Al Aqida Al Tahawiyya Originates From Imam Abu Hanifa
Author: Not specified
Doctrinal Transmission in the Ḥanafī School: Manuscript Testimonies Attributing al-ʿAqīda al-Ṭaḥāwiyya to Imām Abū Ḥanīfa and His Two Companions
Unveiling the True Origins of al-ʿAqīda al-Ṭaḥāwiyya
For over a millenimum, al-ʿAqīda al-Ṭaḥāwiyya has occupied a central position within Sunnī theological literature as a concise articulation of orthodox Islamic belief. Studied across masjids, religious seminaries, and academic institutions worldwide, this creedal statement has long been regarded as a definitive expression of the doctrines upheld by the People of the Sunna and the Community [Ahl al-Sunna wa-l-Jamāʿa].
Despite its widespread acceptance and canonical status, a fundamental question concerning the text's authorial attribution has remained inadequately addressed within contemporary scholarship: did Imām Abū Jaʿfar al-Ṭaḥāwī (d. 321 AH) compose this creed as an independent theological work, or did he function as a transmitter of the established creedal teachings of the early Ḥanafī authorities—namely Imām Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit (d. 150 AH) and his two principal disciples, Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Anṣārī (d. 182 AH) and Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī (d. 189 AH)?
This study emerged from the necessity to resolve this question through rigorous manuscript analysis and examination of classical testimonies.
Methodological Approach
The present research undertook a systematic collation of manuscript witnesses preserved in major institutional reposit