This work provides a detailed and holistic approach toIslamic theology, while also serving as its earliest extant comprehensive source. Al-Maturidi presents the epistemological foundations of his teaching and provides detailed arguments in defence ofMonotheism, including his cosmological doctrines such as proofs for the creation andontology of the Universe. He also focuses onGod, his existence and attributes, analyzing issues related toanthropomorphism andrationalism among others.[3]
The book was edited by Bekir Topaloğlu and Muhammed Aruçi and published twice by İSAM Publications (2000 and 2003). The third impression was made inBeirut in 2007.[4]
The book received the 16th World Prize for the "Book of the Year" in the field ofIslamic studies from theMinistry of Culture and Islamic Guidance of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2008. The editors of the book, Bekir Topaloğlu and Muhammed Aruçi, were invited by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to Iran on this occasion. On February 7, 2009, the "Book of the Year" prize in Muslim theology was granted to the winners by PresidentMahmud Ahmadinejad.[5]
Joseph Schacht, in his article announcing the discovery of the Kitab al-Tawhid, described theCambridge manuscript as an authentic work by al-Maturidi. Since the one surviving manuscript was published by Fathallah Khalif in 1970, research based on it has been conducted by students of Islamic theology and several reviews and studies of it have been published.[6]
60. Refutation of the Sumaniya's Thesis that the World is with no Beginning and Incessantly Sinks Downward;Al-Nazzam's Argument with a Commentary by Imam al-Maturidi,
61. Against theSophists; Muhammad ibn Shabib's Argument with a Commentary by Imam al-Maturidi,
62. On the Teachings of the Manicheans; An Exposition of their Incorrectness,
63. On the Teachings of the Daysaniyyah (followers ofBardesanes, i.e., Ibn Daysan); An Exposition of their Incorrectness,
64. On the Teachings of theMarcionites; An Exposition of their Incorrectness,
65. On the Teachings of theMagians; An Exposition of their Incorrectness.
^According toAsh'aris andMaturidis, "Al-Istawa' 'ala al-'Arsh" should not be taken in the sense of "being seated on the throne".God's "Istawa' 'ala al-'Arsh" means neither sitting on the Throne nor any direction... because the Throne is contingent. And, it does not mean manner or mode or proximity because He is God in heavens as much as He is God on the earth. God is eternal and everlasting while the Throne is not.The eternal God cannot be assigned attributes or described in terms contingent on His creatures for He states in the Qur'an that, "There is nothing whatever like Him" (42:11; 112:4). This short statement emphasizes that God is not of the same kind as those who have been created and, therefore, He is beyond all human concepts of Him. So He has no mates and nothing is like Him, nor does He beget, nor is He begotten. Nothing – neither matter, nor space, nor time – can restrict or contain Him. And this is why His Attributes – His Hearing, Seeing, Knowledge, Will, Power, Creating, and so on – are also beyond anything we can conceive. Therefore attributing to God transmutation, movement, staying at a place, standing, sitting and other items of this nature, is not permitted. Such attributes mark contingency and God transcends such attributes.Likewise God's hands are not "two hands i.e., organs and do not have any form, shape or appearance...," the same applying to other Qur'anic anthropomorphic expressions, underscored by the clause, we do not know the how of them.
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