Between Ash'arism and Maturidism. Abu Shakur al-Salimi (4th/11th Century) and his Tamhid fi bayan al-tauhid

• Applicant: Dr. Angelika Brodersen
• Subject Area: Islamic Studies, Arabian Studies, Semitic Studies
• Term: from 2014 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 260383745

This project focuses on the Arabic theological work Al-Tamhid fi bayan al-tauhid (Introduction to the explanation of monotheism), authored by Abu Shakur al-Salimi (4th/11th Century). This author belongs to the theological school in the succession of Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (died 333/944), which forms the second pillar of Sunni confession alongside the doctrines of Abu l-Hasan al-Ash'ari (died 324/935) and his followers. In Transoxanian regions, in Turkey, and in the Balkan States, the Maturidi school still has scores of followers. Despite increasing activities in the field of editions during the last decades, details of Maturidi kalam still remain insufficiently studied. This deficiency applies to the utilization of texts, partially not yet available in editions, as it is the case concerning the Tamhid. On the other hand, a huge need for research still remains, particularly with regard to the relationship between Maturidism and Asharism, the latter being much more studied in detail. The project in question allows to combine both the textual and the topical aspects. It will not just provide a critical edition of the text. A particularity with regard to the contents of the Tamhid is the fact that in this work al-Ash'ari and the al-Ash'arites are for the first time named in Maturidi writings as Sunni rivals. Regarding al-Maturidi, he mainly argued with the exaggerated rationalism of the Mu'tazila. This early Islamic current concentrated on human reason, thus disregarding the Divine omnipotence despite its fundamental importance in Islamic theology. In contrast, al-Ashari stresses the role of revelation, so that human reason ultimately gets irrelevant. Following the argumentation of the Maturidi theologians, this concept is not appropriate to refute the doctrines of the Mu'tazila. They demonstrate that it is rather necessary to account for both human reason and revelation, in order to develop a theological concept that cope with the almighty God and the human with their rational cognitive faculty. Regarding the doctrines of al-Ash'ari, a significant restriction has to be made. There are a lot of examples where it cannot definitely be decided whether a proposition really traces back to al-Ash'ari himself, or is rather an ascription of one of his followers. In this respect, the Tamhid fi bayan al-tauhid is a very important reference to assess these statements of uncertain origin. It renders doctrines of this rival school from an external perspective, a fact not only appropriate to demonstrate how Maturidi doctrines originated from disputes with the Ash'ariya, but to contribute to the investigation of Ash'ari concepts as well. Consequently, the achievements of the project will add to the research on Islamic theology in general.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants