Ibn Abi al-Izz

14th century Islamic scholar

Sadr ad Dīn Abu'l Ḥasan ʿAlī Ibn Abī al ʻIzz (صَدرُ الدين أبو الحسن عليُّ بن علاءِ الدين الدمشقي الصالحيَّ) was a 14th century Arab Muslim scholar and jurist who served as a qadi in Damascus and Egypt. He is best known for authoring his highly controversial commentary on al Tahawi's creedal treatise Al Aqidah al Tahawiyyah. The commentary is popular among Salafis.

According to Ibn Hajar al Asqalani, Ibn Abi al 'Izz was born on 12 Dhu al Hijjah 1331 CE/731 AH, hailing from a family that were staunch adherents of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. He was a disciple of Ibn Kathir, a student of Ibn Taymiyyah. He was appointed as a judge in his hometown of Damascus, later accepting a judgeship in Egypt before returning to Damascus. During his latter tenure as a judge in Damascus, al 'Izz became embroiled in controversy due to his views that Allah has a direction, Hell is not eternal and his censure of Ibn Aybuk's qaṣĩdah (poem), His judgeship was subsequently revoked, and as he was legally unbeliever in the eyes of his adversaries, his marriage was void so they took his wife and married her to one of their own, until an individual named al Nāṣirī raised the issue to the authorities, resulting in al ʻIzz's position being restored. The Maturidi scholar Ibrahim al Yaqubi suspected al 'Izz of being a pseudonym for Ibn al Qayyim due to similarities between the positions held in the sharh and those of Ibn al Qayyim's teacher, Ibn Taymiyyah. Muhammad Zahid al Kawthari contested the existence of al ‘Izz altogether and posited that his biographical details were recent interpolations or false attributions, arguing the sharh was the work of an anthropomorphist who could not have been Hanafi. The sharh proved popular with members of the later Salafi movement, who regard it as a true representation of the work free from Maturidi influence, thus showing it to be in accordance with Salafi creed. Numerous Salafi scholars have produced super commentaries and annotations on the sharh'', including Abd al Aziz ibn Baz, Muhammad Nasiruddin al Albani and Saleh al Fawzan, and it is taught as a standard text at the Islamic University of Madinah.