Saʿd al-dīn’s commentary on al-ʿaqīda al-Nasafiyya is one of the early commentaries on the creed and its also one of the most commented upon commentary making all further commentaries on it super commentaries. Saʿd al-dīn Abū Saʿīd Masʿūd b. ʿUmar b. ʿAbdullāh al-Taftāzānī (b. 722/1322 – d.791/1389). He is a jurist of Shāfiʿī school of Muslim jurisprudence and Ashʿarī school of sunnī theology. 1
Scholars then took al-Taftāzānī’s work as a starting point and wrote super / marginal commentaries on it. These commentaries themselves have become works that stand up on their own with original contributions. Whereas there are many other commentaries that are important marginal notes others are full out commentaries where every word that al-Taftāzānī wrote is commented on in detail. Many traditional schools (madrasas and seminaries) use al-Taftāzānī’s work as a part of their curriculum. The two authors come from two different philosophical theology backgrounds, namely Māturīdī and Ashʿarī respectively. Some scholars are of the opinion that al-Taftāzānī respected al-Nasafī’s Māturīdī school and wrote his commentary inline with the Māturīdi school’s opinions. One example that is often cited is that when al-Taftāzānī mentions “our scholars” he is referring to Māturīdi scholars and not Ashʿarī scholar’s opinions. Other scholars maintained otherwise. In the case of his commentary on al-ʿaqīda al-Nasafiyya it is claimed that he is following Ashʿarī theology, perhaps due to his many other works on Ashʿarī theology, whereas in the commentary it is quite apparent that he is citing Māturīdī positions and not those of other schools. In either case, both Māturīdī and Ashʿarī seemed to agree on the work enough to use it as standard part of their school’s theology curriculum.
Al-Taftāzānī was a consummate scholar who travelled widely in Central Asia he was a master of both Shāfiʿī school and Ḥanafī school of Muslim jurisprudence and Ashʿarī school as well as Māturīdī school of sunnī theology. I am of the opinion that he wrote his commentary on al-ʿaqīda al-Nasafiyya in the Māturīdī school of sunnī theology and then noted his disagreement as well the positions of the Ashʿarī school as well as other schools. This is in line with his work as a scholar who is able to articulate his authors ideas. For example, he did this when he wrote philosophical texts written within the school of Muslim Philosophy and articulated their positions. He also followed suit in his works on jurisprudence as in works on Shāfiʿī jurisprudence he explained the Shāfiʿī positions and when he wrote works on Ḥanafī jurisprudence he explained the Ḥanafī positions. This may have caused confusion where some claimed that he is a Ḥanafī Jurist whereas other claimed that he is a Shāfiʿī Jurist.
The website has many of the published editions of his commentary on al-ʿaqīda al-Nasafiyya that are available in PDF format (link). Others that are in print we provide full bibliographic information. There are also several English translations that are available as well that we believe fall short.
Biographical references:
Primary Sources:
- Muṣṭafa b. Abdullah Ḥājī khalīfa= Katip Çelbı, Kashf al-ẓunūn, Istanbul, 1941?
- Aḥmad b. MuṣṭafaTaşköprüzāde, miftaḥ al-saʿada Beirut, 1405. 1:191
Secondary Sources:
- Many of the modern editions contain a summarized outline of his biography and a discussion of his life and contributions.
- A Commentary one the Creed of Islam, E. E. Elder, Columbia University Press, New York, 1950. p. xxi-xxii (Qurʾān index)