Jawharat al-Tawhid

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An Outpouring of Subtleties upon the Pearl of Oneness
Pearl of Oneness.jpg
Author Ibrahim al-Laqqani
Original titleجوهرة التوحيد
TranslatorAllie Khalfe
Language Arabic, English
Subject 'Aqida (Islamic creed or faith), Tawhid (Islamic concept of monotheism, oneness of God), and Kalam (Islamic rational or dialectic theology)
PublisherSunni Publications
Publication date
2019
Publication place Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Cape Town, South Africa
Pages352
ISBN 978-9079294312
OCLC 1181893113
Original text
جوهرة التوحيد at Arabic Wikisource

Jawharat al-Tawhid (Arabic : جوهرة التوحيد, lit. 'The Gem of Monotheism') is a popular didactic poem on the Ash'ari creed, [1] consisting of one hundred and forty-four (144) rajaz verses, authored by the Egyptian Maliki scholar Ibrahim al-Laqqani (d. 1041/1631). It is widely read, studied, and memorized in many Islamic educational institutions throughout the entire Islamic world, including al-Azhar. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] According to Roman Loimeier, this was the basic text in Zanzibar in the late 19th century for advanced students in theology. [7] It is still on the curriculum of Islamic university education in contemporary Daghestan. [8]

Contents

Content

Al-Laqqani's Jawharat al-Tawhid is considered his most celebrated and acclaimed work that summarizes the doctrines of the Ash'ari school of theology, [5] a widely accepted rational framework of Sunni Islam that was endorsed in the Maliki school of law, which is dominant among Muslims in Upper Egypt and throughout Northwest Africa. [Note 1]

The text deals with the divine aspects of creed, such as Allah's names and attributes, prophetology, and revealed creed (al-sam'iyyat), [Note 2] which includes faith in the afterlife. [6] The text also adds additional details on the ranks of the companions and imams, and the five universal legal maxims in Islamic jurisprudence, the foundations of moral philosophy with a little bit of Sufism and etiquette.

Any text that implies similitude, interpret it or entrust (its knowledge to Allah), but seek complete transcendence (tanzīh). [10]
Ibrahim al-Laqqani,Jawharat al-Tawhid (“Jewel of Divine Oneness”),(verse no. 40)

Sufism

In the poem (v. 81), Al-Junayd, the shaykh of the Sufis, is evoked as “Abū al-Qāsim”, a leader of the community on a par with Mālik [b. Anas]. Reminiscent of Sufi theory is the exhortation in v. 87 to ask one's soul, i.e. oneself, to account for one's deeds. Fittingly, the poem has also been read and quoted by Sufis such as the Khalwatiyya shaykh and poet Mustafa ibn Kamal al-Din al-Bakri  [ ar ] (d. 1162/1749). [5] [Note 3]

Commentaries

Many scholars wrote commentaries and glossaries on this work, [4] [11] beginning with the author himself and his own son, 'Abd al-Salam b. Ibrahim al-Laqqani (d. 1078/1667). [3] [6]

AuthorTitle
'Abd al-Barr al-Ajhuri  [ ar ](d. 1070/1660)فتح القريب المجيد بشرح جوهرة التوحيد
'Ali ibn Muhammad al-Tamimi (was alive in 1118/1707) تقريب البعيد إلى جوهرة التوحيد
Abu al-Fawz Muhammad al-Halfawi (d. 1127/1715)حاشية على إتحاف المريد
'Abd-al-Mu'ti ibn Salim al-Simillawi (d. 1127/1715)شرح جوهرة التوحيد
'Ali ibn Khidr ibn Ahmad al-'Amrusi (d. 1173/1760)حاشية على إتحاف المريد شرح جوهرة التوحيد
Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Suhaymi (d. 1178/1764)المزيد على إتحاف المريد شرح جوهرة التوحيد
Ahmad al-Mallawi  [ ar ](d. 1181/1767)
'Isa al-Barrawi al-Azhari (d. 1182/1768)حاشية على شرح جوهرة التوحيد
Ahmad al-Jawhari  [ ar ](d. 1182/1768)Al-Jawahir al-Saniyya [12] (Arabic : الجواهر السنية على شرح العقيدة اللقانية)
'Ali al-'Adawi  [ ar ](d. 1189/1775)حاشية على شرح الجوهرة للشيخ عبد السلام اللقاني
Muhammad al-Amir al-Maliki  [ ar ](d. 1232/1817) حاشية على إتحاف المريد
Muhammad al-Shanawani  [ ar ](d. 1233/1817)
Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Sawi  [ ar ](d. 1241/1825) شرح الصاوي على جوهرة التوحيد
Ibrahim al-Bajuri (d. 1277/1860) Tuhfat al-Murid  [ ar ] [7] (Arabic : تحفة المريد شرح جوهرة التوحيد )
Ahmad al-Ajhuri al-Darir (d. 1293/1876) تقريرات الأجهوري على تحفة المريد
Muhammad al-Ḥanīfī al-Ḥalabī (d. 1342/1924) المنهاج السديد في شرح جوهرة التوحيد
Muhammad Māḍi al-Rakhawi (d. 1344/1926)خلاصة شروح الجوهرة، المسمى: الفريدة في العقيدة
Ibrahim al-Marghani  [ ar ](d. 1349/1931) بغية المريد إلى جوهرة التوحيد
Muhammad Muhyi al-Din 'Abd al-Hamid  [ ar ](d. 1392/1972) النظام الفريد بتحقيق جوهرة التوحيد
Bakri al-Halabi  [ ar ](d. 1400/1980)هداية المريد إلى جوهرة التوحيد
Ibrahim Muhammad Ibrahim Gariba الرأي السديد في شرح جوهرة التوحيد
Muhammad Sa'id ibn Ahmad
Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Rahim al-Khantumani
Husain 'Alawi al-Falimbani فتح المجيد في شرح جوهرة التوحيد
Nuh al-Qudah (d. 1432/2010) المختصر المفيد في شرح جوهرة التوحيد
Omar Abdullah Kamel  [ ar ](d. 1436/2015) الموجز المفيد من تحفة المريد
'Abd al-Karim Tattan  [ ar ] عون المريد لشرح جوهرة التوحيد
Mustafa Deeb al-Bugha  [ ar ] شرح جوهرة التوحيد
Jamil Halim al-Husaini  [ ar ] تسهيل المعاني إلى جوهرة اللقاني
Hisham ibn Muhammad Hayjar نثر الدر النضيد بشرح جوهرة التوحيد
'Abd al-Salam Shakir التعليقات المفيدة على منظومتي جوهرة التوحيد وبدء الأمالي
'Abd al-Salam ibn 'Abd al-Hadi Shannar  [ ar ]فتح المجيد في بيان تحفة المريد على جوهرة التوحيد
'Ali 'Uthman Jaradi [13] القول السديد شرح جوهرة التوحيد
Farid al-Bajiالفيض السديد شرح جوهرة التوحيد

Translations

English

French

Malay

According to Mohd. Nor bin Ngah, the Malay translation of the Jawharat al-Tawhid belongs to "the most popular and widely used Kitab Jawi," i.e. Islamic theological books in Malay script. Several translations and commentaries in local languages (Malay, Javanese, Sundanese, and Madurese), which are still available in print, testify to its continuing popularity until the present day among Muslims in insular Southeast Asia. [2]

At the end of the nineteenth century, Snouck Hurgronje observed that "a Malay commentary on the Jauharat at-tauhîd (by Ibrâhîm al-Laqânî) after a manuscript written in Sambas" was printed in Mecca. [18]

Spanish

Manuscript of Tuhfat al-Murid [ar] by Ibrahim al-Bajuri (d. 1276/1860) on the Jawharat al-Tawhid ("Jewel of Divine Oneness"), digitized by the Endangered Archives Programme of the British Library Manuscript of Tuhfat al-Murid.jpg
Manuscript of Tuhfat al-Murid  [ ar ] by Ibrahim al-Bajuri (d. 1276/1860) on the Jawharat al-Tawhid (“Jewel of Divine Oneness”), digitized by the Endangered Archives Programme of the British Library

Notes

  1. The Maliki school was represented in the Hijaz and spread to the Arabian Gulf as well as to Upper Egypt and Sudan, Andalusia, and north-west Africa, so that it is now the dominant school in Mauritania, Mali, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. [9]
  2. The word used here, al-sam'iyyat, refers to all that which can be known only through the Qur'an or Prophetic reports (Hadith) that partake in certainty.
  3. In one of the first verses of al-Murshid al-Mu'in of Ibn 'Ashir (d. 1040/1631), a didactic poem on religious obligations (prayer, alms, fasting, etc.) and on tasawwuf, al-Junayd is mentioned after the name of Mālik, and thus also evoked as an authority on mysticism.

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References

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Further reading