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Al-M tur d (d. 944 CE), the prominent Hanafi scholar from Samarqand, succeeded in formulating a theological doctrine which is widely accepted in Sunni Islam to this day. The present volume which is a revised English translation of the German original published in 1997 examines his teachings by describing their principal characteristics and situating them in the history of kal m. Part one investigates the development of Hanafi thought in Transoxania before M tur d 's time. Part two deals with the other religious groups (in particular the Mu'tazilites) which emerged in this area during his lifetime. Part three shows how he explained and defended the position of his predecessors; in doing so, he reformed their traditional views, thereby developing his own theology which then became the basis of a new tradition, viz. the M tur dite school."
- Sales Rank: #4451697 in Books
- Published on: 2014-12-15
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.40" h x 1.00" w x 6.30" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 372 pages
About the Author
Ulrich Rudolph, Dr. phil. (1987) University of Tubingen, is Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Zurich. He has published widely on the history of Islamic theology and philosophy. Rodrigo Adem is a PhD student in the department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago with a specialization in Islamic Thought."
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By Mr. Tahir Hussain
This is an English translation of the original German book investigating the state of Islamic theology from the second Islamic century to the end of the forth Islamic century specifically within the context of the development of Hanafī/Māturīdī theological doctrine. The translation by Rodrigo Adem includes some corrections by the author and addenda as well as references to some recent publications and developments in the area that are not found in the original German. The book aims to trace the formulation of one of the accepted Sunnī creeds developed or rather codified by Shaykh Abū Mansūr al-Māturīdī (d. 333/944); a prominent Hanafī scholar/theologian of the forth/tenth (AH/CE) century from Samarqand, Uzbekistan. The author, Ulrich Rudolph splits the work in to three sections. The first part covers the foundation of Hanafī theology and how it developed up to the time of al-Māturīdī. The second part covers the life of al-Māturīdī, his teachers, activities and students as well as his works including a detailed discussion of his theological opponents. The third and final part discusses the theology of al-Māturīdī and outlines his arguments and his reasoning in taking his theological positions.
In Sunnī Islam there are two main recognised kalām (speculative/philosophical theology) methodologies, the doctrine of Imām Abū Hasan al-Ash’arī (d. 324/936) and the doctrine of Imām Abū Mansūr al-Māturīdī. The preface begins with an introduction to Abū Mansūr al-Māturīdī, regarded as one of the greatest thinkers of the early classical era of kalām. Though he has such a high status, he is introduced under the heading “the famous unknown”. This is due to the fact that the great theologian was surprisingly absent and unstated in the medieval Arabic sources, even Ibn Khaldūn (d. 808/1406) fails to mention him in his Muqaddimah as does al-Shahrastānī (d. 548/1153) in his Kitāb al-Milal wa al-Nihal. It is said that one of the reasons was due to his geographical location, for a long time his influence was restricted to Samarqand and his Transoxanian homeland. The transformation of his acclaim took place in the middle of the fifth/eleventh century, as the Seljuks expanded their rule and carried with them the theology of al-Māturīdī hence it became recognised more widely in the central Islamic territories. At first it opened a theological battlefield between the Hanafites and the Shāfi’ites under the banner of al-Māturīdī and al-Ash’arī respectively. However both of them came to be recognised and accepted under the fold of ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah (people of the tradition of Muhammad (sallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallam) and the consensus of the Ummah) i.e. Sunnī Islam.
The author briefly explores this absence in his introduction and mentions how al-Māturīdī finally gained general recognition as one of the great mutakallimūn (scholar of kalām) in Islam. He examines the two images that are portrayed of al-Māturīdī, the first as the successor to Imām Abū Hanīfah Nu'mān ibn Thābit (d.150/767) and the second as the counterpart to al-Ash’arī. The introduction concludes with a discussion of the state of research in this area and the current conceptualisation. He states that it has not been easy for modern researchers in the past as the texts were not always readily available as they are today. A brief history is given from the early comparisons made of al-Māturīdī and al-Ash’arī by Spitta (1876) to Goldziher (1910) who saw them as near identical and thus he was followed in his verdict by Horten (1912), MacDonald (1936), Klien (1940) and Tritton (1947). The works of al-Māturīdī were therefore not taken in to account and for the most part left unexamined. This only changed with the research of Schacht (1953), Tanci (1955) and Madelung (1968). It brought to light the Hanafī/Māturīdī relationship without the previous comparative approach to al-Ash’arī. However even during this stage, accessing the works of al-Māturīdī in printed form was not available. It wasn’t until later that al-Māturīdī’s works themselves emerged as the focal point of interest with Kholeif (1970), al-Sayyid ‘Awadayn (1971), Rahman (1981) and Topaloglu (2002). The author steers you through this history to bring you to the realisation that we are much better informed about al-Māturīdī than we were some decades ago even though we are still far off analysing his life and thought in detail with which I would agree. He then ends his introduction by guiding you through his thought process and the options he had available to him in structuring this work. The author states that the aim here is to describe al-Māturīdī’s theology as effectively as possible and to do this one must identify his intellectual premise which means ascertaining the religious and theological world of northeastern Iran before and during his time. Therefore this is the approach he decided to take in this book.
After the introduction we begin with an examination of Hanafī theology prior to the scholarly activity of al-Māturīdī. This is specifically focused on Transoxania henceforth we begin with the Murji’a (an early Islamic school) who dominated theological aspects in northeastern Iran and shared certain doctrinal beliefs with the Hanafī School. Their theology is highlighted through the political issue of the jizya (poll tax) which is applicable to non-Muslims by their Muslim rulers. The governors of the time however imposed the poll tax on new converts to Islam in newly conquered territories which led to the theological dispute of what actually constitutes a believer. This unsurprisingly resulted in a dispute over the poll tax and the new believers even tried to sue for their rights from the caliph in Damascus. From a theological stance, this initiated the argument of the prerequisites which were necessary for recognition as a Muslim and the definition of a “believer”. The authorities wanted to make this as difficult as possible as the poll tax increased their treasury hence it was in their interest to levy this tax on as many people as possible. They therefore included practice of the religion as part and parcel of faith including the ability to properly recite verses of the Qur’ān, which would have been difficult for new converts unfamiliar with Arabic. The Murji‘a however defined belief strictly as a declaration of faith and didn’t include practice as part of belief hence they took on the cause of the new converts. The Murji‘a however lacked their own scholarly tradition so when they sought instruction they made their way to Kūfa and to Imām Abū Hanīfah the city's most prestigious scholar at that time. He didn't hesitate in offering them advice and added to this was his profession of some of their views which they had in common (i.e. a Muslim who committed a major sin is still a believer unlike the view of the Khawārij who believed such a person would become a non-believer and the Mu’tazilite who held that the sinner in question was neither a believer nor a non-believer but was in limbo and if s/he doesn’t repent then s/he will abide in Hell forever). The Murji‘a then took these teachings back to their city and began adapting the views of the great imām.
The discussion naturally moves on to a letter of theological significance written by Imām Abū Hanīfah in response to an allegation by ʻUthmān al-Battī who accused Imām Abū Hanīfah of being a Murji‘a. ʻUthmān al-Battī was likely to have been from the hadīth circles and he was known as a reliable transmitter of hadīth. He saw the Murji‘a as a dangerous heresy. It is therefore assumed that he was not willing to exclude actions from the definition of belief which is identical to the Ash’arī doctrine which states belief increases with good deeds and decreases with bad deeds. Imām Abū Hanīfah on the other hand excluded actions from belief and was of the opinion that faith constituted belief in the heart and affirmation of the tongue. He was therefore compelled to repel this accusation of misguidance and stated in clear terms that he is not carrying out any bid’a (innovation) but rather his statements are rooted in the Qur’ān and sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (sallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallam). The author states that this letter was preserved and known in scholarly circles and more importantly in the context of the subject, it was well known in Transoxania. He then discusses the letter and lays out a very helpful structure which includes a summary of the content in which Imām Abū Hanīfah refutes the accusation and defines belief and how it is separate to actions. I found this an excellent feature of the book as the summary is condensed and easy to read and understand. The author also discusses a second incomplete letter (referred to as the second Risāla) which is associated to the correspondence between Imām Abū Hanīfah and ʻUthmān al-Battī but the author believes that we do not have enough information to affirm without doubt that the letter is from Imām Abū Hanīfah even though the contents share Hanafī theology as developed by later Hanafites. A structure and summary of this letter is also presented, which again is done really well to the credit of the author. In exploring the theological views of Imām Abū Hanīfah, the author excludes the Kitāb al-Wasiyya and al-Fiqh al-Akbar as authentic works as he takes Wensinck's view (not discussed in the book but Wensinck states that “after the first half of the forth/tenth century, in which al-Fiqh al-Akbar probably originated, several doctors composed creeds of a more or less varying structure”) that these works were composed after Imām Abū Hanīfah passed away. I would disagree with this view as the indexer and bookseller of the forth/tenth century, Ibn al-Nadim (d. 386/995) states in his Kitāb al-Fihrist, which was compiled in 377/987, “His [Imām Abū Hanīfah’s] works are the books al-Fiqh al-Akbar, al-Risala and al-‘Alim wa ‘l-Muta’allim” and other scholars make mention of al-Fiqh al-Akbar too, regarded as a refutation of the Qadariyya i.e. Imām ‘Abd al-Qāhir al-Baghdādī (d. 429/1037). It should however be emphasised that Wensinck was of the view that the Fiqh al-Akbar was not penned by Imām Abū Hanīfah but rather it was based on what he had said so he did not claim that it was an outright misrepresentation of his creed.
The first chapter concludes with a detailed discussion of theological texts by Hanafīs before the time of al-Māturīdī. He discusses Abū Muqātil al-Samaraqandī's (d. 208/823) Kitāb al-‘Ālim wal-muta'allim a text usually associated to Imām Abū Hanīfah but as Imām al-Dhahabī (d. 748/1348) pointed out the author is Abū Muqātil. It is said that Abū Muqātil is an unreliable transmitter as he is supposed to have claimed things which were not true and to have invented isnāds for certain narrations for the sake of their beauty. The author does not give any examples of this but references the work of the hadīth narrators who stress this point. However, he was also recognised as a pious ascetic and his works in fiqh were well recognised by his peers even though the Hanafite tabaqāt works pass over his name in silence. It is not known whether Abū Muqātil met Imām Abū Hanīfah during his youth or whether the Kitāb al-‘Ālim, more likely, is “merely a compilation of narrations from Abū Hanīfa presented in the form of a fictional dialogue”. The success of Kitāb al-‘Ālim is said to be down to the attribution of the work to Imām Abū Hanīfah as well as the form in which it was written. It was a relied upon text and was cited as a source text for early Transoxanian Māturīdīte theology hence its importance in demonstrating the inner continuity of the Hanafite school. The authenticity of the work and its significance and transmission are discussed followed by a presentation of the structure of the book with a summary. The Kitāb al-‘Ālim begins with the justification of theological speculation and then defines belief and the aspects related to it. The author presents these in summary form and then he follows the same method with discussing Abū Mutī’ al-Balkhī (d. 199/814), a student of Imām Abū Hanīfah, and his book al-Kitāb al-Fiqh al-Absat, another important work which again is accompanied with a summary and structure which is the highlight of this book.
The second chapter discusses the development of theology in the third/ninth century and how a lack of sources for this period leads to the perception of the decline in theological discussion in Transoxania. The stagnation is presumed due to the establishment of the Hanafī doctrine without any rivals. However there is the refutation of Muhammad b. Karrām (d. 255/869) by Abū Bakr al-Samarqandī (d. 268/882). It was a prompt and sharp reply postulating due to the fact that Ibn Karrām, who was not originally from Transoxania, but from Sīstān, studied under Ibrāhim b. Yusūf (d. 239/853) who was a student of Imām Abū Yūsuf (d. 182/798) hence Ibn Karrām is seen as building his views which were developed by Imām Abū Hanīfah which is why some of his ideas reflect Hanifite theology. This is also the reason the reply was rapid and forceful as “the issue had to do with quarantining a member of their own family, so to speak.” He was therefore criticised for certain theological views such as his strong anthropomorphic view of God and his incorrect definition of belief. There is however no summary or structure of the work refuting Ibn Karrām and this chapter is shortest in the book. It is also worth noting that Ibn Karrām was also refuted by al-Māturīdī in both his main works, the Kitāb al-Tawhīd and the Ta'wilāt al-Qur'ān.
The third chapter discusses the state of theology during the time of al-Māturīdī. The author covers the Kitāb al-Radd ‘alā ahl al-bida’ wa-l-ahwā’ of Abū Mutī’ Makhūl al-Nasafī (d. 318/930), not to be confused with the famous Imām Najm al-Dīn Abū Hafs al-Nasafī (d. 537/1142), which describes the teachings that were dominant in his homeland of northeastern Iran. Hence as one may assume from the title al-Nasafī describes the heretical teachings of other groups of the time and then follows them with a refutation and presents what he regards as the orthodox position which the author argues is more inclined to Ibn Karrām than Imām Abū Hanīfah hence he is seen as a Karrāmite. This is followed by a structure and summary of the Kitāb al-Radd which is written to refute the Harūrīya, Rawāfida, Qadarīya, Jabarīya, Jahmīya and Murji’a. Al-Nasafī however in refuting the Jahmīya claims “Since God is one, He has a limit. He sits on the throne and is over us in heaven” which is in stark contrast to the orthodox creed of Imām Tahāwī which states, “He [God] is transcendent beyond limits, ends, supports, components, or instruments. The six directions do not contain Him as they do created things”. The next work discussed is the Kitāb al-Sawād al-a’zam of al-Hakīm al-Samarqandī (d. 342/953) which represents the efforts of the Transoxanian Hanafiya. Ignác Goldziher (d. 1921), a prominent orientalist, described the Kitāb al-Sawād as "the oldest Māturīdite handbook". In fact al-Samarqandī had studied with al-Māturīdī and they shared a bond of friendship according to the author rather than a student-teacher relationship as has been previously postulated. It was written at a time when the Hanafities dominated the theological landscape in the region as can be detected in the tone of their works at this stage. The ruler, Ismā’īl b. Ahmad (r.279-95/892-907) called on the scholars of Transoxiana to compile the orthodox view of belief in a single creed and the call was answered by al-Hakīm al-Samarqandī with the Kitāb al-Sawād which was seen as a “public text” with wide theological consensus. However, Madelung observed that in certain points it contradicts the theology of al-Māturīdī, lending further credence to the view that al-Samarqandī was not the student of al-Māturīdī as some researchers have proposed and even if that was the case then his work was not influenced by al-Māturīdī. The author however strongly argues against a student-teacher relationship between the two as demonstrated through their works. As they were contemporaries, he explores the differences and similarities in their work including where both of them agree with doctrines professed by earlier Hanafities i.e. the definition of belief, where both of them agree with each other but differ with the earlier Hanafities i.e. God’s characteristics e.g., His satisfaction and anger, His sitting on the throne and then finally those topics that show no common ground between them but entail serious differences i.e. the way mutashābihāt (ambiguous) verses of the Qur’ān ought to be handled. The Kitāb al-Sawād is an important text as it paints the theology al-Māturīdī built his views upon on and from which he also made his departure. We are then presented with the structure of the Kitāb al-Sawād and a more detailed summary in comparison to the works explored previously again cementing its importance with regard to al-Māturīdī and the theology of the time. The chapter ends here and brings to a close the first part of the book.
The forth chapter initiates the second part of the book and brings in to focus the emergence of al-Māturīdī and his life which isn't an easy task as the sources are scarce. It begins with ascertaining his teachers. We find that his two primary teachers were Abū Bakr al-Juzjānī and Abū Nasr al-‘Iyādī about whom we learn more in this chapter to try and glean al-Māturīdī's environment. It is said that al-‘Iyādī was able to silent, by means of only a few words, every heretic and disputant who wished to provoke him with deliberately misinterpreted Qur’ānic verses. It is also said he spoke disparagingly of Imām Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shāfiʿī (d.204/820) as he had reservations with regard to the Traditionist circles and their religious views. It is from al-‘Iyādī that al-Māturīdī learned that it was not sufficient to base his religious views on tradition alone and how to utilise reason in theological discussion and polemic. We know little about the life of al-Māturīdī but it is said that he was an ascetic and according to the Pazdawī family al-Māturīdī produced several miracles and is therefore considered among the awliya however he left no works extant or lost on Sufism. The author then discusses some of al-Māturīdī's students including, Abū Ahmad al-‘Iyādī, Abū l-Hasan al-Rustughfanī and ‘Abd al-Karim al-Pazdawī. This chapter still leaves you short on what kind of man al-Māturīdī was and the life he led other than his scholarly credentials but we do not have many sources to extract this information therefore there is only so much the author can include in this section. The chapter ends with a chart drawing out the theological transmission from Imām Abū Hanīfah to Abū Mansūr al-Māturīdī.
The fifth chapter is a discussion of the theological opponents of al-Māturīdī. Thus far the author has covered theologians belonging to al-Māturīdī's Hanafite religious and intellectual background. The personalities in this chapter may be regarded as more important as refuting other theologians is usually what gives cause for reflecting on one's own understanding hence developing of your doctrine rather than refinement of your intellectual inheritance. The author begins with a wide overview of the groups present at the time and then specifies individuals al-Māturīdī refuted within the Mu’tazalites. It is also shown that al-Māturīdī kept up to date with the theological advances in his time by refuting new groups and new ideas. I personally found this chapter a dry read and it didn’t keep my attention. It is probably a chapter I may revisit at another time. The sixth chapter discusses al-Māturīdī’s works, lost and extant. Thankfully his extant works are his primary works. The author concentrates on two of his works and labels the others as pseudo-Māturīdīte works believing them to be penned after his demise by adherents of his school. He begins by discussing the Ta'wilāt al-Qur'ān and then moves on to the Kitāb al-Tawhīd. The Ta'wilāt al-Qur'ān is not accompanied with a structure/summary as that would require a book by itself but rather the nature and preservation is discussed. We do find a structure/summary of the Kitāb al-Tawhīd in the next chapter which is the third and final part of the book which examines the theology of al-Māturīdī. This is the seventh chapter and it brings in to focus the structure of the Kitāb al-Tawhīd,a work that overshadows all previous theological texts from Transoxania. The author delivers a comprehensive overview of the work providing its conception and organisation in an outline which provides the scope and content of this work. To aid in the understanding of this text the author attempts to contextualise the Kitāb by providing opposing texts or views from other theological works. He therefore presents a similar overview of a text by a Jacobite Christian, Moses bar Kepha (d.903) who, judging from his exposition, was influenced by the Mu’tazilite theology of his time. His work, the Hexaemeron contains striking parallels to the Kitāb al-Tawhīd of al-Māturīdī in terms of its layout thus the assumption is made that both Moses and al-Māturīdī were dependent on a Mu’tazilite model. For the first half of the Kitāb, the author speculates what al-Māturīdī must have used as a template for his layout and structure, this is of course hypothetical but the author gives his arguments for tracing the structure back to older works, some adversaries, others sharing the same view. It is an interesting argument.
The eighth chapter provides an outline of al-Māturīdī's teachings and begins with al-Māturīdī's proofs for the contingency of the world where he argues for the createdness of the world. The author navigates through al-Māturīdī's thought by presenting his theses and illustrating his procedure for his proofs. For example, he argues for the existence of a creator as everything we know in our experience goes back to a creator (e.g., buildings go back to builder and writings go back to a writer etc.) as well as stating the world must be the work of a Creator because it could not have subsisted eternally since is distinguishing feature is a plurality of opposites (e.g., good and bad; living and dead; mutually opposing natures). The author states that "al-Māturīdī was aware of the epistemological premises of his proofs for God since he says explicitly that we know the Creator because our world contains clues everywhere that point to Him" and importantly that "human beings have also been endowed with the means to decipher and understand these clues that have been laid out by God". This aspect actually separates the Māturīdī aqeeda (creed/belief) from the Ash’arī aqeeda, the latter stating the need for revelation to stimulate the human conscious in pressing for the search for God while al-Māturīdī states that there are two ways to God; by the prophets and by rational observation of creation hence intellect alone was capable of proving the existence of the Creator and not only His existence but His Oneness as he states, "All people that are capable of rational inquiry have been given tawhīd in its entirety." In sum, he teaches the possibility of rational knowledge of God, our ignorance indicates God's knowledge; our variety indicates His unity and our temporality His eternality etc. The analysis of the theology in the Kitāb al-Tawhīd extends to "God's Knowability", "God's Oneness", "God's Attributes" and "God's Wisdom" etc. The author provides a good overview of the thought and theology of al-Māturīdī in this chapter which is the longest chapter in the book.
The author closes chapter nine, the final chapter by discussing the contribution of al-Māturīdī to this field and his importance and position in Islamic theology. He briefly discusses his relationship to Imām Abū Hanīfah stating that to label al-Māturīdī as simply the interpreter of Imām Abū Hanīfah’s thought is a “misleading simplification”. Even though he was dedicated to cultivating the legacy of the great Imām, one should not undermine his contribution of new ideas in defending orthodoxy in theology. The author also observes the relationship to Abū Hasan al-Ash’arī, concluding that to state they professed the same teaching is an illusion unlike Goldziher who stated “It is not worth addressing the small differences between these closely related doctrinal views in more details”. I think his comment has credibility as the two theologians have opposite views on many aspects due to foundational differences. He ends with a discussion of the formation of the Māturīdīya which ironically found standing from the Ash’arīte challenge. The appendix discusses the inauthentic and doubtful texts attributed to al-Māturīdī and ends with a comprehensive bibliography and an index of people mentioned in this work as well as an index of Arabic terms.
Overall I found this work vast in its overview. It is a detailed work discussing the earliest theological works and it explores theology beyond al-Māturīdī but always within the scope of relevance to his development and the environment that shaped him. A lack of familiarity with the history and the many personalities mentioned resulted in back tracking for me and this detracted my experience but someone well versed with these aspects may not have the same problem. I did however find it frustrating when certain words in Arabic like tafwid were not translated in to English. This was also the case with a quote which was in French. However, the author did an admirable job in providing a summary of the theological works mentioned and discussed in the text (except for the Ta'wilāt al-Qur'ān) which will no doubt serve as an excellent resource and reference. They are presented well and are easy to read. For anyone who has the German version, the additional work included in this version is easily distinguishable as the font is smaller where applicable so one can make a distinction of the new material in this version. I will most likely read this work again at a later beneficial stage. There are some fascinating details about Imām al-Māturīdī and if anyone wants to further their knowledge of the development of theology surrounding al-Māturīdī and his thought then this work will be of value. I have made this review quite thorough so that you may make an informed decision whether the prices justifies the content. In my opinion it most definitely was worth the purchase. I wouldn’t recommend it as an introduction and one may rather begin with a book I plan on reading next, Mustafa Ceric’s “Roots of Synthetic Theology in Islam” which is a study of the theology of Imām Abū Mansūr al-Māturīdī, may Allāh be pleased with him.
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