AN ANALYSIS OF THE STRUCTURE OF SAʻD AL-DIN AL-TAFTAZANIʼS “SHARH AL-MAQASID” AND OF THE CLASSIFICATION OF DOCTRINAL ISSUES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57033/mijournals-2026-9-0243Keywords:
Saʻd al-Din al-Taftazani, Sharh al-Maqasid, kalam, aqida, Hanafi- Maturidi school, classification, al-umur al-amma, aʻrad, jawhar, ilahiyyat, samʻiyyat, the TimuridsAbstract
This article analyses the structural composition of “Sharh al-Maqasid,” the largest work on the science of kalam (theology) by Saʻd al-Din al-Taftazani (722– 792/1322–1390), the most renowned scholar of the Hanafi-Maturidi school of the Timurid period, and his approach to the classification of doctrinal (aqida) issues. It shows that, in classifying purely doctrinal matters, al-Taftazani arranged them into six “aims” (maqsad) al-mabadi (the principles), al-umur al-amma (the general matters), al-aʻrad (accidents), al-jawahir (substances), al-ilahiyyat (theology) and al-samʻiyyat (the revealed matters) and compares this with the modern four-fold division of kalam. The article further examines how al-Taftazani distinguished doctrinal from juridical (fiqhi) issues, and demonstrates that the work is an important source not only for kalam and the history of the deviant sects but also for the exact and natural sciences.Downloads
References
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