| Region: | Ma Wara' al-Nahr (the land which lies beyond the river), Transoxiana (Central Asia) |
| Era: | Islamic Golden Age |
| Abu al-Yusr al-Bazdawi Arabic: أبو الْيُسر الْبَزْدَوي | |
| Sadr al-Islam Arabic: صدر الإسلام | |
| Birth Date: | 421 A.H. = c. 1030 A.D. |
| Death Date: | 493 A.H. = 1100 A.D. |
| Death Place: | Bukhara |
| Religion: | Islam |
| Denomination: | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence: | Hanafi |
| Creed: | Maturidi |
| Main Interests: | Aqidah, Kalam (Islamic theology), Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) |
| Notable Works: | Kitab Usul al-Din |
| Influences: | Abu Hanifa Abu Mansur al-Maturidi Al-Bazdawi |
| Influenced: | Najm al-Din 'Umar al-Nasafi 'Alla al-Din al-Samarqandi |
Abu al-Yusr al-Bazdawi (Arabic: أبو الْيُسر الْبَزْدَوي) (c.1030-c.1100), who was given the honorific title of Sadr al-Islam, was a prominent Central Asian Hanafi-Maturidi scholar and a qadi (judge) in Samarqand in the late eleventh century. He was a teacher to several well-known Hanafi scholars, such as Najm al-Din 'Umar al-Nasafi and 'Ala' al-Din al-Samarqandi (who was a teacher to Al-Kasani).
Abu al-Yusr Muhammad b. Muhammad b. al-Hussein b. 'Abd al-Karim b. Musa b. Mujahid al-Nasafi al-Bazdawi.[1]
The attribution al-Bazdawi indicates that he or his family originated from Bazda or Bazdawa, a small town with a castle on the road between Nasaf and Bukhara.[2]
He was the younger brother of Fakhr al-Islam Abu al-Hassan al-Bazdawi, the author of Kanz al-Wusul, also known as Usul al-Bazdawi.
He was born around the year 421 A.H. (1030 A.D.) and received his earliest education in Maturidism disciplines from his father.[3] His grandfather Abu Muhammad 'Abd al-Karim b. Musa al-Bazdawi (d. 390 AH/1000–1001 CE), who was a student of al-Maturidi, and his elder brother Fakhr al-Islam 'Ali b. Muhammad al-Bazdawi (d. 482–483 AH/1089–1090 CE) were leading Hanafi scholars and wrote many books.[4]
Some of his well known students were Najm al-Din 'Umar al-Nasafi and 'Ala' al-Din al-Samarqandi (who was a teacher to 'Ala' al-Din al-Kasani).[6] [7]
He was the author of several works on law, including a commentary on the major work of Abu Hanifa, after whom the Hanafi school was named, and a commentary on a work of Abu Hanifa's student Muhammad al-Shaybani, who was one of the founders of the Hanafi school.[8]
The most important of his books which remain is Kitab Usul al-Din (edited with a biographical introduction by Hans-Peter Linss).[9]
Al-Bazdawi's Kitab Usul al-Din, as described by Hans-Peter Linss, comprises:[10]
Al-Bazdawi was also the author of Ma'rifat al-Hujaj al-Shar'iyya (Arabic: معرفة الحجج الشرعية) in Usul al-Fiqh.[11] [12]
Dr. Haytham Abdul-Hamid Khazna (Arabic: هيثم عبد الحميد خزنة) said in his book Tatawur al-Fikr al-Usuli al-Hanafi (Arabic: تطور الفكر الأصولي الحنفي) that this book should not be attributed to Abu al-Yusr al-Bazdawi, because the books of Tarajim (biographies and bibliographies) didn't mention it, and because the book is weak in style analysis.[13]
After serving for a period of time as a magistrate in Samarqand, he eventually moved to Bukhara and died there in 493 A.H. (1100 A.D.).[14]