Nur al-Din al-Sabuni نور الدين الصابوني | |
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| Title | Nur al-Din (Light of the Religion) |
| Personal life | |
| Born | |
| Died | 580 A.H. = 1184 A.D. |
| Era | Islamic Golden Age |
| Region |  Uzbekistan |
| Main interest(s) | Aqidah,Kalam (Islamictheology),Fiqh (Islamicjurisprudence) |
| Notable work(s) | Al-Bidayah min al-Kifayah fi al-Hidayah fi Usul al-Din |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Hanafi |
| Creed | Maturidi[1] |
| Muslim leader | |
Influenced
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Nur al-Din al-Sabuni also written asNuraddin as-Sabuni (Arabic:نور الدين الصابوني), was a 12th centurytheologian within theMaturidite school ofSunni Islam, and author ofAl-Bidayah min al-Kifayah fi al-Hidayah fi Usul al-Din (Arabic:البداية من الكفاية في الهداية في أصول الدين), a summary of Islamic creed (aqida orkalam) of his more comprehensive workal-Kifayah.[3]
Ahmad b. Mahmud b. Abi Bakr al-Sabuni al-Bukhari, known as Nur al-Din Abu Muhammad.[4]
He was born inBukhara probably at the beginning of sixth / twelfth century, and died in the same city on 16Safar 580 / May 30, 1184, and was buried in the Graveyard of the Seven Judges (Arabic:مقبرة القضاة السبعة).[5][6]
There is not much information about his life. He seems to have belonged to a respected family inBukhara, where he spent much of his life. He received his education in the same city and became a leading defender of theMaturidite theology of his time. He had made a trip toMecca to performhajj and on his way to Mecca, he visitedKhurasan andIraq and had discussions with the scholars of these regions.
He also had lively discussions withFakhr al-Din al-Razi, a leading representative ofAsh'arite theology of his time. According to al-Razi's report, at the end of these discussions, Sabuni said that all his knowledge ofkalam was based on the work ofAbu al-Mu'in al-Nasafi; he also admitted to his own weakness in the science but said he was too old to start again.[citation needed]
Al-Sabuni wrote a number of works, some of which are still inmanuscript. In hisal-Muntaqa min 'ismat al-Anbiya' (Arabic:المنتقى من عصمة الأنبياء,lit. 'Selection from the Infallibility of the Prophets'), he summarizes the work of Muhammad b. Yahya al-Bashaghiri (Arabic:محمد بن يحيى البشاغري) called Kashf al-Ghawamid fi Ahwal al-Anbiya' (Arabic:كشف الغوامض في أحوال الأنبياء) or 'Ismat al-Anbiya' (Arabic:عصمة الأنبياء,lit. 'Impeccability of the Prophets'). It starts by sayingGod sending aprophet is the result of His wise purpose, that prophets must be human, and that some of them are superior to others. Then after discussing their number and their infallibility, he goes on to discuss each individual prophet, starting withAdam and ending with the last prophetMuhammad.
Hisal-Kifaya fi al-Hidaya (Arabic:الكفاية في الهداية,lit. 'Sufficient in Guidance') is a longer version of hisal-Bidaya fi Usul al-Din (Arabic:البداية في أصول الدين,lit. 'Introduction to the Principles of Religion').[7] As he states in the introduction of the latter work, some of his friends found al-Kifaya too long and asked him to summarize it, and consequently he wrote al-Bidaya. Through these works, al-Sabuni closely follows and defends the views ofal-Maturidi. Al-Bidaya begins with a discussion of the sources of knowledge. Then, al-Sabuni tries to establish first thecreatedness (huduth) of the world, then the existence of its Creator. This is followed by a discussion of God's attributes. Al-Sabuni also deals with the issues that are controversial between theAsh'arites and theMaturidites, such as the attribute of creating (takwin) and supports the position of al-Maturidi. The discussions ofprophecy,degree,predetermination and human actions are followed by other traditional theoretical issues.
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