Abu al-Barakat al-Nasafi

Abu al-Barakat al-Nasafi
أبو البركات النسفي
TitleHafiz al-Din ("Protector of the Religion")
Personal
Born
Died710 A.H. = 1310 A.D.
Died in Baghdad, and was buried in Izaj
ReligionIslam
EraIslamic Golden Age
RegionMa Wara' al-Nahr (the land which lies beyond the river), Transoxiana (Central Asia)
DenominationSunni
JurisprudenceHanafi
CreedMaturidi
Main interest(s)Tafsir, Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), Usul al-Fiqh, Usul al-Din, Aqidah, Kalam (Islamic theology), Tawhid, Hadith studies
Notable work(s)Madarik al-Tanzil wa Haqa'iq al-Ta'wil
Muslim leader

Abu al-Barakat al-Nasafi (Arabic: أبو البركات النسفي), was an eminent Hanafi scholar, Qur'an exegete (mufassir), and a Maturidi theologian. He is perhaps best known for his Tafsir Madarik al-Tanzil wa Haqa'iq al-Ta'wil (Arabic: مدارك التنزيل وحقائق التأويل, lit.'The Perceptions of Revelation and the Truths of Interpretation').

He was one of the foremost figures of the classical period of Hanafi jurisprudence and one of the major scholars of the Maturidi school in the Sunni tradition, which developed in parallel with Hanafiyya, who made a tremendous contribution in the field of Islamic sciences in Central Asia, especially to the dissemination of the Hanafian order and teachings of the Maturidi school in the Islamic world and left a great amount of scientific heritage.[1]

He successfully worked in different branches of Islamic studies such as tafsir, fiqh and kalam. For his contribution to Islamic sciences he was given an honorable title of "Hafiz al-Din" (Protector of the Religion).[2]

He was praised by 'Abd al-Hayy al-Lucknawi, and Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani described him as the "'Allamah of the World", and Ibn Taghribirdi gave him the honorable title of "Shaykh al-Islam".[3]

Some scholars ranked him as mujtahid in Hanafi fiqh.[4][5]

  1. ^ "A Hanafi-Maturidi Scholar: Abu'l-Barakat al-Nasafi". AGRIS: International System for Agricultural Science and Technology.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Martijn Theodoor Houtsma (1987). E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936 (Volume 1). Brill Publishers. p. 214. ISBN 9789004082656.
  3. ^ "A Brief Biography of Imam al-Nasafi". Al-Ittihad (Emirati newspaper). 4 September 2010.
  4. ^ "A Brief Biography of Imam al-Nasafi". Egyptian Dar al-Ifta'.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Manahij al-Mufassirin by Mani' 'Abd al-Halim Mahmud". rafed.net.