Tajrīd al-iʿtiqād (عربی: تجرید الاعتقاد) or Tajrid al-Kalam is a work by

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ṭūsī (1201 – 1274), also known as Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (; ) or simply as (al-)Tusi, was a Persians, Persian polymath, architect, Early Islamic philosophy, philosopher, Islamic medicine, phy ...

about

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

beliefs in

Islamic theology Schools of Islamic theology are various Islamic schools and branches in different schools of thought regarding creed. The main schools of Islamic theology include the extant Mu'tazili, Ash'ari, Maturidi, and Athari schools; the extinct ones ...

. ''Tajrīd'' is the most famous scholastic text in Shiite theology and most effective work in history of apologetic written by Nasir al-Dīn Ṭūsī.

Author

Ṭusi, was a celebrated polymath and vizier, whose prominent work was on topics in literary, theological and scientific disciplines. Ṭūsī (d. 672/1274) was admired by scholars in spheres such as

Kalam ''Ilm al-kalam'' or ''ilm al-lahut'', often shortened to ''kalam'', is the scholastic, speculative, or rational study of Islamic theology ('' aqida''). It can also be defined as the science that studies the fundamental doctrines of Islamic fai ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. He wrote nearly 274 essays on different subjects. His theological works is along with criticism of precedents such as Talkhis Al Mohassal or guidebooks in Arabic and Persian language for the sake of learning.

Title

There are different opinions on the title of the work. Agha Bozorg sees the name of the book as Tahrir with reference to Tusi's expressions in its introduction. Agha Bozorg views the composite name of Tajrid Al Kalam fi Tahrir Al Eteghad as the title in his writings. Some people know Tahrir as a false record of Tajrid. There are many other references to the book by titles such as Tajrid al-'aqa'id, and Tajrid Al Kalam. Some, like Taftazani, express doubts on attributing the book to Nasi Al Din because of the inconsistencies between Sharhe esharat and Tajrid. Instead someone such as Sabzevari didn’t accept such a hesitation. According to Gharamaleki he couldn’t count Taftazani's reason as sufficient for not attributing the book to Tusi, since these inconsistencies could be ascribed to evolution in Tusi's thinking. Tusi wrote the book after reverting to the

Twelvers Twelver Shi'ism (), also known as Imamism () or Ithna Ashari, is the largest branch of Shi'a Islam, comprising about 90% of all Shi'a Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers to its adherents' belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as t ...

sect, rather than during his time as an

Ismaili Ismailism () is a branch of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept ...

patriot.

Sections

The ''Tajrīd'' has six sections or ''maqāṣid'' dealing with the following matters: (a) general

ontology Ontology is the philosophical study of existence, being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of realit ...

, (b) substance and accident, (c) metaphysics or ilāhīyāt, (e)

prophecy In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain di ...

, (f) the Imamate, (g)

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

or al-maʿād.

Commentaries

Ṭūsī's work has enjoyed the attention of commentators and glossators. The first was by his student al-Allama al-Hilli (d. 1325 CE), others are by Shams al-din Iṣfahānī (d. 1348), Al-Sharif al-Jurjani (d. 1414) and

Ali Qushji Ala al-Dīn Ali ibn Muhammed (1403 – 18 December 1474), known as Ali Qushji (Ottoman Turkish language, Ottoman Turkish : علی قوشچی, ''kuşçu'' – falconry, falconer in Turkish language, Turkish; Latin: ''Ali Kushgii'') was a Tim ...

(d. 1474). The commentaries were circulated widely in India.

Translations

''Theology Abstracted'', An Arabic critical edition and English translation of Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī's ''Tajrid al-Iʿtiqād'' by Dr Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi (London: The Shīʿah Institute Press, 2025). ISBN: 9781917761000 (hardback).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tajrid al-i'tiqad Shia literature Kalam Shia theology books