شرح العقيدة الكبرى

Sharh al-'Aqidah al-Kubra

A substantial work of Ashʿarī theology and ʿIlm al-Tawḥīd by the renowned North African scholar Imām Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Sanūsī (d. 895 AH). The work is al-Sanūsī’s own extensive commentary upon his al-ʿAqīdah al-Kubrā, also known as ʿAqīdat Ahl al-Tawḥīd, and represents the most advanced and expansive level of the celebrated series of theological texts through which he presented the principles of Sunni creed.

Unlike his more concise Umm al-Barāhīn (al-ʿAqīdah al-Ṣughrā), the Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah al-Kubrā is intended for serious and advanced study. Al-Sanūsī gives extended treatment to the fundamental doctrines of theology, establishing them through rational and transmitted proofs, carefully analysing difficult questions, examining competing arguments and answering major objections. The work displays the mature theological method for which al-Sanūsī became particularly influential in the Maghrib and throughout the later Ashʿarī scholarly tradition. The publisher describes it as standing at the summit of al-Sanūsī’s graduated theological corpus, distinguished by its detailed exposition, resolution of difficult discussions and careful determination of relied-upon positions.

The book is particularly valuable when studied as part of al-Sanūsī’s structured programme of theological instruction. His shorter works introduce the essential doctrines and proofs in increasingly accessible forms, whereas the Kubrá allows those foundations to be investigated at considerably greater depth. Dār al-Taqwā accordingly includes it as the culminating work of its five-volume al-Silsilah al-ʿAqadiyyah al-Sanūsiyyah, beginning with Sharḥ al-Muqaddimāt and progressing through the intermediate works to Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah al-Kubrā.

An important classical reference for advanced students of Ashʿarī Kalām, the work is especially suited to readers wishing to move beyond introductory manuals of creed and study the proofs, objections, technical terminology and detailed reasoning underlying the Sanūsī theological tradition.

This Dār al-Taqwā edition has been prepared by Anas Muḥammad ʿAdnān al-Sharfāwī as part of the publisher’s al-Silsilah al-ʿAqadiyyah al-Sanūsiyyah.