Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total are ...
and
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, Hanafi-Maturidi school spread to greater areas where the
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 ...
school of law is prevalent, such as
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
,
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 ...
,
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
,
Balkan
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
and
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
.
Maturidi had immense knowledge of
dualist
Dualism most commonly refers to:
* Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another
** ...
beliefs (Sanawiyya) and of other
old Persian religions. His ''Kitāb al-Tawḥīd'' in this way has become a primary source for modern researchers with its rich materials about Iranian
Manicheanism
Manichaeism (;
in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian prophet Mani (AD ...
(Mâniyya), a group of
Brahmans
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru o ...
(Barähima), and some controversial personalities such as
Ibn al-Rawandi
Abu al-Hasan Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn Ishaq al-Rawandi ( ar, أبو الحسن أحمد بن يحيى بن إسحاق الراوندي), commonly known as Ibn al-Rawandi ( ar, ابن الراوندي; 827–911 CEAl-Zandaqa Wal Zanadiqa, by Moham ...
,
Abu Isa al-Warraq, and Muhammad b. Shabib.
Legacy and veneration
Although there was in the medieval period "a tendency to suppress Maturidi's name and to put Ashʿarī forward as the champion of Islam against all heretics," except in
Transoxiana
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 Tu ...
, Maturidism gradually "came to be widely recognised as the second orthodox Sunni theological school besides" Ashʿarīsm. It is evident from the surviving fifteenth-century accounts of Maturidi's tomb in the cemetery of Jākardīza in Samarkand that the theologian's tomb was "visited ... and held in honor for a long time" throughout the medieval period. This veneration of the theologian seems to have arisen out of traditions preserved by several later scholars which detailed Maturidi's wisdom and spiritual abilities. For example, Abul Muīn al-Nasafī (d. 1114) stated that Maturidi's spiritual gifts were "immeasurably plentiful"
and that "God singled him out with miracles (''kāramāt''), gifts of grace (''mawāhib''), divine assistance (''tawfiq''), and guidance (''irshād'', ''tashdīd'')."
Contemporary
Salafism
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a Islah, reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three g ...
and
Wahhabism
Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, an ...
, however, tends to be very critical of Maturidi's legacy in Sunni Islam due to their aversion towards using any rational thought in matters of
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
, which they deem to be heretical,
despite this antagonism being a position that conflicts with the consensus of Sunnism throughout history.
[Thomas, David, “Al-Māturīdī”, in: ''Christian-Muslim Relations 600 – 1500'', General Editor David Thomas.] As such, it is often said that mainstream "orthodox Sunnism" constitutes the followers of the theological traditions of Maturidi and Ashʿarī,
[Macdonald, D. B., “Māturīdī”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition (1913–1936)'', Edited by M. Th. Houtsma, T.W. Arnold, R. Basset, R. Hartmann.] while Salafism and Wahhabism have often been interpreted by the proponents of the two major schools to be minority splinter theological traditions opposed to the mainstream.
Furthermore, the minor theoretical differences between the theological formulations of Maturidi and Ashʿarī are often deemed by their respective followers to be superficial rather than real,
whence "the two schools are equally orthodox" in traditional Sunnism.
The traditional Sunni point of view is summarized in the words of the twentieth-century Islamic publisher Munīr ʿAbduh Agha, who stated: "There is not much
octrinaldifference between the Ashʿarīs and Māturīdīs, hence both groups are now called People of the Sunna and the Community."
[Munīr ʿAbduh Agha, ''Namudhaj min al-A`mal al-Khayriyya'', p. 134]
Writings
* ''
Kitab al-Tawhid
''Kitab al-Tawhid'' ( ar, كتاب التوحيد, lit=The Book of Monotheism), is the main Sunni theological book, and the primary source of the Maturidi school of thought; written by the Hanafi scholar Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (d. 333/944).
Kitab ...
'' ('Book of Monotheism')
* ''
Ta'wilat Ahl al-Sunnah
Ta'wilat Ahl al-Sunnah ( ar, تأويلات أهل السنة, lit=Interpretations of the People of the Sunnah) or Ta'wilat al-Qur'an ( ar, تأويلات القرآن, lit=Interpretations of the Qur'an), better known as Tafsir al-Maturidi ( ar, ...
'' or ''Ta'wilat al-Qur'an'' ('Book of the Interpretations of the Quran')
* ''Kitāb Radd Awa'il al-Adilla'', a refutation of a
Mu'tazili
Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
book
* ''Radd al-Tahdhib fi al-Jadal'', another refutation of a
Mu'tazili
Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
book
* ''Kitāb Bayan Awham al-Mu'tazila'' ('Book of Exposition of the Errors of
Mu'tazila
Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
)
* ''Kitāb al-Maqalat''
* ''Ma'akhidh al-Shara'i' in
Usul al-Fiqh
Principles of Islamic jurisprudence, also known as ''uṣūl al-fiqh'' ( ar, أصول الفقه, lit. roots of fiqh), are traditional methodological principles used in Islamic jurisprudence (''fiqh'') for deriving the rulings of Islamic law ('' ...
''
* ''Al-Jadal fi Usul al-
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 ...
''
* ''Radd al-Usul al-Khamsa'', a refutation of Abu Muhammad al-Bahili's exposition of the Five Principles of the Mu'tazila
* ''Radd al-Imama'', a refutation of the Shi'i conception of the office of Imam;
* ''Al-Radd 'ala Usul al-Qaramita''
* ''Radd Wa'id al-Fussaq'', a refutation of the Mu'tazili doctrine that all grave sinners will be eternally in hell fire.
See also
*
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 ...
*
Abu Hanifa
Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān ( ar, نعمان بن ثابت بن زوطا بن مرزبان; –767), commonly known by his '' kunya'' Abū Ḥanīfa ( ar, أبو حنيفة), or reverently as Imam Abū Ḥanīfa by Sunni Mus ...
*
Al-Hakim al-Samarqandi
Al-Hakim Abu al-Qasim Ishaq al-Samarqandi ( ar, الحكيم أبو القاسم إسحاق السمرقندي), was a Sunni-Hanafi scholar, qadi (judge), and sage from Transoxania who studied Sufism in Balkh with Abu Bakr al-Warraq. Some source ...
*
Abu al-Mu'in al-Nasafi
Abu al-Mu'in al-Nasafi ( uz, Абул-Муин ан-Насафи; ar, أبو المعين النسفي), was considered to be the most important Central Asian Hanafi theologian in the Maturidite school of Sunni Islam after Imam Abu Mansur al-M ...
*
List of Ash'aris and Maturidis
The list of Ash'aris and Maturidis includes prominent adherents of the Ash'ari and Maturidi schools of thought. The Ash'aris are a doctrinal school of thought named after Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, and the Maturidi school is named for Abu Mansu ...
*
List of Muslim theologians
This is a list of notable Muslim theologians.
Traditional Theologians and Philosophers Ash'aris and Maturidis
* Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari
* Abu Mansur al-Maturidi
* Abu al-Yusr al-Bazdawi
* Abu al-Mu'in al-Nasafi
* Shahab_al-Din_Abu_Hafs_Um ...
*
2020 International Maturidi Conference
References
Notes
Sources
Further reading
Primary
* Bazdawī, ''Uṣūl al-dīn'', ed. H. P. Linss, Cairo 1383/1963, index s.v.
* Abu ’l-Muʿīn al-Nasafī, ''Tabṣirat al-adilla'', quoted in Muḥammad b. Tāwīt al-Ṭānd̲j̲ī, ''Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī'', in IFD, iv/1-2 (1955), 1–12
* Ibn Abi ’l-Wafāʾ, ''al-Ḏj̲awāhir al-muḍīʾa'', Ḥaydarābād 1332/1914, ii, 130-1
* Bayāḍī, ''Is̲h̲ārāt al-marām'', ed. Yūsuf ʿAbd al-Razzāḳ, Cairo 1368/1949, 23
* Zabīdī, ''Itḥāf al-sāda'', Cairo n.d., ii, 5
* Laknawī, ''al-Fawāʾid al-bahiyya'', Cairo 1924, 195
Secondary
* M. Allard, ''Le problème des attributs divins dans la doctrine d’al-Ašʿarī'', Beirut 1965, 419–27
* M. Götz, "Māturīdī und sein Kitāb Taʾwīlāt al-Qurʾān," in Isl., xli (1965), 27–70
* H. Daiber, "Zur Erstausgabe von al-Māturīdī, Kitāb al-Tauḥīd," in Isl., lii (1975), 299–313
Online
Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad al-Māturīdī: Muslim theologian in ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online'', by The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica and Adam Zeidan
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Mansur al-Maturidi
853 births
944 deaths
9th-century Iranian writers
9th-century Muslim theologians
10th-century Iranian writers
10th-century Muslim theologians
Abu Ayyub al-Ansari
Asharis
Hanafi fiqh scholars
Hadith scholars
Iranian people of Arab descent
Maturidis
Mujaddid
Muslim scholars of Islamic jurisprudence
Persian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Quranic exegesis scholars
Salaf
Samanid scholars
Shaykh al-Islāms
Sunni imams
Sunni Muslim scholars
Transoxanian Islamic scholars