It has been a while since we last posted  on the site. We are currently in the process of expanding the site and the scope of what is published on it. If you have any suggestions, please let us know.

For the next few posts, we will try and focus our posts on uploading valuable ‘aqidah works in Arabic. This is due to the request of a number of students of knowledge and scholars who recently have been discussing the science of ‘aqidah and kalam.

For starters, we wish to begin with an early Maturidi work by a scholar named Abu Mansur al-Samarqandi. The work is a commentary on the famed treatise that is attributed to Imam Abu Hanifah, entitled al-Fiqh al-Akbar. This commentary, which does not include a detailed intro that could clarify the controversy about whether this commentary was authored by Imam Abu Mansur Maturidi himself or another person nonetheless is very beneficial.

There are a number of scholars who have questioned the attribution of this book to Imam Maturidi, amongst them ‘Allamah Kawthari. They claimed that the book should be properly attributed to Imam Abu ‘l-Layth al-Samarqandi, quoting amongst other reasons that the book includes objections to some Ash’ari claims. Given that Imam Maturidi was a contemporary of Imam Ash’ari and their schools developed independently of each other, a rebuttal of “Ash’ari” thought seems to be indication enough of the book having been authored by a later scholar.

Anyone more familiar with this debate is welcome to comment.

Sharh Fiqh Akbar Samarqandi