Māturīdite Scholar Abū Isḥāq al-Ṣaffār’s Understanding of Kalām Based on al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā

Abstract

Seen in four verses of the Qurʾān and two different versions of a ḥadīth narrated by the Abū Hurayra (d. 57/678), al-Asmāʾ al-ḥusnā is an expression that refers to the beautiful or most beautiful names of Allah. Since the earliest periods of Islam, Muslim scholars have written various books focusing on issues, such as al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā', the meanings of these names and praying with these names. The book Tafsīr al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā, written by the Abū Isḥāq al-Zajjāj (d. 311/923), a scholar specializing in language and syntax, is the first known work devoted to this subject. Similarly, the book al-Asmāʾ wa-l-ṣifāt by Ashʿarī theologian ʿAbd al-Qāhir al-Baghdādī (d. 429/1037-38) addresses the same subject. The present study discusses Māturīdite scholar Abū Ishāk al-Saffār's (d. 534/1139) understanding of Kalām based on his interpretation of al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā. Approximately one-third of his theology book called Talkhīṣ al-adilla li-qawāʿid al-tawḥīd is composed of his interpretation of al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā. An examination of the related sections in it reveals that al-Saffār attempts to explain the issue of divinity based on one hundred seventy-seven al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā. al-Saffār first explains the divine names provided in alphabetical order from a semantic perspective. Afterward, he explains each holy name theologically by linking it to a related subject in theology. An analysis of his book Talkhīṣ al-adilla would reveal that he deals with all other theology issues in connection with the beautiful names of God, except for the subject of the caliphate. Because no other work is known to have addressed the beautiful names of God in such detail in the Ḥanafite-Māturīdite theological literature before al-Saffār, we decided to investigate what he offered in his work further. This article aims to introduce and evaluate his understanding of theology based on his interpretation of al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā. Thus, the originality of his book will be considered within the framework of the literature of al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā.