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A Refined Explanation of the Sanusi Creed: The Foundational Proofs
Authors	Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Sanusi [ar], Sa'id Foudah
Original title	تهذيب شرح السنوسية (أم البراهين – العقيدة الصغرى)
Translator	Suraqah Abdul Aziz
Language	Arabic, English
Subject	'Aqida (Islamic creed or faith), Tawhid (Islamic concept of monotheism, the absolute oneness and uniqueness of God), Kalam (Islamic rational or dialectic theology), Usul al-Din [ar] (Principles of the Religion)
Publisher	Sunni Publications
Publication date	1998 (First edition in Arabic)
Publication place	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Published in English	2013
Pages	224
ISBN	9789079294275
OCLC	900183703
Original text	تهذيب شرح السنوسية (أم البراهين – العقيدة الصغرى) online
Website	https://sunnipubs.com/products/the-sanusi-creed

Umm al-Barahin (Arabic: أم البراهين, lit. 'The Mother of Proofs'), also known as al-'Aqida al-Sanusiyya al-Sughra (Arabic: العقيدة السنوسية الصغرى, lit. 'The Sanusi Small Creed') is a short treatise on the Ash'ari theology,^{[Note 1]} authored by the Maghribian Maliki scholar, Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Sanusi [ar] (d. 895/1490).^{[Note 2]}

The work primarily deals with the core tenets of Islamic belief, particularly the attributes of God (Allah) and the prophets. It systematizes Islamic creed according to the Ash'ari school of Sunni theology.

Author

Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Sanusi (832 - 895 A.H. = 1428 - 1490 C.E.) was a prominent North African (specifically in today's Algeria) Maliki jurist, Ash'ari theologian, and Shadhili mystic (Sufi), best known for his contributions to Islamic creed ('aqīdah) and theology (kalām). His works are highly regarded in Sunni Islam, particularly within the Ash'ari theological tradition.

His theological works include: al-'Aqida al-Kubra [ar], al-'Aqida al-Wusta [ar], al-'Aqida al-Sughra, which is also often referred to as Umm al-Barahin.^[2] This was translated or abridged into many West African languages. All the three books are similar in that they follow and support the teachings of the Ash'ari school of Sunni theology.^[3]

He also wrote on Hadith (Prophetic traditions), Nahw (Arabic grammar and syntax), medicine, astronomy, algebra and logic.

Content

Al-'Aqida al-Sughra is on tawhid (the oneness of God, or monotheism), or the ontology of God and the attributes deduced therefrom, relationship between God and humans, and the logical implications of that relationship, the attributes of God and the divine nature of God. It presents rational and scriptural proofs for Islamic beliefs, particularly focusing on the existence and oneness of Allah (tawhid), the attributes of Allah, prophethood, and other core tenets.

The text is concise but dense, structured in a logical manner with premises and conclusions, making it a key text in traditional Islamic learning curricula, especially in North and West Africa. It’s considered a gateway to deeper theological studies, often followed by more advanced commentaries.

Logical ruling

Al-Sanusi organizes rational judgments into three categories:

Necessary (Wajib): That whose non-existence (negation) is not rationally conceivable.
Impossible (Mustahil): That whose existence (affirmation) is not rationally conceivable.
Possible (Ja'iz): That whose existence (affirmation) and non-existence (negation) are equally rationally conceivable.

Attributes of God

The treatise details 20 necessary attributes of God, such as existence, oneness, pre-eternality, endlessness, absolute dissimilarity from creation, self-subsistence, and attributes like omnipotence, will, knowledge, and life. It also discusses 20 impossible attributes, which are the opposites of the necessary ones.

Attributes of Prophets

It outlines the necessary attributes for prophets, including truthfulness, faithfulness, and the conveyance of God's message. The opposites of these are deemed impossible for them.

Popularity

Al-Sanusi's Umm al-Barahin, a short treatise on Islamic creed has received significant attention and has greatly influenced people in many countries, and has been translated into several languages. It has been widely taught at Islamic institutions like Al-Azhar, al-Zaytuna, and al-Qarawiyyin. Despite its brevity, it’s packed with dense theological concepts and has been a core text in Islamic seminaries across the Muslim world for centuries.

Commentators

There are many commentaries, sub-commentaries and glosses on the Umm al-Barahin, but the most prominent ones are by:

Al-Sanusi himself composed a commentary upon the Umm al-Barahin which he called Sharh al-Sughra. He then composed a commentary upon that commentary called Sharh Sughra al-Sughra. His chief disciples Muhammad ibn 'Umar al-Mallali (was alive in 897/1492) and Ahmad ibn Aghadir (dead at the beginning of the 5th decade of the 10th century AH) both composed commentaries upon the Umm al-Barahin.
'Abd al-Jalil ibn Muhammad ibn 'Uzum al-Qayrawani (d. 960/1553).
'Umar al-Wazzan al-Qastantini (d. 960/1553).
Ahmad al-Manjur (d. 995/1587).
Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti (d. 1036/1627).
'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Fasi (d. 1036/1626).
Ahmad al-Maqqari (d. 1041/1632).
Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Ghunaymi (d. 1044/1634).
'Isa ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Saktani (d. 1062/1651).
Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Hudhudi (d. 1082/1671).
Yahya al-Shawi [ar] (d. 1096/1685).
Muhammad al-Kharashi (d. 1101/1690).
Al-Hasan al-Yusi (d. 1102/1691).
'Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi (d. 1144/1731).
Ahmad al-Mallawi [ar] (d. 1181/1767).
'Ali al-Sa'idi al-'Adawi [ar] (d. 1189/1775).
Al-Husayn al-Wartilani [ar] (d. 1193/1779).
Ahmad al-Dardir (d. 1201/1786).
'Abdallah al-Sharqawi (d. 1227/1812).
Muhammad ibn 'Arafa al-Disuqi (d. 1230/1815).
Ahmad ibn 'Isa al-Ansari (d. 1241/1826).
Ibrahim al-Bajuri (d. 1277/1861).
Ibrahim ibn Ahmad al-Marghani [ar] (d. 1349/1931).
Muhammad al-Makki al-Batawri (d. 1355/1936).
Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Rahuni [ar] (d. 1373/1953).
Sa'id Foudah

Summarizers

Among those who summarized and abridged the work:

Abu al-Hasan 'Ali al-Minufi [ar] (d. 939/1532).
Abu al-Hasan 'Ali al-Nuri [ar] (d. 1118/1706).
Omar Abdullah Kamel [ar] (d. 1436/2015).

Translations

The Umm al-Barahin has been translated into French, German, and English by Jean-Dominique Luciani, Moritz Wolff, and Frederick J. Barny respectively.

Malay

The Umm al-Barahin of al-Sanusi is one of the Islamic creeds which has determined the structure of Islamic theological thought in Malaysia. Ever since the middle of the eighteenth century it has received the attention of several Malay scholars. The first Malay translation of this creed was attempted by Muhammad Zain ibn Jalāl al-Din al-'Āshi in 1757 under the title Bidāyat al-Hidayah. Between 1885-1886 another translation was done by Muhammad Zain al-Din ibn Muhammad Badawi al-Sambawi under the name Sirāj al-Hudā. In 1890 a third translation was completed by Zain al-'Ābidin Muhammad al-Fatani entitled 'Aqīdat al-Nājīn fi 'Ilm Uṣūl al-Din. By the middle of the nineteenth century this text was used for teaching purposes in Malacca as acknowledged by Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir Munshi and in Penyengat on the island of Riau as noted by Raja Ali Haji. In twentieth century Malaysia this work has become an accepted text for Islamic theology in many Islamic religious schools.

has been translated into Malay and commented upon by a number of prominent Malay scholars like Muhammad Zayn al-Ashi, Dawud al-Fatani, Zayn al-'Abidin al-Fatani and others. The Malay commentaries of the Umm al-Barahin, which elucidate and elaborate on al-Sanusi's typology of the Divine Attributes and other related issues

Notes

^ Ash'arism, or Ash'ari theology, is one of the two primary Sunni rationalist schools of Islamic theology, along with Maturidism. Some notable Ash'ari scholars include al-Baqillani, Ibn Furak, al-Bayhaqi, al-Juwayni, al-Ghazali, al-Razi, al-Āmidi, al-Qurtubi, al-Subki, and al-Sanusi.
^ Al-Sanusi produced three treatises on Islamic theology, taught at the three levels of learning and so titled. The most advanced is titled al-Kubra, followed by the intermediary, al-Wusta, and then the elementary, al-Sughra. These treatises were taught in colleges in the Maghreb as well as in Egypt, Sudan and Mecca.^[1]

References

^ Ousmane Oumar Kane (2016). Beyond Timbuktu: An Intellectual History of Muslim West Africa. Harvard University Press. p. 88. ISBN 9780674050822.
^ Dorrit van Dalen (2016). Doubt, Scholarship and Society in 17th-Century Central Sudanic Africa. Islam in Africa. Vol. 20. BRILL. p. 63. ISBN 9789004324480.
^ Harvey J. Sindima (2017). Major Issues in Islam: The Challenges Within and Without. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. pp. 460–461. ISBN 9780761870166.

External links

Imam Sanusi's Umm al-Barahin, translated into English by Ramzy Ajem (Archived 5 June 2025 at archive.today)

Category:Ash'ari literature Category:Sunni literature Category:Islamic theology books Category:Kalam

[1] Ash'arism, or Ash'ari theology, is one of the two primary Sunni rationalist schools of Islamic theology, along with Maturidism. Some notable Ash'ari scholars include al-Baqillani, Ibn Furak, al-Bayhaqi, al-Juwayni, al-Ghazali, al-Razi, al-Āmidi, al-Qurtubi, al-Subki, and al-Sanusi.

[3] Al-Sanusi produced three treatises on Islamic theology, taught at the three levels of learning and so titled. The most advanced is titled al-Kubra, followed by the intermediary, al-Wusta, and then the elementary, al-Sughra. These treatises were taught in colleges in the Maghreb as well as in Egypt, Sudan and Mecca.^[1]

[2] Ousmane Oumar Kane (2016). Beyond Timbuktu: An Intellectual History of Muslim West Africa. Harvard University Press. p. 88. ISBN 9780674050822.

[4] Dorrit van Dalen (2016). Doubt, Scholarship and Society in 17th-Century Central Sudanic Africa. Islam in Africa. Vol. 20. BRILL. p. 63. ISBN 9789004324480.

[5] Harvey J. Sindima (2017). Major Issues in Islam: The Challenges Within and Without. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. pp. 460–461. ISBN 9780761870166.

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