Najm ad-Dīn Abū Ḥafṣ 'Umar ibn Muḥammad an-Nasafī (Arabic:نجم الدين أبو حفص عمر بن محمد النسفي; 1067–1142) was a Muslim jurist, theologian,mufassir,muhaddith and historian. APersian scholar born in present-dayUzbekistan, he wrote mostly inArabic.
Al-Aqaid al-Nasafiyya (Arabic:العقائد النسفية) or 'Aqa'id al-Nasafi (Arabic:عقائد النسفي) is his most celebrated work inKalam, which alongsideAl-Fiqh Al-Akbar (Arabic:الفقه الأکبر) ofAbu Hanifa andAl-'Aqidah al-Tahawiyya (Arabic:العقيدة الطحاوية) ofAbu Ja'far al-Tahawi is one of the three seminal works inSunni Islamic creed. By the 17th-century, more than fifty commentaries were written on this work, of which the most famous isal-Taftazani's commentary namedSharh 'Aqaid al-Nasafi (Arabic:شرح عقائد النسفي).
Abu Hafs an-Nasafi wrote theAl-'Aqaid as a direct summary ofAl-Tamhid le Qawa'id al-Tawhid (Arabic:التمهيد لقواعد التوحيد), the famous book by his own teacherAbu al-Mu'in al-Nasafi.[4]
While a few Arabic sources are sceptical about attributing this work to Abu Hafs an-Nasafi, a recently discovered manuscript of thePersian version of the work confirms the authorship of the work for Abu Hafs al-Nasafi. The Persian version of the work, titledBayan-e Itiqad-e Ahl-e Sunnat wa Jama'at (Persian:بیان اعتقاد اهل سنت و جماعت), is reported on the authority of Al-Nasafi's most famous student,Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani, the author ofAl-Hidayah. Al-Marghinani explains in the preface of the treatise that Abu Hafs a-Nasafi wrote this work in response to a request made byAhmad Sanjar, theSeljuk ruler andSultan, when he visitedSamarqand in 535AH or 1140 CE.[4]
Al-Marghinani explains that one ofSultan Sanjar's governors who was the governor ofSistan and was accompanying the Sultan, asked the scholars of Samarqand to write a treatise on the creed ofAhl al-Sunnah so that "no one in Sistan could speak against it". Presumably, Sistan was dominated by theKarramiyya sect who were advocating foranthropomorphism. In response to this request, the scholars of Samarqand asked Abu Hafs al-Nasafi to write the treatise, and they all put their signatures at the end of the document. Among the scholars present at the gathering with Sultan Sanjar was Shaikh al-Islam Abd al-Hameed al-Ismandi al-Samarqandi (the author of the published book titledTariqah al-Khilaf fi al-Fiqh). Al-Marghinani writes in the preface of the manuscript that he took a copy of the treatise and showed it again to An-Nasafi for a final review.[4]
Al-Taysir fi al-Tafsir (Arabic:التيسير في التفسير) is his most celebrated work intafsir, which was published in 15 volumes by Darul Lubab in 2019. The work has been widely cited in other leading tafsir works of theOttoman period, including inTafsir Ibn Kamal Pasha ofIbn Kemal,Roh al-Bayan ofIsmail Haqqi, andRuh al-Ma'ani ofMahmud al-Alusi. Among thePersian tafsirs,Kamal al-Din Hussain Wa'ez Kashefi extensively citesAl-Taysir in both of his tafsir works, i.e.Jawaher al-Tafsir andMawaheb-e 'Aliyya.
Tafsir-e Nasafi (Persian:تفسیر نسفی) is a Persian translation of the Quran in rhymed prose. It is considered to be the third oldest full translation of the Quran in the Persian language, and the only translation of Quran in rhymed prose.
Al-Akmal al-Atwal fi Tafsir al-Quran (Arabic:الأکمل الأطول في تفسير القرآن) was a voluminous work in tafsir, written prior to Al-Taysir fi al-Tafsir.
Risalah fi al-Khata' fi Qira'at al-Qur'an (Arabic:رسالة في الخطأ في قراءة القرآن) orZillah al-Qari (Arabic:زلة القارئ), was published in 2017 by Dar 'Amar.
Manzumah fi al-Khilafyat (Arabic:منظومة في الخلافيات) is a book in the form of poetry, consisting of 2669 verses, explaining the differences in the views of Abu Hanifa and his students, namelyAbu Yusuf,Muhammad al-Shaybani and Zufur, on legal rules, as well as the differences between Abu Hanifa andAl-Shafii andMalik ibn Anas. The book was published in 2010 inBeirut.
Over ten commentaries have been written on this work, the most celebrated one being that ofAbu al-Barakat al-Nasafi titledAl-Muasaffa, published in 2020 by Dar al-Noor.
Hasr al-Masa'il wa Qasr al-Dala'il (Arabic:حصر المسائل وقصر الدلائل) is a commentary onManzumah fi al-Khilafyat with a detailed exposition of the reasons (adillah) for each legal rule. The book was published by Dar al-Fajr in 2020.
Tilbah al-Talabah fi al-Istilahat al-Fiqhiyya (Arabic:طلبة الطلبة في الإصطلاحات الفقهية) is a textbook used over centuries in Hanafi schools and has been published multiple times in recent years.
Manzumah al-Jame' al-Saghir (Arabic:منظومة الجامع الصغير) in which Al-Nasafi turnedMuhammad Shaibani's seminal work (Al-Jame' Al-Saghir) into poetry consisting of 81 verses.
Sharh Madar al-Usul (Arabic:شرحُ مَدارِ الأصول) is a commentary on Al-Karkhi's seminal work inUsul al-Fiqh.
