Durr al-Thamin fi ‘Aqaid al-Muminin

Overview

This is one of the most well-known works of Shaykh Daud al-Fatani.  It discusses the al-Ashariyya i‘tiqad (creed), kalām, and, as Mohd. Nor observed, chose a middle path in the debate between pre-destination and free will. Though the Ashariyya school of Islamic theology was named for its founder, Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ashari, its most prominent articulation appeared in al-Ghazali’s Tahafut al-Falasifa (The Incoherence of the Philosophers), which argued in favor of occasionalism in regards to causation.  These ideas, like much of al-Ghazali’s thought, had come under considerable attack from the Wahhabiyya movement since the late eighteenth century.

Authorship

Completed “waktu zuhur hari Sabtu, 17 Shawwal 1232 AH [30 Aug 1817] by Shaykh Daud b. ‘Abd Allah al-Fatani, in Mecca.

Manuscript

Participants in the Patani knowledge network commonly copied this text from its very beginning in the 1810s until the end of the century when it became one of Shaykh Daud al-Fatani’s most commonly printed texts in the burgeoning publishing houses of the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia. It was only rarely included in manuscript compilations with another of his extensive works, Furu‘ al-Masa’il wa Usul al-Wasa’il, and also only rarely included with works by other scholars of the Patani network.

41 known manuscript copies

Manuscripts with dated colophons (11):

  1. 1817. Copied by Lebai Wan Su b. Wan Muhammad, 1232 AH, in Mecca. IAM 69: 141 pp., incomplete.
  2. 1817. Copied by Lebai Wan Su b. Wan Muhammad “dua likur haribulan Shawwal pada hari Khamis waktu ‘asar, 1232 AH, di negeri si Dar al-salam.” IAM 53: 138 pp., incomplete. This text and #1 above likely came from the same source.
  3. 1818, Apr/May. Copied by Haji Sulayman b. Ahmad Shah, “hari Selasa Rajab 1234 AH,” in Mecca. PNM 2676: 129 ff.
  4. 1818/9. Copied by Haji Ishaq Trengganu, 1234 AH, in Singapore. UM Manuskrip 246: 65 ff.
  5. 1826, Feb 20. Copied 12 Rajab 1241 AH. Mentioned as source of PNM 1967A (see #9 below).
  6. 1830, Jun 5. Copied 11 Rajab 1245 AH in Mecca. PNM 3071: 191 ff.
  7. 1832, Mar 17. Copied by Ahmad Jawi Kedah, “hari Khamis 14 Sha’aban 1247 AH, in [Mecca]. PNM 64: 95 ff.
  8. 1862, Apr 11. Copied by Ibrahim, “hari Khamis 11 Shawwal 1278 AH.” PNM 153: 95 ff., incomplete, double red frame. Contains an alternative original author date of 12 Rajab 1231 AH [9 Jun 1816].
  9. 1868, May 25. Copied by Lebai Muhammad Tahir, “hari Isnin, 2 Safar 1285 AH,” in Kampung Bajih, negeri Yala. PNM 1967A: 162 pp. Drawn from #5 above. Bound together with PNM 1967B: Nur al-Mubin and PNM 1967C: Makna Dua Kalimah shahada.
  10. 1880, Jun 23. Copied “hari Isnin 15 Rajab 1297 AH,” in Mecca. PNM 1326(2):  88 ff.
  11. 1888/9. Copied by Ahmad Tahir ibn Haji Khalil, 1306 AH. PNM 1916: 101 pp.

Manuscripts with undated or partially-dated colophons (5):

  1. Copied by Onn ibn Muhammad , “hari Isnin, 1 Sha’aban,” in Dusun Panjang Asmin. PNM 490: 95 ff.
  2. Copied by Haji Muhammad Salih b. al-marhum Manap al-Fatani, “hari Selasa,” in Mecca. PNM 827(2): 68 ff., incomplete.
  3. Copied by ‘Abd al-Samad b. Haji Muhammad, “hari Khamis, akhir bulan Sha’aban” in Kampung Tandang, negeri Jering. PNM 2034: 142 pp.
  4. Copied by Wan ‘Abd al-Rahim. PNM 2445: 80 ff., coarse brown cover only on back, torn at spine, incomplete. Once owned by Cik Man anak Imam Cik Ngah dari Kampung Gelam [Singapore].
  5. Copied by Haji Ali b. ‘Abd al-Ghafur in Trengganu. Private collection. 103 ff.

Manuscripts without colophons (25):

  1. KASZA MSP 6.
  2. IAM 446:  24 pp., incomplete.
  3. IAM 779: 341 pp., incomplete.
  4. MNI Cat. ML 224 [VI 117]
  5. MNI Cat. ML 793 [VI 118]
  6. MSM 6
  7. PNM 202: 50 ff., incomplete.
  8. PNM 209A: 48 ff., incomplete. Bound together with PNM 209B: Al-Jawahir al-Saniyya fi Sharh al-’Aqaid al-Diniyya wa Ahkam al-Fiqh al-Marḍiyya wa Tariq al-Suluk al-Muhammadiyya.
  9. PNM 226: 59 ff., incomplete.
  10. PNM 253: 17 ff., incomplete.
  11. PNM 569: 25 ff., incomplete.
  12. PNM 579: 74 ff., incomplete.
  13. PNM 599: 10 ff., incomplete.
  14. PNM 711: 24 ff., incomplete.
  15. PNM 919: 58 ff., incomplete.
  16. PNM 1236: 10 ff., incomplete.
  17. PNM 1264B: 77 ff., incomplete. Bound together with PNM 1264A: Furu’ al-Masail wa Usul al-Wasail.
  18. PNM 1297: 35 ff., incomplete.
  19. PNM 2009: 44 ff., incomplete.
  20. PNM 2311: 127 ff.
  21. PNM 2395: 70 ff., incomplete.
  22. PNM 2433: 76 ff.
  23. PNM 2435(1): 28 ff., incomplete.
  24. PNM 2523(1): 77 ff., incomplete.
  25. PNM 2627: 95 ff., incomplete.

Published Editions

Scholars have claimed that early published editions of this text appeared in Istanbul and Bombay, but no known copies of these printings exist in public repositories to verify such claims.

  1. 1884. Mecca: Matba’ah al-Miriyya al-Kayna. Holding: PNM. This printing was advertised in Singapore by Dec 1887 and again in 1894.
  2. c. 1888. Mecca: Matba’ah al-Miriyya al-Kayna.
  3. 1902. Mecca: Matba’ah al-Misriyya, 1320 AH.
  4. 1905/6. Mecca: Matba’ah al-Miriyya al-Kayna, 1323 AH. Holding: PNM.
  5. 1912. Cairo: Dar Ihya al-Kutub al-Arabiyya. 103 pp. Holding: UKM.
  6. 1913. Singapore: Matba’ah Dar al-Tiba’at al-Misriyya. 103 pp. Typset Jawi with commentary in the margins. Holding: UM, PIM.
  7. Undated. Cairo: Isa al-Babi al-Halabi wa Sharka. 104 pp. Holding: PNM.
  8. Undated. Singapore: Sulaiman Mar’i. 103 pp., Holding: UKM.
  9. Undated. Penang: Dar al-Mu’arif. 103 pp. Holding: UKM, NLB.
  10. Undated. Bangkok: Muhammad al-Nahdi.
  11. Undated. Surabaya: Maktabah Thaqafiyya.

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