An Introduction to Islamic Theology : English Translation of "Al-Bidayah Fi Usul al-Din" : Imam Nur al-Din al-Sabuni (d.580/1184)
Description
ISBN: 9780985565992
Author: Imam Nur al-Din al-Sabuni (d.580/1184); Faraz A Khan (translator); Hamza Yusuf (foreword)
Publisher: Zaytuna College, Sandala
Pages: 482 Binding: Hardcover
Description from the publisher:
An Introduction to Islamic TheologyImam Nur al-Din al-Sabuni’s Al-Bidayah fi usul al-dinIntroduction, Translation, Annotation, and Appendices by Shaykh Faraz Khan of the Zaytuna College faculty
In an age of unprecedented challenges, the demanding task before Muslim theologians today is not merely to reproduce the debates of the past but to formulate a genuine contemporary scholastic theology, or kalam, that engages the questions, concerns, and misgivings of modernity.
This concise yet thorough manual on Maturidi theology authored by Imam Nur al-Din al-Sabuni (d. 580/1184), a prominent Muslim theologian from Bukhara, provides a foundation upon which modern Muslim discourse can be built. The text explains the central tenets of the Islamic creed and refutes erroneous positions of alternative theologies. The discussions are uncomplicated and unencumbered by technical terminology, and the positions of orthodoxy are presented with rational and scriptural evidence.
Comprehensive notes by translator Faraz A. Khan accompany the text and, with the translation, provide a rare rendering into the English language of the extraordinary richness and enduring relevance of the kalam commentary tradition. Finally, a valuable appendix on the kalam cosmological argument discusses related issues in contemporary philosophy.
Read sample pages, including a table of contents, from the book here.
About the TranslatorFaraz A. Khan is on the faculty at Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California. After completing undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin, he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he resided from 2004 to 2011. In accordance with the criteria of traditional Islamic studies, he read classical texts with distinguished scholars in Ashari and Maturidi scholastic theology, Hanafi jurisprudence, prophetic narration, logic, and other religious sciences, receiving scholarly authorization (ijazah) after seven years of full-time study. His current research interests center on the engagement of philosophical theology and ethics with the contemporary age.
- This handsome, hard-cover edition—a comprehensive work with a foreword, an introduction, the original Arabic text along with its English translation, annotations, appendices and an index—is a project of the Zaytuna Department of Publications.