moslem encyclopedia

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Muhammad Abu Mansur al-Maturidi

Muhammad Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (853 AD - 333 AH / 944 AD) (Persian: محمد بن محمد بن محمود أبو منصور ماتریدی سمرقندی حنفی‎) was aTurkic Muslim theologian, and a scholar of Islamic jurisprudence and Qur'anic exegesis. Al Maturidi is one of the pioneers^[1] of Islamic Jurisprudence scholars and his two works are considered to be authoritative on the subject.^[2] He had a "high standing" among the scholars of his time and region.^[3]

Early life and education

He was born in Maturid near Samarkand, (possibly) in 853.^[4] He was educated in Islamic theology, Qur'anic exegesis, and Islamic jurisprudence. He was a Muslim theologian and his background is claimed as Turkic or Tajik.^[5] The area of Samarkand was at his time under the Samanid and its urban population were predominately Tajik while the surrounding steppes was largely populated by Turkic-speaking people.^[6]

His Teachers were Abu Nasr Ahmed b. Abbas b. Husayin al-Iyazi, Abu Bakr Ahmed b. Ishak b. Salih el-Juzjani (writer from Al-Farq wat Tamyiz),Nusayr b. Yahya al-Balkhi and Qadilqudat Muhammad b. Mukatil ar-Razi. Abu Nasr al-Iyazi was his teacher and friend. Abu Bakr al-Juzjani was the pupil of Abu Sulayman Musa b. Sulayman el-Juzjani, who was the pupil of Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad Ash-Shaybani. Muhammad b. Mukatil did learn from Imam Muhammad as-Shaybani too.

Works

When al-Maturidi was growing up there was an emerging reaction^[7] against some schools within Islam, notably Mu'tazilis, Qarmati, and Shi'a. The Sunni scholars who were following Abu Hanifa. Al-Maturidi with other two preeminent scholars()^[8] wrote especially on the creed of Islam and elaborated Abu Hanifa's doctrine, the other two being Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari in Iraq, and Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tahawi in Egypt.^[9]

While Al-Ash'ari and Al-Tahawi were Sunni together with Al-Maturidi, they constructed their own theologies diverging slightly from Abu Hanifa's school. Al-Ash'ari, enunciated that God creates the individual's power (qudra), will, and the actual act^[10] giving way to a fatalist school of theology, which was later put in a consolidated form by Al Ghazali.^[11] Al Maturidi, followed in Abu Hanifa's footsteps, and presented the "notion that God was the creator of man’s acts, although man possessed his own capacity and will to act".^[12] Al Maturidi and Al-Ash'ari also separated from each other in the issue of the attributes of God,^[13] as well as some other minor issues.

Later, with the impact of Turkish states such as Great Seljuq Empire^[14] and Ottoman Empire,^[15] Hanafi-Maturidi school spread to greater areas where the Hanafi school of law is prevalent, such as Afghanistan, Central Asia, South Asia, Balkan, Russia, China, Caucasus and Turkey.

Maturidi had immense knowledge of dualist beliefs (Sanawiyya) and of other old Persian religions. His "Kitäb al-tawhld" in this way has become a primary source for modern researchers with its rich materials about Iranian Manicheanism (Mâniyya), a group of Brahmans (Barähima), and some controversial personalities such as Ibn al-Rawandi,Muhammad al Warraq, and Muhammad b. Shabib.^[16][17]

His Writings

§ Kitab Al Tawhid ('Book of Monotheism')

§ Kitab Radd Awa'il al-Adilla, a refutation of a Mu'tazili book

§ Radd al-Tahdhib fi al-Jadal, another refutation of a Mu'tazili book

§ Kitab Bayan Awham al-Mu'tazila ('Book of Exposition of the Errors of Mu'tazila)

§ Kitab Ta'wilat al-Qur'an ('Book of the Interpretations of the Quran')

§ Kitab al-Maqalat

§ Ma'akhidh al-Shara'i' in Usul al-Fiqh

§ Al-Jadal fi Usul al-Fiqh

§ Radd al-Usul al-Khamsa, a refutation of Abu Muhammad al-Bahili's exposition of the Five Principles of the Mu'tazila

§ Radd al-Imama, a refutation of the Shi'i conception of the office of Imam;

§ Al-Radd 'ala Usul al-Qaramita

§ Radd Wa'id al-Fussaq, a refutation of the Mu'tazili doctrine that all grave sinners will be eternally in hell fire.

Islam in Mongolia

Islam in Mongolia is practiced by approximately 5% of the population.^[1] It is practised by the ethnic Kazakhs of Bayan-Ölgii Province (88.7% of total aimag population) and Khovd Province (11.5% of total aimag population, living primarily in the Khovd city, Khovd sum and Buyant sum)aimag in western Mongolia. In addition, a number of small Kazakh communities can be found in various cities and towns spread throughout the country.

The earliest evidence of Islam in Mongolia is dated to 1254, when the Franciscan William of Rubruck visited the court of the great khan Mongka at Karakorum. He celebrated Easter at a Nestorian Christian church but also noted seven temples of the "idolators" (probably Buddhist and Taoist temples), and two mosques. Therefore, historians date the arrival of Islam to Mongolia to between 1222 and 1254. Islam also gained the notice of the Mongols, after Genghis Khan had conquered Afghanistan. In 1222 he, on his way back to Mongolia, visited Bukhara inTransoxiana. It was believed he inquired about Islam, and subsequently approved of Muslim tenets except the Hajj, considering it unnecessary. Nevertheless, he continued his worship of Tengri as his ancestors had done.

Genghis Khan's grandson Berke converted to Islam due to the efforts of Saif ud-Din Dervish, a dervish from Khorazm, thus Berke became one of the first Mongol rulers to convert. Other Mongol leaders owed their conversion to Islam due to the influence of a Muslim wife.^[2]Later, it was the Mamluk ruler Baibars who played an important role in bringing many Golden Horde Mongols to Islam. Baibars developed strong ties with the Mongols of the Golden Horde and took steps for the Golden Horde Mongols to travel to Egypt. The arrival of the Golden Horde Mongols to Egypt resulted in a significant number of Mongols accepting Islam.^[2] By AD 1330s three of the four major khanates of the Mongol Empire had become Muslim.^[3] These were the Golden Horde, Hulagu's Ulus and Chagatai's Ulus. The YuanEmpire also embraced Muslim peoples such as the Uyghurs and Persians.

Although the court of the Yuan Empire adopted Tibetan Buddhism as the official religion, the majority of the ordinary Mongols, especially those who continued living in Mongolia proper remained Shamanists. After the decline of the Yuan Dynasty, Shamanism once again became the dominant religion. To varying degrees, political and economic relations with Muslim nations such as Moghulistan and the Uyghurs continued.

The Muslim Kazakhs began to settle in the Jungaria and Altai regions since the late nineteenth century. The majority of these Kazakhs were the Kerei and Naiman clans, many of them escaping persecution from Czarist Russia. When Bogdo Khan assumed power in Mongolia on December 29, 1911, the Kazakhs in Xinjian and Altai regions sought patronage of the restored Khanate. The Government ofBogdo Khan admitted them and allowed them to settle in the western region of Mongolia's Kobdo territory.

Communist era

Bayan-Ölgii aimag was established as part of the administrative reforms of the Mongolian People's Republic in 1940. As a result of historically high birth rates, the Muslim population in Mongolia increased between 1956-1989. However, there was a decline in theMuslim population ^[4][5] in 1990-1993 due to the large wave of repatriation of ethnic Kazakhs (so called oralmans) to Kazakhstan following the break-up of the Soviet Union. Islam is freely practised in the country since Mongolia became a democracy in 1990.