Sharh al-Hamawiya - Abd al-Rahim al-Sulami
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- Sharh al-Hamawiya - Abd al-Rahim al-Sulami
Sharh al-Hamawiya is a contemporary commentary by the Saudi scholar Abd al-Rahim al-Sulami on Ibn Taymiyyah’s (d. 728 AH / 1328 CE) theological treatise al-Fatwa al-Hamawiyya al-Kubra (الفتوى الحموية الكبرى), dedicated to elucidating the creed of early Muslims (al-salaf) regarding the divine names and attributes.
Pedagogical Placement and Scope
In his introduction, al-Sulami locates the study of al-Fatwa al-Hamawiyya within a graded pedagogical curriculum for theological education. He situates it at the second stage of learning, following introductory study of al-Aqida al-Wasitiyya (العقيدة الواسطية) and preceding advanced, detailed study of commentaries on al-Aqida al-Tahawiyya (العقيدة الطحاوية). The work is delivered as an explanatory exposition aimed at clarifying core creedal foundations and illustrating the necessity of deriving theology directly from the Quran and the prophetic Sunna according to the understanding of the early generations.
Methodology and Key Themes
The commentary follows Ibn Taymiyyah's text, expounding the principle that orthodox belief affirms Allah's divine attributes as established in scriptural texts without negation (taʿtīl) or anthropomorphic assimilation (tamthīl). Al-Sulami discusses the critical distinction between the methodology of early scholars and later theological trends, notably addressing the school of absolute consignation (tafwīḍ). He notes that while early scholars affirmed the linguistic meanings of divine attributes and consigned only the knowledge of their modality (kayfiyya) to Allah, later proponents of tafwīḍ consigned the meaning itself, leading functionally to the denial of the attributes.
Additionally, the work analyzes the intellectual origins and specious arguments (shubuhāt) of dialectical theology (kalām), categorizing the primary arguments used by groups such as the Muʿtazilites, Ashʿarites, and Maturidites into recurring rational objections—including concerns over composite multiplicity (tarkīb), the multiplicity of eternal entities, and the denial of voluntary actions (ḥulūl al-ḥawādith)—and systematically elucidates Ibn Taymiyyah's refutations of these positions.
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