شرح العقيدة الوسطى

Sharh al-'Aqidah al-Wusta

An important intermediate-to-advanced work of Ashʿarī theology by the renowned Mālikī theologian Imām Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Sanūsī (d. 895 AH). The work is al-Sanūsī’s own commentary upon his al-ʿAqīdah al-Wusṭā and forms part of his carefully graduated corpus of theological writings, through which the student progresses from concise introductory formulations to increasingly detailed investigation of the principles and proofs of Islamic creed.

The Wusṭā occupies a particularly useful position within this sequence. Al-Sanūsī condenses many of the extensive discussions found in his Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah al-Kubrā, while adopting a more focused style of presentation. He generally confines himself to the positions he considers established and verified, closely follows the wording of the underlying creed, and nevertheless incorporates a number of subtle theological discussions that are not readily encountered even in larger works. The result is considerably more detailed than his introductory creeds while remaining more manageable than the Kubrá.

The work treats the fundamental questions of ʿIlm al-Tawḥīd through the characteristic method of the later Ashʿarī tradition, combining rational demonstration with transmitted doctrine and carefully formulated theological argument. Al-Sanūsī is particularly concerned with establishing the doctrines of Ahl al-Sunnah through proof, clarifying difficult points, and responding to opposing theological positions. It therefore serves not simply as a statement of creed, but as training in the reasoning, terminology and argumentative method of classical Kalām.

Within al-Sanūsī’s educational programme, the Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah al-Wusṭā functions as a bridge between his shorter instructional texts and the much more expansive Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah al-Kubrā. Dār al-Taqwā accordingly publishes it as part of its five-volume al-Silsilah al-ʿAqadiyyah al-Sanūsiyyah, comprising Sharḥ al-Muqaddimāt, Sharḥ Ṣughrā al-Ṣughrā, Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah al-Ṣughrā, Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah al-Wusṭā and Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah al-Kubrā.

A valuable text for students who have acquired the foundations of Ashʿarī creed and wish to proceed to a more rigorous study of its proofs, technical discussions and theological reasoning, without immediately entering the extensive treatment of the Kubrá.

The Dār al-Taqwā, Damascus edition has been critically prepared by Anas Muḥammad ʿAdnān al-Sharfāwī.