Theology Abstracted
An Arabic critical edition and English translation of Naṣīr al-Dīn al Ṭūsī’s Tajrīd al-Iʿtiqād by Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi
One of the most influential works of scholastic theology from the Islamic tradition, Tajrīd al-Iʿtiqād is a foundational text without which any history of philosophy would be incomplete. Its author Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (b. 597 AH/1201 CE, d. 672 AH/1274 CE) was a Shīʿī Imāmī polymath with a formidable intellect who made defining and lasting contributions to a range of scholarly subjects including theology, philosophy, astronomy, logic, arithmetic, algebra, and ethics, amongst others. Ṭūsī acquired his early education between approximately 603–610 AH/1206–13 CE, at the feet of his father Wajīh al-Dīn Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-Ṭūsī, who was an Imāmī Shīʿī scholar with a master-to-disciple lineage of learning going back to distinguished figures such as al-Sharīf al-Murtaḍā (d. 436 AH/1044 CE).
Despite living through one of the most turbulent periods of history, Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī kept an unshakeable focus on his scholarly pursuits, authoring nearly two hundred works in both Arabic and Persian on a plethora of subjects and founding the world-famous Marāghah Observatory. The breadth of Ṭūsī’s learning is demonstrated by an extensive corpus of written works, from field-defining texts on astronomy, such as al-Tadhkirah fī ʿilm al-hayʾah (Memoir on Astronomy) and Zīj-i īlkhānī (The Īlkhānid Tabulation of Planetary Data), to his monumental Ḥall mushkilāt al-ishārāt, a work which unfolds the recondite issues of Ibn Sīnā’s Remarks and Admonitions. Tajrīd al-Iʿtiqād is a masterpiece of erudition and scholastic theology, comprising six investigations composed in succinct and profound discussions, examining a great variety of intellectual issues, including general principles of metaphysics, substance and accidents, the existence of the Creator of the Cosmos, Prophethood and the Prophethood of Muḥammad, may God bless him and his descendants, the Imāmate and the evidence for the Imāmate of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be upon him, and eschatology, amongst others.
Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī’s Tajrīd al-Iʿtiqād is a veritable summa theologæ of Shia Islam. The work has inspired countless commentaries and super-commentaries over the centuries by scholars of all schools of thought. These include works such as al-ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī’s (d. 726 AH/1325 CE) excellent Kashf al-murād fī sharḥ tajrīd al-iʿtiqād and learned comments and glosses thereupon by the Ayatollah Ḥazan Ḥasanzādah Āmulī (1927–2021), as well as the superbly researched three-volume work, produced by Islam Arştirmalari Merkezi, Istanbul, and published in 2020 by Türkiye Diyanet Foundation, comprising Tasdīd al-qawāʿid fī sharḥ tajrīd al-iʿtiqād by Shams al-Dīn Abū al-Thanāʾ Maḥmūd b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Aḥmad al-Iṣfahānī (d. 749 AH/1349 CE) and Ḥāshiyat al-tajrīd by al-Sayyid al-Sharīf Zayn al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-Jurjānī (d. 816 AH/1413 CE), edited by Eşref Altaş, Muhammet Ali Koca, Salih Günaydın, and Muhammed Yetim. From these works and other recent publications, it is clear that Ṭūsī’s text remains a cornerstone of an Islamic philosophical and theological education to this day.
In Theology Abstracted (14 February 2025/15 Shaʿbān 1446), the Dean of The Shīʿah Institute, Dr Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi presents the first Arabic critical edition based upon Ṭūsī’s signed manuscript and also upon the text embedded in al-ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī’s Kashf al-murād fī sharḥ tajrīd al-iʿtiqād etc, as well as an English translation of Tajrīd al-Iʿtiqād, with an informative introduction and scholarly apparatus. Drawing upon decades of interdisciplinary expertise in Arabic philology, scholastic theology, and palaeography, Dr Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi brings clarity to Ṭūsī’s terse, difficult, and complex language, and has painstakingly compared the author’s manuscript and other relevant versions, such as al-ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī’s important commentary, Kashf al-murād fī sharḥ tajrīd al-iʿtiqād. The seventh volume in The Shīʿah Library, Theology Abstracted is a must for any serious seeker of knowledge, students from undergraduate to post-doctoral levels, and is an indispensable source for scholars interested in scholastic theology, Islamic philosophy, and the writings of the one of the greatest minds of the Muslim world. Theology Abstracted will be followed by a forthcoming serialisation entitled Divine Illumination: An Explication of Tajrīd al-Iʿtiqād by Dr Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi.
Theology Abstracted is available to purchase, please email the Shīʿah Institute to order your copy.
ISBN: 9781917761000 (hardback)
Below we have given a select preview of Theology Abstracted, an Arabic critical edition and English translation of Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī’s Tajrīd al-Iʿtiqād by Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi.