Dhia' ul-Dīn 'Abd al-Malik ibn Yūsuf al-Juwaynī al-Shafi'ī ( fa, امام الحرمین ضیاءالدین عبدالملک ابن یوسف جوینی شافعی, 17 February 102820 August 1085; 419–478
AH) was a
Persian 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 dis ...
Shafi'i
The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...
jurist and
mutakallim theologian. His name is commonly abbreviated as Al-Juwayni; he is also commonly referred to as ''Imam al Haramayn'',
[M. M. Sharif, A History of Muslim Philosophy, 1.242. ] meaning "leading master of the
two holy cities", that is,
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...
and
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
.
Biography
Al-Juwayni was born on 17 February 1028 in a village on the outskirts of
Naysabur called Bushtaniqan in Iran,
[Al-Juwayni, Yusef. A Guide to the Conclusive Proofs for the Principles of Belief. 1 ed. Eissa S. Muhammad. The Center for Muslim Contribution to Civilization, 2000] Al-Juwayni was a prominent
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
scholar known for his gifted intellect in Islamic legal matters. Al-Juwayni was born into a family of legal study. His father, Abu Muhammad 'Abdallah b. Yusef al-Juwayni, was a well-known master of Law in the
Shafi′i community as well as a Shafi'i teacher and his older brother, Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali al-Juwayni, was a Sufi teacher of Hadith.
Al-Juwayni grew up in Naysabur,
[ an intellectually thriving area drawing scholars to it. Naturally, Juwayni did not have to search far for his education. At the time, the teachings of the Shafi'i school were closely linked to the Ash'arite theology which al-Juwayni decided to study for several years after the death of his father, he took over for his father at this point and began his teaching career at only 19 years of age.][
The Seljuks, at the time, were moving quickly in their conquest of eastern Iran and ]Tughril Beg
Abu Talib Muhammad Tughril ibn Mika'il ( fa, ابوطالب محمد تغریل بن میکائیل), better known as Tughril (; also spelled Toghril), was a Turkmen"The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
became the first sultan. Tughril Beg was a Mutazili
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 ...
-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 a ...
adherent and at the time, the Ash'arite theological camp and the Hanafi school of legal thought shared a hostile relationship based in differences of opinion regarding doctrine and when Tughril Beg was named wazir in Nishapur, he forbid al-Juwayni to practice or teach the Ash'ari theological perspective.[
Al-Juwayni traveled to ]Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...
and Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
in search of an interim home. He taught and studied there in Hijaz
The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provinc ...
for four years.[Messick, Brinkley. "Kissing Hands and Knees: Hegemony and Hierarchy in Shari'a Discourse." Law & Society Review 22, no. 4 (1988): 637-660.] During this time, al-Juwayni became hugely popularized because of his father's prominence in the scholarly world, and his exile.[ He gained a large following and was invited back to Nishapur by the founder of the Shafii ]Madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
, Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk. Upon his return, Juwayni was appointed to teach the doctrine of the Ash'arites at the Nizamiyya Madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
until he died in 1085CE (which would turn out to be about 26 years).[ Al-Juwayni spent his life studying and producing influential treatises in Muslim government; it is suspected that most of his works (below) came out of this period after his return from Mecca and Medina.][
Al-Juwayni was the teacher of one of the most influential scholars in the Islamic tradition, particularly ]Sufism
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality ...
, 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 poly ...
.[ Following are some of the famous remarks of al-Juwayni towards al-Ghazali:
]
Doctrine
Al-Juwayni, a 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 dis ...
jurist and Mutakallim, or scholar engaged in the study of theological principles, spent his life deciphering between what a Muslim ought and ought not to do. He was said to be stubborn and accepting of any legal speculation whatsoever. His basic principle was that the law should not be left to speculation on any grounds. Rather, texts hold the answers to any possible legal debate in some capacity or another.[ He was a master of the ]Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard 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 from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , ...
and Hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
texts in addition to being well versed in the particular school of Shafi'i and theological practices of the Ash'arite persuasion.[Hallaq, Wael B.. "Caliphs, Jurists and the Saljuqs in the Political Thought of Juwayni." The Muslim World 74, no. 1 (1984): 26-41.]
Works
Al-Juwayni's primary work '''' ( ar, کتاب الارشاد علی قواطع الادله فی اصول الاعتقاد), his "guidebook to conclusive proofs for the principles of belief" helps to illustrate his doctrine. It is intended to outline exactly ''what has'' been proven, ''what can'' be proven and ''how'' those things can be proven.[ He focuses much of his attention on God and the fundamental Islamic principle that God is the only and all-powerful creator. He explains that we are often caught up in a temporally contingent existence, lost in continuity but that we should realize God's ability to interrupt this continuity at any time. Al-Juwayni focuses a similar amount of attention on legal methodology and is particularly concerned with the methods for discerning difficult debates. He explains naskh "abrogation", for example, in great detail.][
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 e ...
, uṣūl alf-qh, 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 ...
:
* Ghiyath al-Umam ()
* Mughith al-Khalq ()
* (, "The End of the Quest in the Knowledge of the hafi'iSchool"), his magnum opus, which Ibn 'Asakir said had no precedent in Islam
* Mukhtasar al-Nihaya
* al-Burhan
* al-Talkhis
* al-Waraqat
* al-Shamil
* ''A Guide to Conclusive Proofs for the Principles of Belief''
* al-'Aqida al-Nizamiyya
The book '' Fara'id al-Simtayn'' is sometimes mistakenly thought to be authored by the Sunni Abd'al Malik al-Juwayni. It was in fact authored by another Sunni scholar, Ibrahim bin Muhammad bin Himaway al Juwaynim who died in 1322 (722 A.H.)[Mu`ajam al-Mu`alafeen Vol.1 Page 89]
See also
* List of Ash'aris and Maturidis
* List of Muslim theologians
References
* Musharraf, M. N. (2015) "Explanation of Al-Waraqat - A Classical Text on Usul Al Fiqh", Printed by Australian Islamic Library, WA.
* Al-Juwayni,Yusef. A Guide to the Conclusive Proofs for the Principles of Belief. 1 ed. Eissa S. Muhammad. The Center for Muslim Contribution to Civilization, 2000.
* Messick, Brinkley. "Kissing Hands and Knees: Hegemony and Hierarchy in Shari'a Discourse." Law & Society Review 22, no. 4 (1988): 637–660.
* Hallaq, Wael B.. "Caliphs, Jurists and the Saljuqs in the Political Thought of Juwayni." The Muslim World 74, no. 1 (1984): 26–41.
* Fadiman & Frager,James & Robert. Essential Sufism. 1 ed. James Fadiman & Robert Frager. San Francisco : HarperCollins, 1997.
* Johnston, David. "A Turn in the Epistemology and Hermeneutics of Twentieth Century Usul Al-Fiqh." Islamic Law & Society 11, no. 2 (2004): 233–282.
* Sohaira Z.M Siddiqui, ''Law and Politics under the Abbasids. An Intellectual Portrait of al-Juwayni'', Cambridge University Press, avril 2019.
Citations
External links
Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni
The Waraqat of Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni
Author analysis Faraa’d al Simtayn
{{Authority control
Asharis
Shafi'is
Shaykh al-Islāms
Mujaddid
11th-century Muslim theologians
Sunni fiqh scholars
Persian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Muhaddiths from Nishapur
11th-century Iranian people
1028 births
1085 deaths
Juvayni family
11th-century jurists