Sharh al-Aqida al-Kubra of al-Sanusi

Bismillah,

A while back, I received a copy of Sharh al-Aqida al-Kubra, by the renowned Wali and theologian;Abu ‘Abdillah Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Sanusi (died 895 Hijra). Another title given to this book is; ‘Aqida Ahl al-Tawhid. This book is a rare gem. For the longest, this book was only in manuscript form, until now. In the ranks of books, this book is an intermediate to advanced work on Aqidah and Ilm al-Kalam.

Unfortunately, this book is a victim of the modern machine that is the Arabic book publishing world. The cover is hard bound and shiny, the pages are crisp, and print is nice, however, this book has several set backs. Among them:

This book is composed of a basic text by the author, followed by his own explanation of it. Those who made this book available to us did not organize the book well. Often times, the reader is left wondering where is the text and where is the explanation. There is the text with a large line under it, seperating it from the explanation, but it is not functional and easy to follow.

The footnotes in the book are a major distraction and waste of space. This is one problem with the modern ‘Tahqiq‘ industry in the Arab world. You have individuals who have no idea what they are editing, placing commentary and footnotes of their own that have no relevance to the topic presented in the book. For example, when Imam al-Sanusi was speaking about the issue of conformism (taqlid) in tenets of faith, the editor chose to place a long footnote, quoting from Imam al-Shawkani, rejecting taqlid of the four juristic schools (and as you probably know, there is an immense difference between taqlid in ones fiqh and taqlid in ones doctrine). In many other places, when commenting on something Imam al-Sanusi says, he places footnotes with quotes from Ibn Taymiya, Qadi Abdul Jabbar (the Mu’tazilite), Ibn Sina (the philosopher that Imam al-Ghazali imputed with unbelief), and others. In one footnote, he quotes Ibn Taymiyas views on Allah’s attributes, then later on he quotes Imam al-Nawawi saying something completely opposite.

Another example of this silly Arab book market economy is that you have hardcore salafis doing Tahqiqs on works of Sufism. Case in point, the Tahqiq of al-Risala al-Qushayriya (the Epistle of al-Qushayri). The edition I have at home is almost 600 pages. The one who did the Tahqiq crammed the Risala with footnotes–some reaching tens of pages–from Ibn Taymiyas rebuttal to the Risala (Kitab al-Istiqama)! So in essence, this sufi book is nothing more than a launching pad to attack Sufism!

The editor takes every opportunity to pick apart Imam al-Qushayris words, doubt in the Karamat reported, and in general, make mockery of this classic work. Im sure the salafis would be angry if we took a slim essay from Ibn al-Qayyim and crammed it with quotes from al-Subkis ‘al-Sayf al-Saqil’.

Anyway, I was flipping through Imam al-Sanusis work and stumbled upon a very interesting quote. He said:

As for the commonality, most of them are they who do not concern themselves with sitting in the gatherings of the scholars and intermingling with the people of goodness. The belief of corporeality (Tajsim) is actualized within them, as well as (belief in) direction (jiha; that Allah is in a direction), that natural occurrences have independent effect, that the actions of Allah are with motive/desire , and that His speech–be He Exalted and Sublime–is composed of letters and a voice; sometimes speaking and other times remaining silent–like man, and other such beliefs of falsehood…