Shams al-Din al-Afghani
- Died
- 1420 AH
- Born in
- -
Shams al-Din al-Afghani (c. 1372–1420 AH / c. 1952–1999 CE) was an Afghan Salafi theologian and scholar who studied in Medina and authored theological studies, including Juhud Ulama al-Hanafiyya fi Ibtal Aqaid al-Quburiyya ("The Efforts of Hanafi Scholars in Refuting the Creeds of Grave-Venerators") .
Lineage and Early Life
He was Abu Abd Allah Shams al-Din ibn Muhammad Ashraf ibn Qaysar, bearing the nisbas al-Afghani, al-Sultani, al-Madani, and al-Salafi . He was born around 1372 AH . During his childhood, he studied the Quran, the fundamentals of Arabic grammar and morphology, and an introduction to Hanafi jurisprudence under his father . Following his father's death, he was orphaned .
Education and Career
Al-Afghani continued his Islamic education across Afghanistan and Pakistan before traveling to Saudi Arabia . He enrolled at the Islamic University of Madinah, where he pursued higher academic studies and earned his bachelor's degree, master's degree, and doctorate . In the course of his scholarly career, he founded al-Jami'a al-Athariyya in Peshawar .
His academic treatises focused primarily on doctrinal polemics and creed, including his extensive study Al-Maturidiyya wa-Mawqifuhum min Tawhid al-Asma wa-l-Sifat ("The Maturidiyya and Their Position on the Unity of Divine Names and Attributes"), in which he examined the rationalist theology of Abu Mansur al-Maturidi and later figures of the school . His work Juhud Ulama al-Hanafiyya fi Ibtal Aqaid al-Quburiyya analyzed citations from classical jurists of the Hanafi legal school to argue against practices and doctrines associated with the veneration of shrines and deceased saints .
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List of Works
Juhud Ulama al-Hanafiyya fi Ibtal Aqaid al-Quburiyya (The Efforts of Hanafi Scholars in Refuting the Creeds of Grave-Venerators) is an extensive theological treatise and doctoral dissertation in three volumes. The work gathers and analyzes citations from authoritative jurists and scholars of the Hanafi legal school to dismantle doctrines and practices associated with the veneration of graves, shrines, and deceased saints.