Najm ad-Din al-Tufi

Najm ad-Dīn Abū r-Rabīʿ Sulaimān ibn ʿAbd al-Qawī at-Tūfī (Arabic: نجم الدين أبو الربيع سليمان بن عبد القوي الطوفي‎) was a Hanbali scholar and student of Ibn Taymiyyah. He referred to ibn Taymiyyah as "our sheikh." Most of his scholarship deals with Islamic legal theory and theology. His writings did not attract a large following of Hanbalis, though his Mukhtasar al-Rawdah has been commented upon up to the 16th century.[1]

Islamic Scholar

Najm ad-Din Sulayman bin Abd al-Qawi Al-Tufi
Personal
Born673 AH / 1276 CE
Baghdad
Died716 AH / 1316 CE
Hebron
ReligionIslam
RegionCairo Qus
DenominationSunni
JurisprudenceHanbali
Main interest(s)Maslaha
Muslim leader

He is known for his writings on maṣlaḥa, in that averting harm is a general obligation which can only be set aside by a specific legal ruling, such as the hudud punishments. His theory on maṣlaḥa later influenced Islamic Modernism.[1]

Life

At-Tūfī received his first upbringing in his birthplace and traveled to Baghdad in 1282, where he studied Arabic grammar, fiqh, hadith, and logic. After a one-year stay in Damascus in 704 AH, where he used to attend the classes of Ibn Taymiyya and al-Mizzī, he moved to Cairo in 1305, where he continued his training with various scholars and as a tutor (muʿīd) at Mansūrīya and Nāsirīya. In 1311 CE he was imprisoned in Cairo for a few days for accusations of Shia leanings and then banished from the city. After a stopover in Damietta went to the city of Qus in Upper Egypt, where he worked through the libraries and wrote his own books. In 1315 he undertook the Hajj, after which he stayed in Mecca for another year. In 1316 he traveled to Palestine, where he died in the city of Hebron.

Accusations of Shi'a Leanings

There is some scholarly debate on at-Tūfī's biography about his possible inclination for the Shi'a. During his stay in Mecca he was in active contact with the Imamite scholar as-Sakākīnī. In Cairo, he was accused of representing Shi'a positions and insulting the Prophet's companions. Al-Safadi (d.764/1362) reports that he renounced his associations with Shi'ism, [2], however Ibn Rajab (d.795/1393) believed this renunciation was a form of taqiyya, accusing him of lying[3]. Mustafa Zayd refutes this and quotes al-Tufi criticizing Shi'a doctrines and states that al-Tufi is not cited in any Shi'a biographies of scholars.[4] Muhammad Said Ramadan al-Bouti argues otherwise and adds that al-Tufi's criticism of Shi'ism shows his volatile character.[5]

Maṣlaḥa

His most complete writings on maslaha are in his commentary on imam Nawawi's (d. 1277 CE) collection of 40 hadith, where he comments on the 32nd hadith, la darar wa la diraar. He states that this means to inflict harm (mafsada) upon someone else and to inflict harm in requital, therefore neither harm nor requital should be inflicted upon someone. He supports this hadith with verses from the Qur'an and other hadith that Allah does not intend to burden the believers, but gave us Islam for benefit and maslaha. In his opinion, this hadith has priority over all of the Shari'a except where punishment is stipulated, such as in the hudud, because they are stated to be obligatory in the revelation and are of stronger basis than the general statement of "there is no harm or requital of harm." He states that, by ijma, the harm caused by these punishments is permissible. Therefore averting harm is a general obligation which can only be superseded by a specific legal injunction.[6]

al-Tufi states in his theory of maṣlaḥa that it can only apply to muamalat (social dealings) and ādāt (customs and habits) and not ibadat (worship) and muqaddarāt (fixed stipulations), because acts of worship can only be known via revelation whereas our minds can be applied to social dealings. He stated that if the Qur'an, hadith, and ijma contradict the maslaha, then the maslaha would take precedence. A major issue with his theory is that he was unable to provide any practical examples of applying his theory in his era, whereas imam al-Ghazali was able to provide clear examples of when it can override a text and where it cannot. This is one major reason that scholars like al-Ghazālī, al-Qarāfī and al-Shāṭibī had far more influential theories of maṣlaḥa than al-Tufi.[7][6] It also appears that al-Tufi was influenced by the writings of imam al-Qarāfī, as he seems to exactly quote from him in citing the nineteen evidences of Islamic law.[8][7]

Islamic Modernism

His interpretation of maslaha did not take hold until the early 20th century when Jamal ad-Din al-Qasimi (1866-1914 CE) and Rashid Rida (1865-1935 CE) revived his concept of maslaha in the Islamic magazine al-Manar to counter secular reformers. Al-Tufi's theory of maslaha was appealing to reformers as it opened the door for them to "update" the Shari'a in a dynamic world. At that time, Islamic law was being displaced by Western models of jurisprudence after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire and creation of modern nation states in the Middle East and North Africa. Most of these new nation states created legal codes based on European law, such as French and British law. In the 1950s, for example, Egypt and Tunisia abolished their Shari'a courts and turned to secular law.[6]

These modernists wanted to "modernize" Islam partly as a response to European influence and to "catch up" with the West, where Islamic scholars were seen as an obstacle to modernization and advancement. This theory of maslaha provided the avenue for keeping the Shari'a and Islamic scholars relevant in their changing world, by using an "interal" theory rather than something perceived as foreign.[7]

Tufi's theory helped Rashid Rida prove that the Shari'a is not antithetical to reason and served Rida's desire to use maslaha to derive rulings, as it was easier to just use maslaha instead of going through the traditional processes of usul al-fiqh. Additionally, it helped Rida and al-Qasimi to depart from the traditional Sunni schools of thought and usul al-fiqh, as it freed them from following the fatwas and methodologies of the early scholars (taqlid) and from following a madhhab. Through this they ironically sought to keep Islamic scholars relevant and provide an alternative to the growing European-influenced secular jurisprudence and reforms of the Muslim states at the time. Rida also blamed the weakness of the Muslim world in comparison to Western hegemony and colonialism on ikhtilaf between the schools of thought. By proposing maslaha as a universally accepted legal standard, Rida desired to unite the Muslim world on one school of thought and strengthen them against Western domination.[6]

Shortly after, Rida's revival of maslaha was criticized by Al-Kawtharī, al-Būṭī, and other Islamic scholars. Some scholars likened it to a type of utilitarianism similar to the ideas of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, as he used the fallible human mind to restrict Allah's rulings (ahkam).[1][7] Wael Hallaq states that al-Tufi's theory was too vague, since he never defined its scope or concept in sufficient detail, and therefore his theory was "inferior to the average theoretical discourse."[9]

Works

Of the more than 50 works that at-Tūfī wrote, 19 have been preserved.

  • Mukhtasar al-Rawdah, an abridgement of Rawdat al-Nazir by Ibn Qudamah
  • al-Ta'līq 'alā al-Anājīl al-arba'a wa-al-ta'līq 'alā al-Tawrāh wa-'alā ghayrihā min kutub al-anbiyā' (Critical Commentary on the Four Gospels, the Torah and other Books of the Prophets)
  • Kitāb at-Taʿyīn fī šarḥ al-Arbaʿīn ("Book of Specification for Commenting on the Forty"), commentary on an-Nawawī's collection of the forty hadiths, which was particularly popular in the 20th century. In this work, at-Tūfī, in connection with the commentary on the 32nd hadith “No harm and no harmful retribution” (lā ḍarar wa-lā ḍirār), developed his theory of the “common good” (maṣlaḥa) , which generally weights more would have to be as text documents from Koran and Sunna. The modern Syrian scholar Jamāl ad-Dīn al-Qāsimī (1866–1914) published this text separately and provided it with his own explanations.[10] Raschīd Ridā reprinted the text with the explanations of al-Qāsimīs in his magazine al-Manār in 1906 , thereby making it known to a larger Islamic public.[11] At-Tūfī's commentary was only fully edited in 1998 by Aḥmad Ḥāǧǧ Muḥammad ʿUṯmān.
  • at-Taʿālīq ʿalā l-anāǧīl al-arbaʿa ("The Glosses of the Four Gospels") has been critically edited and translated by Lejla Demiri.
  • al-Ǧaḏal fī ʿilm al-ǧadal ("The banner of cheerfulness about the science of dispute "). In this work, at-Tūfī formulated the idea that Jesus Christ could have been an angel and that was the reason why Christians ascribed divine qualities to him.
  • al-Išārāt al-ilāhīya ilā l-mabāḥiṯ al-uṣūlīya , three-volume treatise on the Usūl al-fiqh .
  • aṣ-Ṣaʿqa al-ġaḍabīya fī r-radd ʿalā munkirī al-ʿArabīya , defense of the Arabic language against its critics.
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gollark: The fanciest maths I understand is the vector ops in Psi.

References
  1. Opwis, Felicitas Meta Maria (2010). Maṣlaḥah and the Purpose of the Law: Islamic Discourse on Legal Change from the 4th/10th to 8th/14th Century. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-18416-9. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  2. Al-Şafadī, Şalaĥ al-Dīn (2000) ‘al-Wāfī bi al-Wafayāt’, Beirut: Dār Iĥyā’ al-Turāth, Ed. Aĥmad al-Arna’ūţ and Turkī Muşţaphā, (29 vol) 19/43
  3. Ibn Rajab, Zayn al-Dīn (2005) ‘Dhayl Țabaqāt al-Ĥanābilah’, Riyadh: Maktabat al-‘Ubaykān, Ed. ‘Abd al-Raĥmān al-‘Uthaymīn, (5 vol) 4/404-421
  4. Zayd, Mustafā (1954) al-Maşlaĥah fī al-Tashrī’ al-Islāmī, Egypt: Dār al-Yusr, p.59-70
  5. Al-Butī, Ramađān Sa’īd (2007) ‘Đawābiţ al-Maşlaĥah fī al-Sharī’at al-Islāmiyyah’, Damascus: Dār al-Fikr, p.217-219
  6. Opwis, Felicitas (2005). "Maṣlaḥa in Contemporary Islamic Legal Theory". Islamic Law and Society. 12 (2): 182–223. doi:10.1163/1568519054093699. ISSN 0928-9380. JSTOR 3399225.
  7. Chaudri, Zeeshan (24 May 2018). "Najm al-Din al-Tufi & his theory of Maslahah". buhuth. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  8. Al-Qarāfī, Shihāb al-Dīn (1973) ‘Sharĥ Tanqīĥ al-Fuşūl’, Egypt: Shirkat al-Țabā’at al-Funniyyat al-Muttaĥidah, Ed. ‘Abd al-Ra’ūf S’ad, p.445
  9. Hallaq, Wael B. (1997). A History of Islamic Legal Theories: An Introduction to Sunni Usul Al-fiqh. Cambridge University Press. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-521-59986-3.
  10. Zaid: al-Maṣlaḥa fī t-tašrīʿ al-islāmī . 2004, p. 133.
  11. Kerr, Malcolm H; University of California, Berkeley (1966). Islamic reform; the political and legal theories of Muḥammad ʻAbduh and Rashīd Riḍā. University of California Press. OCLC 727385.
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