IMĀM AS-SUBKĪ (d. 771 AH) ON THE ʿAQĪDA OF IMĀM AṬ-ṬAḤĀWĪ (d. 321 AH)

Imam Tāj ud-Dīn as-Subkī (d. 771 AH) mentioned the following with regard to the famous creedal (ʿAqīda) treatise by the Hanafi Imam known as Abū Jaʿfar aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī (d. 321 AH) in his Muʿīd an-niʿam wa mubīd an-niqam (The Restorer of Blessings and the Destroyer of Afflictions):

P. 23:

وهذه المذاهب الأربعة وما لحق منها بأهل الاعتزال والتجسيم. وإلّا فجمهورها على الحق؛ يقرون

عقيدة أبي جعفر الطحاوي التي تلقّاها العلماء سلفًا وخلفًا بالقبول، ويدينون برأي شيخ السنّة

أبي الحسن الأشعريّ الذي لم يعارضه إلّا مبتدع

English translation:

“These are the four schools of law and what has been associated with them from the people of the Mu’tazila (sect) and anthropomorphism (al-Tajsim). Otherwise, the majority of them are upon the truth; they affirm the creed (ʿAqīda) of Abū Jaʿfar aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī, which the scholars, predecessors (Salaf) and successors, have accepted with approval. They also adhere to the opinion of the Shaykh of Sunna, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī, which no one opposes except an innovator.”

P. 60:

وهؤلاء الحنفية والشافعية والمالكية وفضلاء الحنابلة – ولله الحمد – في العقائد يد واحدة كلهم على رأي أهل السنة والجماعة، يدينون الله تعالى بطريق شيخ السنّة أبي الحسن الأشعري رحمه الله، لا يحيد عنها إلا رعاع من الحنفية والشافعية، لحقوا بأهل الإعتزال، ورعاع من الحنابلة لحقوا بأهل التجسيم، وبرأ الله المالكية فلم نر مالكيا إلَّا أشعريا عقيدة. وبالجملة عقيدة الأشعري هي ما تضمنته عقيدة أبي جعفر الطحاوي التي تلقاها علماء المذاهب بالقبول، ورضوها عقيدة. وقد ختمنا كتابنا جمع الجوامع بعقيدة ذكرنا أن سلف الأمة عليها. وهي وعقيدة الطحاوي. وعقيدة أبي القاسم القشيري والعقيدة المسماة بالمرشدة مشتركات في أصول أهل السنة والجماعة. فقل لهؤلاء المتعصبين في الفروع: ويحكم ذروا التعصب،

English translation:

“These Hanafis, Shafi’is, Malikis, and the virtuous among the Hanbalis – praise be to Allah – are united in matters of creed, all following the opinion of Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah. They worship Allah the Exalted according to the method of the Shaykh of Sunna, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī, may Allah have mercy on him. None deviate from this except for some rabble among the Hanafis and Shafi’is who have joined the people of Mu’tazila, and some rabble among the Hanbalis who have joined the anthropomorphists. Allah has absolved the Malikis, for we have not seen a Maliki except that he follows the Ash’ari creed.

In summary, the creed of al-Ashʿarī is what is contained in the creed of Abū Jaʿfar aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī, which the scholars of the schools have accepted and approved as their creed. We have concluded our book ‘Jamʿ al-Jawāmi’ with a creed that we mentioned the predecessors (Salaf) of the Ummah adhered to. This is the creed of aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī, the creed of Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī, and the creed named al-Murshidah, all of which share in the principles of Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah. So say to these fanatics in the branches of jurisprudence: Woe to you, abandon your fanaticism.”

Imām Murtaḍā az-Zabīdī al-Ḥanafī (d. 1205 AH) said in his Itḥāf as-sādah al-muttaqīn bi-sharḥ Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm ad-dīn (The Gift to the God-Fearing Masters: An Explanation of ‘The Revival of the Religious Sciences), 2/78, by quoting Imam Tāj ud-Dīn as-Subkī as follows:

وقد تأملت عقيدة أبي جعفر الطحاوي فوجدت الأمر على ما قال الشيخ الإمام الوالد ، وعقيدة الطحاوي زعم أنها الذي عليه أبو حنيفة وأبو يوسف ومحمد ، ثم تصفحت كتب الحنفية فوجدت جميع المسائل التي بيننا وبينهم خلاف فيها ثلاث عشرة مسألة منها معنوي ست مسائل والباقي لفظي ، وتلك الست المعنوية لا تقتضي مخالفتهم لنا ولا مخالفتنا لهم منها تكفيرا ولا تبديعا . صرح بذلك الأستاذ أبو منصور البغدادي وغيره من أئمتنا وأئمتهم وهو غني عن التصريح لوضوحه

English translation:

“I have contemplated the creed of Abū Jaʿfar aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī and found the matter to be as the Shaykh, the Imam, my father (Taqī ud-Dīn as-Subkī) said. The creed of aṭ-Ṭaḥāwī is claimed to be that of Abū Ḥanīfa, Abū Yūsuf, and Muḥammad (ibn al-Ḥasan ash-Shaybānī). Then I examined the books of the Hanafis and found that all the issues on which there is disagreement between us (Ashʿarīs) and them (Ḥanafīs) are thirteen, of which six are substantive and the rest are verbal. Those six substantive issues do not necessitate their disagreement with us or our disagreement with them to the extent of declaring disbelief or innovation. This was explicitly stated by al-Ustādh Abū Manṣūr al-Baghdādī (d. 429 AH) and others from among our Imams and their Imams, and it is too well-known to need explicit mention due to its clarity.”

For more on the Subkī family and their scholarship please see – HERE

Compiled by:

Abul Hasan Hussain Ahmed

Rabi al-Awwal 1446 AH