al-Tawhid lil-Maturidi
- Author died
- 333 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Jāmi‘āt al-Miṣrīyah
Kitab al-Tawhid (The Book of Monotheism) is the primary theological treatise by the Transoxanian scholar Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (d. 333 AH / 944 CE), establishing the foundational doctrines and methods of the Maturidi school of Islamic theology (kalam) .
Subject Matter and Scope
Kitab al-Tawhid is considered one of the earliest comprehensive theological texts to open with an investigation of epistemology and the sources of human knowledge . In it, al-Maturidi articulates his core theological positions and systematic proofs regarding God’s oneness, creation, divine attributes, and human agency . The book also serves as an early reference for polemical engagements, recording and refuting the doctrines of various Islamic groups—most notably the Mu'tazilah—as well as non-Islamic religions and philosophical sects .
Reception and Style
The text became the central reference point for subsequent Maturidi scholars, who relied on its arguments without introducing substantial additions . However, its prose was noted for its difficulty; the Maturidi jurist Abu al-Yusr al-Bazdawi observed that Kitab al-Tawhid suffered from some obscurity of expression, verbosity, and a demanding arrangement .
Later texts, such as Tabsirat al-Adillah by Abu al-Mu'in al-Nasafi, came to rank second in importance only to Kitab al-Tawhid within the school . Citations of Kitab al-Tawhid in al-Nasafi’s work suggest the possibility that differing textual recensions existed in earlier periods, as some of al-Nasafi’s direct quotations do not appear in the surviving published recension .
Manuscripts and Editions
Kitab al-Tawhid survived in a unique manuscript preserved at the Cambridge University Library (MS 3651) . It was critically edited from this manuscript by Fathallah Kholeif and published in Beirut in 1970 . While the orientalist Carl Brockelmann initially listed al-Tawhid and al-Maturidi’s al-Maqalat as a single work, subsequent biographical and bibliographical indices treat them as distinct writings .
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