Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | 337 AH (948/949CE) |
| Died | 418 AH (1027/1028CE)[1] |
| Era | Islamic golden age |
| Region | Khorasan |
| Main interest(s) | Aqidah,Kalam,Fiqh,Usul al-Fiqh,Hadith,Tafsir,Arabic |
| Occupation | Muhaddith,Scholar |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Shafi`i[2] |
| Creed | Ash'ari[2][3][4] |
| Muslim leader | |
Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini (Arabic:أبو إسحاق الإسفراييني) was a renownedSunni scholar,jurisconsult,legal theoretician,hadith expert,Qur'anic exegete,theologian and a specialist in theArabic language.[5] Al-Isfara'ini's scholarship was focused on the sciences ofAqidah,Hadith andFiqh. He was the foremost leading authority in theShafi'i school of his time.[6] He was along withIbn Furak the chief propagator of SunniAsh'ari theology inNishapur at the turn of the 5th Islamic century.[2]
Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini was born inIsfarayin, a town snuggled in the gateway to the northern mountains ofKhorasan and divided from the main road linking fromBayhaq toNishapur by a grass valley and a chain of hills. There is little known of his childhood except that he received a comprehensive Islamic education centered on Islamic jurisprudence, Hadith, Islamic theology, and Aqidah (creed). He studied hadith intensively with scholars such as Abu Bakr al-Ismai'li and also travelled toBaghdad to further his studies and attended the lectures of some of the most famous Sunni scholars of his time including, Abul-Hasan al-Bahili,Baqillani andIbn Furak.[5][2]
Al-Isfara'ini then chose to leave Baghdad and return to his native town of Isfarayin despite the esteem and favour shown to him by the scholars of Iraq.[7] Later he accepted an invitation toNishapur, where a school was built for him.[2] From 411 AH he held sessions teaching hadith in the congregational mosque of Nishapur.[8]
Abu Ishaq specialized inShafi'i law,legal theory,hadith andtheology and would pass his extensive knowledge onto many of his students. His most famous students became world renowned of their time:[5][1][9][6][10]
Al-Isfara'ini died in the Islamic month ofMuharram in 418 AH (February 1027 CE), and was buried in Isfarayin. His tomb continued to attract pious visitors in the 6th/12th century.[8]
Ibn Asakir said: "Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini is one of the people who deserves to occupy the position ofmujtahid because of the depth and breadth of his knowledge, as well as meeting the requirements as an imam: ability in Arabic, fiqh, kalam, and usul fiqh, as well as understanding the Qur'an and the Sunnah."[11]
Almost none of Abu Ishaq's books have survived andAl-Nawawi states the reason is because his books were too vast to be contained in tomes. Abu Ishaq wrote extensively on legal theory, Shafi'i substantive law, hadith and theology, but scholars believe he devoted a great deal of his attention in debating deviant sects such as attacking theMu'tazila beliefs. He wrote down one work entitledal-mukhtasan fi al-radd ala ahl a-i'lizal wa al-qadar (Abbreviated refutation of the Mu'tazila and those Believers in Free Will) and another namedal-Jami' al-haly fi usul al-din wa al-radd ala al-mulhidin (The ornamented Concordance of the Principles of Dogma and a refutation of the Nonbelievers). In addition, Abu Ishaq engaged in multiple public debates with the Mu'tazila includingAl-Qadi Abd al-Jabbar. Abu Ishaq also attacked the beliefs of theKarramiyya sect who held anthropomorphic views of God.[5][8]
However, despite none of Abu Ishaq's books being preserved, his scholarly opinions were extremely valued and pop up frequently in later Shafi'i works on legal theory and major scholars likeAbu Ishaq al-Shirazi andIbn al-Salah recognized the significance of Abu Ishaq's role in formulating the Shafi'i/Ash'ari position on issues like abrogation and consensus. Later Shafi'i legal theorists such asImam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni andAl-Ghazali have preserved Abu Ishaq's position on the issue of the epistemological yield of hadiths and the effect of consensus.[5]
| Ash'ari scholars (Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari) |
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| Ash'ari leaders |
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