Itiqad Ahl al-Sunnah Sharh Ashab al-Hadith
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- Editions
- Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da‘wah and Guidance - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Itiqad Ahl al-Sunnah Sharh Ashab al-Hadith (The Creed of the Sunnis: An Explanation of [the Creed of] the People of Hadith) is a theological treatise and commentary authored by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Khamis, expounding upon the chapter on the doctrine of the traditionalist scholars of hadith (Ashab al-Hadith) transmitted by Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari in his work Maqalat al-Islamiyyin.
Purpose and Scope
Al-Khamis composed the work to address contemporary claimants of the Ash'ari school who, in his view, deviate from the theological positions held by Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari during his final intellectual phase as articulated in al-Ibanah and Maqalat al-Islamiyyin, particularly regarding the divine attributes (al-sifat). Noting that al-Ash'ari's summary of the creed of Ashab al-Hadith—which al-Ash'ari explicitly professed to adhere to—had not previously received an independent scholarly commentary, al-Khamis authored this concise exposition to elucidate the text and demonstrate its conformity with early traditionalist theology (madhhab al-salaf).
Methodology and Sources
In his commentary, al-Khamis explains al-Ash'ari's statements through the writings of classical hadith scholars and early Sunni authorities rather than through later scholastic theology. The primary references used to annotate and cross-reference the doctrinal points include:
- I'tiqad A'immat Ahl al-Hadith by Abu Bakr al-Isma'ili
- Aqidat al-Salaf Ashab al-Hadith by Abu Uthman al-Sabuni
- Sharh Usul I'tiqad Ahl al-Sunnah wa-al-Jama'ah by Abu al-Qasim al-Lalaka'i
- Al-Hujjah fi Bayan al-Mahajjah by Abu al-Qasim Isma'il al-Isfahani (Qawwam al-Sunnah)
Publication in Compilations
In addition to being published as an independent treatise, al-Khamis later incorporated the text into a broader four-part compendium titled I'tiqad A'immat al-Salaf Ahl al-Hadith, which brought together his explanations of early creedal texts by Abu Ahmad al-Hakim, Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, and Abu Bakr al-Isma'ili.
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