Abu Mansur al-Maturidi

An imam of Samarkand

His full name was Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Mahmud; the name al-Maturidi refers to Maturid, a village or quarter near Samarkand. His year of birth is uncertain, with many sources suggesting around 853, and little is known of his life — biographical works mostly list his writings. He studied with the Samarkand Hanafi jurists Abu Nasr al-Iyadi and Abu Bakr al-Juzjani, held no state office and lived austerely. He died in Samarkand in 944 (333 AH) and was buried in Chokardiza, later famous as the “cemetery of scholars”.

Reason and revelation

In theology al-Maturidi opposed the Mu'tazilites while making full use of rational argument against them. He defined faith as affirmation in the heart and confession with the tongue, and stressed human free will and responsibility for one's deeds. His main works are the Kitab al-Tawhid and a Quran commentary, Ta'wilat Ahl al-Sunna. The Maturidi school he founded became, alongside the Ash'ari school, one of the two pillars of Sunni theology, spreading among Hanafi Muslims from Central Asia to Turkey and South Asia. Later scholars such as Abu al-Mu'in al-Nasafi developed it further.

The Chokardiza complex

Fifteenth-century sources record that his grave drew many pilgrims. In Soviet times burials were banned, the land was given over to housing and the gravestones destroyed. In 2000, for his anniversary, a memorial complex was built about a kilometre south-east of the Registan; the inner dome of its central mausoleum is decorated with muqarnas and carved stucco screens. It is an easy walk from the Registan.