Maqalat al-Islamiyyah :
Arabic,
New,
*[A4] Hardback - 352 pages,
by Imam Abu'l Hasan al-Ash'ari [d.324h],
Published by Dar al-Hadith, Cairo.
Description :
Maqalat al-Islamiyyin wa Ikhtilaf al-Musallin - 'The Discourses of the Proponents of Islam and the Differences Amongst the Worshippers,' is an encyclopaedia of Islamic sects written by Imam Abi Hasan al-Ash'ari,
rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alayhi, the founder of the
Ash'ari school of theology/creed.
Imam al-Ash'ari compiled thi work during his early period - in it he brings together the varied opinions of scholars on Islamic theological questions. He discusses all the major sects, plus their sub-groups, those mentioned are :
*** the
Shi'ah,
*** the
Khawarij,
*** the
Murji'ah,
*** the
Mu'tazilah,
*** the
Ahl al-Hadith,
*** not to mention the
Ahl al-Sunnah w'al Jama'ah,
In each group, except for the
Ahl al-Sunnah he mentions various sub-groups and their differing views. After which he proceeds to compare their opinions with their predecessors and on occasions he will mention his conclusion.
Later on in the book he talks about the finer points of disagreements and focuses on
Kalam, speculative theology specially that of the
Mu'tizalah sect. Imam al-Ash'ari mentions it is important to know the preceding opinions that have divided the Muslims and their prevailing logic. As such he writes this brief yet comprehensive analysis of the above groups and sects.
About Imam al-Ash'ari :
He is al-Imam `Ali ibn Isma`il ibn Abi Bishr Ishaq ibn Salim, Abu al-Hasan al-Ash`ari al-Yamani al-Basri al-Baghdadi (260-324
hijri), descendent of the Yemeni Companion Abu Musa al-Ash`ari.
In the first half of his scholarly career a disciple of the
Mu`tazili teacher Abu `Ali al-Jubba'i, whose doctrines he abandoned in his fortieth year after asking him a question al-Jubba'i failed to resolve over the issue of the supposed divine obligation to abandon the good for the sake of the better (
al-sâlih wa al-aslah). At that time he adopted the doctrines of the
Sifatiyya, those of
Ahl al-Sunnah. He left Basra and came to Baghdad, taking
fiqh from the Shafi`i jurist Abu Ishaq al-Marwazi (d. 340). He devoted the next twenty-four years to the refutation of "the
Mu`tazila, the
Rafida, the
Jahmiyya, the
Khawarij, and the rest of the various kinds of innovators" in the words of
al-Khatib. His student Bundar related that his yearly expenditure was a meagre seventeen dirhams.
Regarding the works of Imam al-Ash'ari, ibn `Asakir mentions that al-Ash`ari's works numbered over two or three hundred books.
More
Arabic books,
More
Islamic Studies : Darsi Kitabs.
*Dimensions : 24.5 x 17.8cm.
