English translation and commentary by Sulaiman Ahmed Translated into Turkish by Bekir Topaloğlu and Muhammed Aruçi Translated into Russian by Ramil Adigamov, Head of Department of Arabic Language at Kazan Islamic University[1]
This work provides a detailed and holistic approach to Islamic theology, while also serving as its earliest extant comprehensive source. Al-Maturidi presents the epistemological foundations of his teaching and provides detailed arguments in defence of Monotheism, including his cosmological doctrines such as proofs for the creation and ontology of the Universe. He also focuses on God, his existence and attributes, analyzing issues related to anthropomorphism and rationalism among others.[3]
The book was edited by Bekir Topaloğlu and Muhammed Aruçi and published twice by İSAM Publications (2000 and 2003). The third impression was made in Beirut in 2007.[4]
The book received the 16th World Prize for "the Book of the Year" in the field of Islamic studies from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2008. The editors of the book, Bekir Topaloğlu and Muhammed Aruçi, were invited by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to Iran on this occasion. On February 7, 2009, the "Book of the year" prize in Muslim theology was granted to the winners by President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.[5]
Joseph Schacht, in his article announcing the discovery of the Kitab al-Tawhid, described the Cambridge manuscript as an authentic work by al-Maturidi. Since the one surviving manuscript was published by Fathallah Khalif in 1970, research based on it has been conducted by students of Islamic theology and several reviews and studies of it have been published.[6]
60. Refutation of the Sumaniya's Thesis that the World is with no Beginning and Incessantly Sinks Downward ; Al-Nazzam's Argument with a Commentary by Imam al-Maturidi,
61. Against the Sophists; Muhammad ibn Shabib's Argument with a Commentary by Imam al-Maturidi,
62. On the Teachings of the Manicheans; An Exposition of their Incorrectness,
63. On the Teachings of the Daysaniyyah (followers of Bardesanes, i.e., Ibn Daysan); An Exposition of their Incorrectness,
64. On the Teachings of the Marcionites; An Exposition of their Incorrectness,
65. On the Teachings of the Magians; An Exposition of their Incorrectness.
^According to Ash'aris and Maturidis, "Al-Istawa' 'ala al-'Arsh" should not be taken in the sense of "being seated on the throne".
God's "Istawa' 'ala al-'Arsh" means neither sitting on the Throne nor any direction... because the Throne is contingent. And, it does not mean manner or mode or proximity because He is God in heavens as much as He is God on the earth. God is eternal and everlasting while the Throne is not.
The eternal God cannot be assigned attributes or described in terms contingent on His creatures for He states in the Qur'an that, "There is nothing whatever like Him" (42:11; 112:4). This short statement emphasizes that God is not of the same kind as those who have been created and, therefore, He is beyond all human concepts of Him. So He has no mates and nothing is like Him, nor does He beget, nor is He begotten. Nothing – neither matter, nor space, nor time – can restrict or contain Him. And this is why His Attributes – His Hearing, Seeing, Knowledge, Will, Power, Creating, and so on – are also beyond anything we can conceive. Therefore attributing to God transmutation, movement, staying at a place, standing, sitting and other items of this nature, is not permitted. Such attributes mark contingency and God transcends such attributes.
Likewise God's hands are not "two hands i.e., organs and do not have any form, shape or appearance...," the same applying to other Qur'anic anthropomorphic expressions, underscored by the clause, we do not know the how of them.
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