Al-Radd 'ala Ashab al-Hawa ( ar, الرد على أصحاب الهوى, lit=Refutation of those holding heretical views), better known as ''al-Sawad al-A'zam 'ala Madhhab al-Imam al-A'zam Abi Hanifa'' ( ar, السواد الأعظم على مذهب الإمام الأعظم أبى حنيفة, ), is a book written by al-Hakim al-Samarqandi, and is considered as the oldest

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

work in accordance with the Maturidite school, after Kitab al-Tawhid (The Book of Monotheism) by Abu Mansur al-Maturidi.

In it al-Hakim al-Samarqandi has developed sixty-two credal statements, and states that the failure to observe them means that one cannot be regarded among the majority of Muslims (al-Sawad al-A'zam), an idea which he based on the

Hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...

containing al-Sawad al-A'zam (the great majority). The text is a particularly important work in the development of

Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...

-Maturidi theology, as it attempts to faithfully represent the theological beliefs of Abu Hanifa two centuries after his death to a

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

n audience then wrestling with the rise of Mu'tazili thought. The text was well-circulated in the centuries after its composition, both in the original

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

translation, along with a later Turkish translation during the Ottoman era. Al-Sawad al-A'zam had been commissioned in the early part of the tenth century by Isma'il b. Ahmad (r.279/892–295/907), the real founder of the Samanid polity in

Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...

and Khurasan, in order to define the parameters of the Sunni 'orthodoxy' the Samanids were committed to upholding. Blunt in style and authoritarian in tone, al-Sawad al-A'zam was in effect a Hanafite catechism consisting of responses to a large number of doctrinal questions. Like Tafsir al-Tabari, it was translated anonymously, indicating that its contents were not tied to any individual authorial view but rather represented the collective position of the Hanafite theologians of Transoxiana. According to the introduction, the purpose of al-Sawad al-A'zam was to counter the growth of sectarianism in the Samanid realm by setting out clearly the consensus of the theologians of Central Asia regarding specific points of Hanafite doctrine. In the process of doing so, it condemned the beliefs of groups it deemed heretical. These included not just the usual Isma'ilis – but also

Mu'tazilites Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...

, Kharijites, Murji'ites, Jabarites, Qadarites, and Karramites.

Influence and Popularity

Kitab al-Sawad al-A'zam (The Book of the Great Masses) enshrined Hanafism in

during the reign of the influential

Samanids People Samanid Samanid Samanid The Samanid Empire ( fa, سامانیان, Sāmāniyān) also known as the Samanian Empire, Samanid dynasty, Samanid amirate, or simply as the Samanids) was a Persianate Sunni Muslim empire, of Iranian dehqan orig ...

. As a result of the acceptance and influence of this statement of belief, the Turkic tribes north of Transoxiana were converted to Hanafism, including the Oghuz Turks, who would eventually become the great Seljuk rulers of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, Syria, and

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

during the 11th to 13th centuries.

Notes

References

External links

Abu al-Qasim Ishaq al-Hakim al-Samarqandi
— Encyclopaedia Iranica {{Authority control Sunni literature Hanafi literature Maturidi literature Islamic theology books Islamic belief and doctrine Kalam

Contents

Influence and Popularity

See also

Notes

References

External links