Tracing Aḥmad al-Ṣāwī’s Sunni Theological Thought (1761–1825) in Ḥāshiyat al-Ṣāwī ʿalā Tafsīr al-Jalālayn

Abstract

This article examines Aḥmad al-Ṣāwī’s articulation of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah theology in his Ḥāshiyat al-Ṣāwī ʿalā Tafsīr al-Jalālayn. Living during the transition from late premodern Islamic traditionalism to the modern period, al-Ṣāwī witnessed the emergence of the Wahhābī movement in the Arabian Peninsula, which he sharply criticized and associated with the Khawārij. In his gloss, al-Ṣāwī addresses fundamental theological questions and engages critically with other schools of kalām. Employing a descriptive-analytical method, this study argues that al-Ṣāwī adopted a firm position in defending the doctrines of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah against two perceived extremes: radical textualism, represented in his account by Wahhābism, and ultra-rationalist liberalism, associated with Muʿtazilism and neo-Muʿtazilism, as well as the intellectual and political influence of French colonialism. The Ḥāshiyah affirms a broad range of Sunni doctrinal principles encompassing both foundational doctrines (uṣūl) and subsidiary questions (furūʿ). Its principal theological concerns include the doctrine of God, prophethood, and eschatology. Moreover, al-Ṣāwī’s commitment to the four Sunni legal schools, rejection of rigidly literalist exegesis, strong criticism of what he regarded as modern Khārijism, employment of taʾwīl and tafwīḍ, and defense of established Sunni religious practices collectively constitute a distinctive articulation of Sunnism in early nineteenth-century Egypt.