Al-Baqillani

Abu Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ṭayyib al-Bāqillānī (Arabic: أبو بكر محمد بن الطيب الباقلاني‎; c. 940 - 5 June 1013),[5] often known as al-Bāqillānī for short, or reverentially as Imam al-Bāqillānī by Sunni Muslims, was a famous Sunni Islamic theologian, jurist, and logician who spent much of his life defending and strengthening orthodox Sunni Islam.[1] An accomplished rhetorical stylist and master orator, al-Baqillani was held in high regard by his contemporaries for his expertise in debating even the most complex of theological and jurisprudential issues.[6] Al-Baqillani is often given the honorary epithets Shaykh al-Sunna ("Doctor of the Prophetic Way"), Lisān al-Umma ("Mouthpiece of the Community"), Imād al-Dīn ("Pillar of the Faith"), Nāsir al-Islām ("Guardian of Islam"), and Sayf as-Sunna ("Sword of the Prophetic Way") in Sunni tradition.[6]

Abu Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ṭayyib al-Bāqillānī
TitleSayf as-Sunna ("Sword of the Prophetic way"),[1] Imād al-Dīn ("Pillar of the Faith"),[1] Nāsir al-Islām ("Protector of Islam")[1]
Personal
Born
Abu Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ṭayyib al-Bāqillānī

338/950 CE[2]
Basra[2][3]
Died403/1013 CE[3]
ReligionIslam
DenominationSunni
JurisprudenceMaliki[2]
CreedAsh'ari[2][4]
Main interest(s)Theology (Kalam), Philosophy, Logic, Islamic Jurisprudence
Notable work(s)Kitāb al-Tamhīd,[1] Kitāb I'jaz al-Qur'ān[1]

Born in Basra in 330 AH/950 CE,[2] he spent most of his life in Baghdad, and studied theology under two disciples of al-Ash'ari,[2] Ibn Mujahid al-Ta'i and Abu'l Hasan al-Bahili.[7] He also studied jurisprudence under the Maliki scholars Abu Abdullah al-Shirazi and Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani.[7] After acquiring expertise in both Islamic theology and Maliki jurisprudence he expounding the teachings of the Ash'ari school, and taught Maliki jurisprudence in Baghdad.[2] He held the office of chief Qadi in Baghdad and in 'Ukbara, a town not far from the capital.[2] al-Bāqillānī became a popular lecturer, and took part in debates with well-known scholars of the day.[3] Because of his logical acumen and swift, unhesitating replies, the Emir 'Adud al-Dawla dispatched him as an envoy to the Byzantine court in Constantinople and he debated Christian scholars in the presence of their king in 371/981.[8][9]

He died in 403 AH/1013 CE.[3]

He supported the doctrine of the apologetic miracle being proof of prophecy, the non-creation of the Quran, intercession, and the possibility of seeing God.

Ibn Taymiyya called al-Baqillani 'the best of the Ash'ari mutakallimun, unrivalled by any predecessor or successor'.[10]

Works

Fifty-five titles of works written by Al-Baqillani have been listed, the great majority on legal and theological matters, and many written against heretical Muslim and other opponents.[11]

  • I‘jāz al-Qur’ān (The Inimitability of the Qur'an)
  • Al-Intiṣār lil-Qur’ān
  • Al-Taqrīb wa-al-irshād al-ṣaghīr
  • Kitāb tamhīd al-awāʼil wa-talkhīṣ al-dalāʼil (The Introduction).
  • Al-Inṣāf fīmā yajibu i‘tiqāduhu wa-lā yajūzu al-jahl bihi fī ‘ilm al-kalām
  • Manāqib al-A’immah al-arba‘ah

References
  1. Camilla Adang, Muslim Writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: From Ibn Rabban to Ibn Hazm, p 53. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1996. ISBN 9004100342.
  2. Camilla Adang, Muslim Writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: From Ibn Rabban to Ibn Hazm, p 51. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1996. ISBN 9004100342.
  3. David Richard Thomas, Christian Doctrines in Islamic Theology, p 119. Vol. 10 of History of Christian-Muslim Relations Series. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2008. ISBN 9004169350
  4. Adang, Camilla; Fierro, Maribel; Schmidtke, Sabine (2012). Ibn Hazm of Cordoba: The Life and Works of a Controversial Thinker (Handbook of Oriental Studies) (Handbook of Oriental Studies: Section 1; The Near and Middle East). Volume I (A-B). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers. p. 384. ISBN 978-90-04-23424-6.
  5. W. M. Watt, Islamic Philosophy and Theology (Edinburgh University Press, 1985), p. 76.
  6. Ansari, Hassan, Melvin-Koushki, Matthew, Tareh, Masoud, Khodaverdian, Shahram, Omidi, Jalil and Gholami, Rahim, “al-Bāqillānī, Abū Bakr”, in: Encyclopaedia Islamica, Editors-in-Chief: Wilferd Madelung and, Farhad Daftary.
  7. Richard C. Martín, Encyclopedia of Islam & the Muslim World, Volume 1, p 105. ISBN 0028656032
  8. Nuh Keller, Reliance of the Traveller, x32. p 1026. Amana Publications, 1997. ISBN 0915957728
  9. David Richard Thomas, Christian Doctrines in Islamic Theology, p 120. Vol. 10 of History of Christian-Muslim Relations Series. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2008. ISBN 9004169350
  10. at-tawhid.net. "Abû Bakr Al Bâqillânî - ابو بكر الباقلّاني (m.403) - at-tawhid.net". at-tawhid.net. Archived from the original on 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  11. David Richard Thomas, Christian Doctrines in Islamic Theology, p 121. Vol. 10 of History of Christian-Muslim Relations Series. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2008. ISBN 9004169350
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