Three Islamic commentaries on theology and hadith in 19th-century copies

Iji, 'Adud al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad al-. Sharh al-Samarqandi li-l-Risalah al-‘Adudiyah [Samarqandi’s Commentary on al-‘Adudiyah] (and): Hashiyat al-Dusuqi ‘ala Sharh al-Samarqandi li-l-Risalah al-‘Adudiyah [al-Dusuqi’s Supercommentary on Samarqandi’s Commentary on al-‘Adudiyah] (and): Sharh nazm alqab al-Hadith [Commentary on the Didactic Poem of Hadith Classifications].

€ 6,500.00

A substantial Maghribi manuscript containing three works on theology and hadith, reflecting the continuity of post-classical scholarship in North Africa.

The first, Sharh al-Samarqandi li-l-Risalah al-‘Adudiyah [Samarqandi’s Commentary on al-‘Adudiyah], is by Shams al-Din al-Samarqandi (d. ca. 1322). Al-Iji’s treatise offered a brief outline of Ash‘arite theology (a leading school of Sunni theology balancing reason and revelation); Samarqandi expands it with detailed discussions of divine attributes, prophecy, causality, and human responsibility. This copy was completed on 3 Rabi‘ II 1280 H (15 September 1863).

The second, Hashiyat al-Dusuqi ‘ala Sharh al-Samarqandi li-l-Risalah al-‘Adudiyah [al-Dusuqi’s Supercommentary on Samarqandi’s Commentary on al-‘Adudiyah], is by Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Dusuqi (d. 1815), transmitted here through Ali al-Saidi al-Adawi. Dusuqi builds on Samarqandi’s text, clarifying Ash‘arite positions and integrating Maliki legal perspectives, often drawing on earlier authorities such as al-Taftazani. The manuscript is dated 4 Ramadan 1314 H (6 February 1897).

The third, Sharh Nazm Alqab al-Hadith [Commentary on the Didactic Poem of Hadith Classifications], is by the Moroccan scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Qadir al-Fasi (d. 1698), on a mnemonic poem by Muhammad ibn al-Arabi al-Fasi (d. 1642). Al-Fasi explains the poem’s hadith terminology, defining categories of transmission, narrator reliability, and the distinctions between sound, fair, and weak reports. This copy was made on 2 Dhu’l-Qa‘dah 1281 H (26 April 1865).

Together, the three works document the integration of Ash‘arite theology and hadith scholarship into the pedagogical traditions of 19th-century North Africa.