Abu al-Fadl al-Tamimi
- Died
- 410 AH
- Born in
- -
Abu al-Fadl al-Tamimi (341 or 342–410 AH / 952 or 954–1020 CE) was a Hanbali jurist, hadith transmitter, and the head of the Hanbalis in Baghdad, known for his exposition of the doctrinal positions of Ahmad ibn Hanbal .
Lineage and Early Life
He was Abd al-Wahid ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Harith ibn Asad ibn al-Layth ibn Sulayman ibn al-Aswad ibn Sufyan ibn Yazid ibn Ukayna ibn Abd Allah al-Tamimi . According to his brother Abu al-Faraj Abd al-Wahhab, he was born in 341 AH (952/953 CE), whereas Abu al-Fath Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Misri stated that he was born in 342 AH (953/954 CE) .
Scholarly Career and Network
Al-Tamimi engaged with multiple disciplines and held a prominent circle at the Mosque of al-Mansur (Jami' al-Mansur) in Baghdad for delivering sermons, issuing legal verdicts (fatwas), and dictating hadith . During the caliphate of the Abbasid caliph al-Qadir bi-Allah, he traveled to Khurasan . In theological circles, al-Dhahabi notes that he maintained a close and affectionate friendship with the Ash'ari theologian and jurist al-Baqillani .
In hadith, he transmitted from his father Abu al-Hasan Abd al-Aziz, Ahmad ibn Salman al-Najjad, Abd Allah ibn Ishaq al-Baghawi (also recorded as al-Khurasani), the judge Ahmad ibn Kamil, Abu Bakr al-Shafi'i, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Kawthar al-Barbahari, Abu Bakr ibn al-Ju'abi, Yahya ibn Isma'il al-Muzakki, and Abu Bakr al-Jawzaqi .
Among those who transmitted from him were al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, who wrote hadiths under his dictation according to a selection made by Ahmad ibn Abi al-Fawaris, his nephew Rizq Allah ibn Abd al-Wahhab al-Tamimi, and the reciter Umar ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Umar .
Al-Tamimi authored a treatise summarizing the theological creed of Ahmad ibn Hanbal (I'tiqad al-Imam al-Mubajjal Abi 'Abd Allah Ahmad ibn Hanbal), conveying Hanbali doctrine on divine unity, the attributes, predestination, and faith using his own phrasing and systematic formulation .
Standing and Death
Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi deemed him truthful (saduq) in his transmissions .
Al-Tamimi died on Monday morning, on the final day of Dhu al-Hijja 410 AH (or Dhu al-Qi'da in an alternate report) . He was buried on the same day in the cemetery of Bab Harb next to the grave of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, positioned between Ahmad's resting place and that of his own father . His funeral prayer was led by his brother Abd al-Wahhab, and approximately fifty thousand people attended the procession .
Answer updated
List of Works
al-ʿAqīda allatī ḥakāhā Abū al-Faḍl al-Tamīmī ʿan al-Imām Aḥmad is a theological treatise summarizing the doctrinal positions of Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. Notably printed as an appendix to Ibn Abī Yaʿlā's biographical work Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābila, the treatise articulates the imam's theological doctrine in the author's own terminology, summarizing core tenets regarding divine unity and attributes, predestination, faith, sin, and governance.
al-ʿAqida allati hakaha Abu al-Fadl al-Tamimi ʿan al-Imam Ahmad, also entitled Iʿtiqad al-Imam al-munbal Abi ʿAbd Allah Ahmad ibn Hanbal, is a theological treatise summarizing the doctrinal positions of Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Formulated through the author's own phrasing rather than verbatim quotations, the work outlines tenets on divine unity, the divine attributes, and foundational theological principles.