Matn al-'Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah

Imam Tahawi's al-Aqidah, representative of the viewpoint of ahl-al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah, has long been the most widely acclaimed, and indeed indispensable, reference work on Muslim beliefs.

Being a text on Islamic doctrines, this work draws heavily on arguments set forth in the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah. Likewise, the arguments advanced in refuting the views of sects that have deviated from the Sunnah are also taken from the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah. It contains references to views of the Shi'ah, Khawarij and such mystics that had departed from the right path.

There is an explicit reference in the work to the nonsensical controversy on khalq-al- Qur'an in the times of Ma'mun and some other 'Abbasid Caliphs.

While the permanent relevance of the statements of belief in al-Aqidah is obvious, the historical weight of these statements can only be properly appreciated if the work is used as a study text under the guidance of some learned person able to highlight its arguments fully.

Such a study will help one understand Islamic doctrines better and avoid deviations.

This Book is Without Tashkeel or Vowels

About The Author

Abu Ja'far Ahmad al-Tahawi

Abu Ja'far Ahmad al-Tahawi ( أبو جعفر الطحاوي, Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī)(843 – 5 November 933), or simply aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī ( الطحاوي), was an Egyptian Hanafi jurist, hadith scholar and Athari theologian.[9] He studied with al-Muzani and was a Shafi'i jurist, then with Ahmad b. Imran and followed the Hanafi school. He is known for his work al-'Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah, a summary of Sunni Islamic creed which influenced Hanafis in Egypt.

According to al-Dhahabi, his name was Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Salamah ibn 'Abd al-Malik ibn Salamah, al-Azdi al-Hajari al-Misri al-Tahawi al-Hanafi.

Aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī was born in the village of Ṭaḥā in upper Egypt in 229 AH (843 CE) to an affluent Arab family of Azdī origins. He began his studies with his maternal uncle, Ismāʿīl ibn Yaḥyā al-Muzanī, a leading disciple of ash-Shāfiʿī, but in 249 AH (863 CE), at approximately 20 years of age, aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī abandoned the Shāfiʿī school of jurisprudence in favour of the Ḥanafī school Different versions are given by the biographers of his conversion to the Ḥanafī school, but the most probable reason seems to be that the system of Abū Ḥanīfa appealed to his critical insight more than that of ash-Shāfiʿī.

Aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī then studied under the head of the Ḥanafīs in Egypt, Aḥmad ibn Abī ʿImrān al-Ḥanafī, who had himself studied under the two primary students of Abū Ḥanīfa, Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad ash-Shaybānī. Aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī then travelled to Syria in 268 AH (882 CE) for further studies in Ḥanafī jurisprudence and became pupil to Abū Khāzim ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, the chief qāḍi of Damascus.

Aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī gained a vast knowledge of ḥadīth in addition to Ḥanafī jurisprudence and his study circles consequently attracted many students of knowledge who related ḥadīth from him and transmitted his works. Among them were al-Da'udi, the head of the Zahiris in Khurasan, and aṭ-Ṭabarānī, well known for his biographical dictionaries of ḥadīth transmitters.

Aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī was famed for his expertise in both ḥadīth and Ḥanafī jurisprudence even during his own lifetime, and many of his works, such as Kitāb Maʿāni al-Āthār and ʿAqīdah aṭ-Ṭaḥāwīyyah, continue to be held in high regard by Sunni Muslims today.

He died on the 14th day of Dhū-l Qaʿdah, 321 AH (November 5, 933 CE), and was buried in al-Qarāfah, Cairo.

Many of aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī's contemporaries praised him and noted him as both a reliable scholar and narrator of ḥadīth. He was widely held as a distinguished and prolific writer and became known as the most learned faqīh amongst the Ḥanafīs in Egypt, despite having knowledge of all the madhāhib. Over fifteen commentaries have been produced on his creedal treatise, ʿAqīdah aṭ-Ṭaḥāwīyyah, including shuruh by the Hanafi jurist Ismail ibn Ibrahim al-Shaybani and the Taymiyyan-inclined Ibn Abi al-Izz.

He authored many other works, close to forty different books, some of which are still available today, including:

• Maʿāni al-Āthār (معاني الآثار)
• Al-ʿAqīdah aṭ-Ṭaḥāwīyyah (العقيدة الطحاوية)
• Aḥkām al-Qur’ān al-Karīm (أحكام القرآن الكريم)
• Al-Mukhtaṣar fil-Furūʿ (المختصر في الفروع)
• Sharḥ Mushkil al-Āthār (شرح مشكل الآثار)
• Sharḥ Maʿāni al-Āthār (شرح معاني الآثار)
• Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr (شرح الجامع الكبير)
• Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ aṣ-Ṣaghīr (شرح الجامع الصغير)
• Ash-Shurūṭ aṣ-Ṣaghīr (الشروط الصغير)
• Ash-Shurūṭ al-Kabīr (الشروط الكبير)
• Ikhtilāf al-ʿUlamā’ (إختلاف العلماء)
• ʿUqūd al-Marjān fī Manāqib Abī Ḥanīfa an-Nuʿmān (عقود المرجان قي مناقب أبي حنيفة النعمان)
• Tārīkh al‑Kabīr (تاريخ الكبير)
• Ḥukm Arāḍi Makkah al-Mukarramah (حكم أراضي مكة المكرمة)

Imam Abu Ja'far Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Salamah bin Salmah bin 'Abd al Malik bin Salmah bin Sulaim bin Sulaiman bin Jawab Azdi,

Imam Abu Ja'far Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Salamah bin Salmah bin 'Abd al Malik bin Salmah bin Sulaim bin Sulaiman bin Jawab Azdi, popularly known as Imam Tahawi, after his birth-place in Egypt, is among the most outstanding authorities of the Islamic world on Hadith and fiqh (jurisprudence).

He lived 239-321 A.H., an epoch when both the direct and indirect disciples of the four Imams - Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Malik, Imam Shafi'i and Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal - were teaching and practicing.

This period was the zenith of Hadith and fiqh studies, and Imam Tahawi studied with all the living authorities of the day.

He began as a student of his maternal uncle, Isma'il bin Yahya Muzni, a leading disciple of Imam Shafi'i.

Instinctively, however, Imam Tahawi felt drawn to the corpus of Imam Abu Hanifah's works.

Indeed, he had seen his uncle and teacher turning to the works of Hanafi scholars to resolve thorny issues of Fiqh, drawing heavily on the writings of Imam Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani and Imam Abu Yusuf, who had codified Hanafi fiqh.

This led Imam Tahawi to devote his whole attention to studying the Hanafi works and he eventually joined the Hanafi school.

Imam Tahawi stands out not only as a prominent follower of the Hanafi school but, in view of his vast erudition and remarkable powers of assimilation, as one of its leading scholars.

His monumental scholarly works, such as Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar and Mushkil al-Athar, are encyclopaedic in scope and have long been regarded as indispensable for training students of fiqh.

About The Publisher

Maktabatul Bushra

Al Bushra Welfare & Educational Trust is a non-profitable, multilingual Islamic Publishing House. Their publications include the Holy Quran and its translations, books related to Dars-e-Nizami, and myriad Islamic works. Their publications are not merely confined to English and Urdu, in fact, they have published books written in Arabic, Spanish, German, French etc. All these works highlight different aspects of sacred learning and have been penned by genuine and enlightened Muslim scholars.

Additional Product Information

• ISBN 13: 505-112997-56-13
• ISBN 10: 1129975613
• ISBN: 5051129975613
• SKU: MB0126
• Author: Imam Abu Ja'far Ahmad Al Tahawi
• Publisher: Maktabatul Bushra AKA Al Bushra
• Translated By: Imam Abu Ja'far Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Salamah bin Salmah bin 'Abd al Malik bin Salmah bin Sulaim bin Sulaiman bin Jawab Azdi
• Edited By: Imam Abu Ja'far Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Salamah bin Salmah bin 'Abd al Malik bin Salmah bin Sulaim bin Sulaiman bin Jawab Azdi
• Cover: Paperback
• Format: Paperback
• Binding: Paperback
• Year of Publication:
• Pages: 22
• Size: 21.5 x 14cm

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