The great Ashʿarī theologian of Tlemcen, author of Umm al-Barāhīn, who also wrote a commentary on the Īsāghūjī, first printed in 2025.
Life
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Yūsuf b. ʿUmar b. Shuʿayb al-Sanūsī was born in Tlemcen (in today's Algeria). The sources differ on the year: 830/1426, 832/1428 or 838–839 H. He studied first with his father and then with scholars of Tlemcen, among them Abū Zayd ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Thaʿālibī, and died there in Jumādā al-Ākhira 895 (May 1490).
He is best known as a theologian: his short creed Umm al-Barāhīn (al-ʿAqīda al-ṣughrā) and his other creeds became standard teaching texts across North and West Africa, Egypt and as far as Southeast Asia. He also wrote on : a short handbook of his own (al-Mukhtaṣar fī ʿilm al-manṭiq) with his own , a commentary on al-Khūnajī's al-Jumal, and a commentary on al-Abharī's .
Uncertain or disputed
- Year of birth: 830/1426, 832/1428 or 838–839 H, depending on the source.
- The publisher's page says the 2025 edition includes revisions and additions by Burhān al-Dīn al-Biqāʿī; how these relate to al-Sanūsī's text is not explained there.
Works
- Sharḥ Īsāghūjī شَرْحُ إِيساغُوجِي — on ĪsāghūjīListed among his works by al-Ziriklī (al-Aʿlām). First edition: Sharḥ al-Imām al-Sanūsī ʿalā matn Īsāghūjī, ed. Aḥmad Muḥammad Ḥanafī, based on five manuscripts (Kuwait: Dār al-Ḍiyāʾ / Egypt: ʿIlm li-Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth, 1446/2025), 388 pages.commentary
- al-Mukhtaṣar fī ʿilm al-manṭiq, with his own commentary مُخْتَصَرٌ فِي عِلْمِ المَنْطِقHis own short handbook of logic, which he also commented on.work
- Sharḥ al-Jumal of al-Khūnajī شَرْحُ جُمَلِ الخُونَجِيّA commentary on another short logic text.work
- Umm al-Barāhīn (al-ʿAqīda al-ṣughrā) أُمُّ البَراهِينHis most famous creed.work
Reception
His on the stayed in manuscript and is little known compared with his creeds; it represents the Maghribi tradition of , which later scholars such as Dāwūd al-Qārisī cite alongside the Ottoman one.
Sources (3)