English Text
Abū l-Muʿīn al-Nasafī (d. 508/1114) is described by Ulrich Rudolph as "the most eminent Ḥanafī scholar of that period and the real founder of the Māturīdī school." His foundational role rests on two pillars: his systematic re-presentation of al-Māturīdī's teachings and his historical-continuity argument in defense of those teachings against the Ash'arites.
In his *Tabṣīrat al-adilla* (1/356–361), al-Nasafī positions al-Māturīdī as the most knowledgeable person concerning Abū Ḥanīfa's views and writes: "Had there been among the Ḥanafī theologians only Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī, this would have sufficed; for whoever surveyed his achievements could only conclude that God singled him out with miracles, gifts of grace, divine assistance, and guidance — since in the normal course of things many scholars altogether do not possess the knowledge that was assembled in him alone." Beyond the *Tabṣīra*, his shorter works — *Tamhīd li-qawāʿid al-tawḥīd* and *Baḥr al-kalām* — helped bring the same teachings to a wider audience.
The only detectable doctrinal difference between al-Nasafī and al-Māturīdī concerns natural philosophy: al-Nasafī adopted the atomistic model rather than al-Māturīdī's teaching about natures (ṭabāʾiʿ). In all other areas, al-Nasafī expounds al-Māturīdī's teaching, often more clearly and elegantly than al-Māturīdī himself had done in the Kitāb al-Tawḥīd.