Al-Luma
Al-Luma' fi al-Radd 'ala Ahl al-Zaygh wa al-Bida', or simply Al-Luma', is a 10th-century classical Ash'ari theological work authored by the founder of the school, Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari. It covers key topics in theology, including Existence of God, His attributes such as speech, will, and vision, as well as predestination, faith, and the issue of the imamate in Islam, using the kalam method. The work became a foundational text for the Ash'ari school, shaping its doctrines and serving as the basis for later commentaries, with al-Baqillani among the first to write a commentary on it.
Background
Al-Luma presents the fundamental principles of the Ash'ari school and holds a role in Ash'arism comparable to Kitab al-Tawhid in Maturidism. Scholars debate the period in al-Ash'ari's life when he wrote it, and it is often compared with another work attributed to him, Al-Ibana, which differs in method.Some orientalists, including Duncan Black MacDonald, Arthur Stanley Tritton, and Ignác Goldziher, as well as proponents of traditionalist theology, argue that al-Ashari composed al-Luma shortly after leaving the Mu'tazilism, when he still included rational elements in his thought. Toward the end of his life, he adopted the views of traditionalist theology and wrote al-Ibana. Others, such as Bekir Topaloglu and Hammuda Zeki Ghuraba, argue that al-Luma was written after al-Ibana, citing that the Ash'ari school reflects the doctrines of al-Luma. Hikmet Yagli Mavil also concluded that al-Ibana preceded al-Luma, though neither work was his last.
The importance of al-Luma is emphasized by Ibn Taymiyya, who notes that Asharis frequently commented on it. The first known commentator was al-Baqillani.
Editions
There are two known manuscript copies of al-Luma. One is held at the American University of Beirut Library, and the other at the British Museum. Neither manuscript has a transcription date, but Abd al-Aziz Izz al-Din al-Sayrawan considers the Beirut manuscript to be older. Richard Joseph McCarthy estimates that this manuscript was transcribed between the 7th and 8th centuries AH, which corresponds to the 13th to 14th centuries CE.Al-Luma has been published by several scholars. McCarthy based his edition on the Beirut manuscript. He introduced the author and his writings and translated the text into English. He published the edition under the title The Theology of al-Ashari in Beirut between 1952 and 1953. This edition also included al-Ashari's Istihsan al-Khawd fi 'Ilm al-Kalam and appendices containing information and defenses about al-Ashari drawn from al-Khatib al-Baghdadi's History of Baghdad and Ibn Asakir's Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari. It also included a list of al-Ashari's works and a comparison between doctrines in Maqalat al-Islamiyyin and al-Ibana.
Hammuda Zeki Ghuraba prepared an edition based on the British Museum and Beirut manuscripts, as well as McCarthy's edition, which was published in Cairo in 1955. In his preface, he stated that his purpose was to correct McCarthy's errors. However, Abd al-Rahman Badawi noted that Ghuraba made more mistakes than McCarthy in his edition. The work was also published by Abd al-Aziz Izz al-Din al-Sayrawan in Beirut in 1987, based on the Beirut manuscript, and a recent edition was published by Al-Azhar University in 2021.