Ṣadr al-Sharī‘a’s Ta‘dīl Attempt and Later Māturīdism: Historical Background and General Characteristics
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: In this study, what Sadr al-Sharīʿa (d. 747/1346) aimed to achieve with his taʿdīl attempt is examined historically in terms of the relationship between Māturīdism and Ashʿarism. This relationship concerns the transformation within Ash'arism itself. Ash'arism attained a systematic structure with al-Bāqillanī (d. 403/1013) and Ibn Fūrek (d. 406/1015). Afterward, through the transformations it underwent with al-Juwaynī (d. 478/1085), al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111), and finally al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210), its engagement with Peripatetic philosophy advanced to a more developed stage. In Māturīdism, the process did not take place simultaneously with Ashʿarism. In Māturīdism, the references to its founding “imām” coincide with about one and a half centuries after the “imām’s death”. Taking this difference into account, this historical process is analyzed in terms of the relationship between the two schools, and the transformation of Māturīdism is linked to Ash'arism through al-Rāzī. With al-Rāzī, a new language of kalām emerged, prompting the Ḥanafīs to adapt to this new discourse. One of the first and highest forms of this language within Māturīdism, along with al-Samarqandī (d. 722/1322), was found in Sadr al-Sharīʿa. From this point of view, the article builds on Sadr al-Sharīʿa’s activity, which I conceptualize as a taʿdīl attempt, on the relationship between these two schools historically and between religious and philosophical thought in general. It is argued that Sadr al-Sharīʿah’s attempt represents the encounter of Māturīdism with philosophical issues and language in the case of Avicenna.
Author: Güvenç Şensoy
Institution: Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University
Language: Turkish
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7165376735