Sharh Lumat al-Itiqad - Muhammad Hasan Abd al-Ghaffar
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- Sharh Lumat al-Itiqad - Muhammad Hasan Abd al-Ghaffar
Sharh Lumat al-Itiqad (Explanation of the Illumination of Creed) is a contemporary audio-transcribed commentary on the classical Hanbali creedal treatise Lumat al-Itiqad al-Hadi ila Sabil al-Rashad by Ibn Qudamah (d. 620 AH / 1223 CE), delivered and expounded by the contemporary Egyptian scholar Muhammad Hasan Abd al-Ghaffar.
Content and Method
The work provides a systematic explanation of the Sunni creed as organized in Ibn Qudamah's original text, with an extensive focus on the theology of the divine names and attributes (al-Asma wa-l-Sifat). Before embarking on the detailed textual exposition, Abd al-Ghaffar establishes essential methodological guidelines for handling theological scriptural texts. He emphasizes total submission to the Qur'an and the authentic Sunnah, arguing that because the revelation was conveyed in clear Arabic, its textual expressions must be maintained upon their apparent meaning rather than altered or reinterpreted allegorically (taʾwil).
In expounding the divine names and attributes, the author outlines key rules:
- Divine names are all supremely good (husna), denoting both God's essence and intrinsic attributes of perfection.
- Divine names are not restricted to an absolute fixed number.
- All affirmed attributes—such as pleasure (al-rida), love (al-mahabbah), hand (al-yad), and laughter (al-dahik)—are upheld as literal realities becoming to God's majesty, rejecting distortions (tahrif), divestment or denial (taʿtil), anthropomorphism (tamthil / tashbih), and inquiring into how they subsist (takyif).
The commentary proceeds through the textual divisions of Ibn Qudamah's treatise, analyzing the linguistic phrasing of the introductory supplications—including the distinction between praise (hamd) and gratitude (shukr)—and explicating doctrines concerning God's uniqueness, transcendence over consort or offspring, divine destiny and predetermination (qadar), and other foundational tenets of Islamic faith.
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