The commentary on Abū'l-Mu'ayyad al-Nasafi's Manzūmah fi al-'Aqā'id known as al-Ra'iyyah: Critical edition and analysis

Poetry that holds an important place in the types of text writing in the tradition of Islamic knowledge gained ground in also 'aqā'id literature as a sub-branch of ʿilm al-Kalām. The 'aqā'id texts that are compiled generally in the form of prose began to be written also in the form of poetry in parallel with the improvement of education and training activities and the proliferation of madrasahs. These types of compilation drew increased interest and became prevalent in scholarly environments due to the benefits through their being easily memorised and more permanent in mind and the ease of collecting the subjects of knowledge. The purpose of this study to offer a modest contribution to Kalām literature by examining and critically disseminating the work of Abū'l-Mu'ayyad al-Nasafī (d. 519/1125) named al-Râiyyah which is composed in the form of poetry and the commentary on that work written by an anonymous person. Being the prototype of 'aqā'id texts produced in the type of poetry in the tradition of Ḥanafī-Māturīdī compilation, neither this text nor its commentaries are previously studied. This makes this research significant. In the first part of the study, the life of Abū'l-Mu'ayyad al-Nasafī, the author of the work named al-Râiyyah, with whom we have a nodding acquaintance is presented as well as the manuscripts of this work are introduced afterwards the attribution of the work to al-Nasafī is examined. In the second part of the study, the copies of the sharḥ on al-Râiyyah are demonstrated and the author of this work is tried to be determined. In the final part of the study, the content of the sharḥ on al-Râiyyah is analysed and its place in Kalām literature is explored. This research presents the critical edition of the sharḥ on al-Râiyyah at the end of the study. Keywords: 'aqā'id, Abū'l-Mu'ayyad al-Nasafī, al-Râiyyah, manzūmah