If we are to draw a list of essential books (apart from the Qur'an and Sunnah books) that every knowledgeable Muslim ought to read, the book in hand would rank among the top ten. It is a classic work: an all-time masterpiece in logic and level-headedness. It is free from passion, prejudice, and, because of its subtleties, challenging to the intellect. In fact, it would do good to many a philosopher-sci¬entist, such as the neo-Darwinists of today, to read the book as an example of dispassionate, deductive reasoning that connects subtle ideas into a logical chain. It provides a treat for a thinking mind that can differentiate between speciousness and finesse, between a jumble of confused thoughts and a synthesis of abstract ideas into a concrete whole.There is no effort here to reconcile the irreconcilable or to bombard the reader with a series of thoughts that lead up to no substantial meaning, or worse, a few acceptable concepts leading up to a plausible theory. It is an explanation of how "a" plus "b" whole squared is equal to the sum of "a" squared, "b" squared and two multiplied by "a" and "b". It could be confusing to some, because it does not employ the mathematical form [(a+b) = a + b + 2ab]. But it is perfectly logical and, given some careful attention, not too difficult to comprehend. It is no "I know and you don't, so take it from me," kind of attitude, so often employed in religious literature other than Islamic. It is an exercise in which one witnesses the debate between two viewpoints and, with the help of reason and logic, ends up agreeing with Tahawi and his commentator Ibn Abi al-'Izz.Tahawi's text is brief, felicitous, full of meaning, yet poetic. Apart from defining the creed, it also gives us an idea of the frame of mind of the early believers tutored in the Qur'an. His confident statements challenge the reader to come up with a Qur'anic verse contradicting him. It is amazing too how Tahawi closes all avenues for any kind of wrong interpretation saddling on his words. His crisp and exact sentences remind us of the works of Muslim jurists who enunciated the Principles of Islamic Law. But this is not surprising since Tahawi was also an excellent man of law.It is no less remarkable that despite a gap of 500 years between them, the two: Tahawi and Ibn abi al-'Izz, look at ideas with such coherence. For one to agree with the other, on such varying and complicated issues, with their thoughts har¬monized to such a fine degree, is surely very striking. What two other writings, separated by a similar period, will show such harmony? Religion, science, phi¬losophy, literature: can we find another example? But, of course, the binding, coalescing and steering forces are the two principal sources of Islam: the Qur'an and Prophetic statements. Anyone who knows the two well, knows what Tahawi and al-'Izz are talking about. In particular, it is the Qur'an that dominates the treatise and the commentary. There isn't a statement that is not supported by a Qur'anic verse. The Islamic creed turns out to be, in fact, the Qur'an re-stated following a particular chain of thought. It may come as a surprise to many who are otherwise familiar with the Qur'an that these concepts were there in it, all along, but it just didn't occur to them that they could derive them from its texts.That explains the confidence of the writer and the commentator. They offer us a litmus test: If you find anything in this work that refutes your ideas, your understanding of the Qur'an and the Sunnah is imperfect. Ibn abi al-Tzz quietly throws his punch: "Go back to the Qur'an and look for more examples."

The original author, Al-Tahawi, was a scholar of hadith and a jurist. He was born in 293 in Egypt. His mentor was his uncle Isma'il b. Yahya al-Muzani who was one of the most learned disciple of Imam Shafe'i. However, subsequently, Tahawi parted ways with his uncle to adopt the Hanafiyy school of thought although that did not prevent him from differing with certain opinions of Imam Abu Hanifah himself in preference of opinions of others.Tahawi also studied under various hadith scholars whose number reaches three hundred. Understandably, several scholars of repute have showered praise on Tahawi. Ibn Yunus said: "Tahawi was a trustworthy, well-known, intelligent scholar who was not succeeded by a scholar of his stature." This single opinion should suffice since the opinions of Ibn Yunus are considered to be well deliberated statements of fact, especially when he is talking about scholars of Egyptian origin.Nonetheless, Dhahabi too has stated in his "Tarikh al-Kabir" that Al-Tahawi was an outstanding, intelligent scholar of repute. Ibn Kathir has said about him in his "Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah" that 'he was one of the most brilliant and trustworthy scholars of Hadith.The outstanding qualities of his writings are a thorough research, abundance of material, and, an attractive manner of presentation.One of his works is "'Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah", which is currently translated into English with the title ôThe Fundamentals of Islamic Creedö. The textual material, although a short discourse, is compressed with meaning. It follows the methodology of the pious predecessors and is framed in words that can neither be easily misinterpreted nor will soon empty out their meaning to become sterile.Another of his books is "Ma'ani al-Athar". This is a collection of essays of legal nature where he states a rule and then substantiates it with the help of various evidences. In the course of discussions he also takes up those legal matters over which disagreement prevailed among the jurists, presenting various points of view and then, finally, states his own preference. This work inculcates in the reader a capacity for research and higher learning, raising his intellectual capabilities.Another of his works is "Mushkil al-Athar" in which he presents such traditions of the Prophet, on whom be peace, that seem to contradict each other. He endeavors, with great success, to show how they could be reconciled.Yet another of his works is "Mukhtasar fi al-Fiqh 'Ala Furu' al-Hanafiyyah" which deals with certain derivative principles of Law.Besides these published works there are several others to his credit.He died in 321 A.H. May Allah be pleased with him.