Abu Uthman As-Sabuni

Al-Sabuni, Ismail bin Abdal-Rahman bin Ahmad bin Ismail bin Ibrahim bin Amir, Abu Uthman al-Sabuni al-Shafi'i also known as Abu Uthman al-Sabuni , was a Sunni scholar known for being the leading hadith expert in Khorasan, a jurist of great authority particularly in the Shafi'i school, a Qur'anic exegete, sufi, theologian, preacher, and orator. The Sunnis of his time called him the Shaykh al-Islām, and when they used this word they did not mean anyone else. He was eloquent in dialect, broad in knowledge, and was fluent in both Persian and Arabic. Al-Bayhaqi said: "He was the true Imam of the Muslims and the real Shaykh of Islam."

Name His nisba, "al-Sabuni", most likely derives from one of his forefathers having worked as a soap-maker (ṣābūnī), for a prominent family known as the Sabuniyya was well known in Nishapur.

Life Abu Uthman al-Sabuni was born in 373 AH (983 CE) in the town of Bushanj (Pushang) in the Herat region.

Following his father's death, al-Sabuni was raised and educated by the renowned imam and saint Abu al-Tayyib al-Su'luki. He also benefited from the sermons and scholarly gatherings of Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini and Ibn Furak. As he matured, these leading scholars came to admire his piety, exemplary character, intelligence, eloquence in both Arabic and Persian, exceptional memory, and profound knowledge of the Quran and Hadith. Ibn al-Su'luki would later attend al-Sabuni's dhikr gatherings and openly praise these qualities.

Family Of his two sons, Abd Allah died in Azerbaijan while accompanying his father on pilgrimage during al-Sabuni's lifetime. His other son, Abd al-Rahman, who was also among his students, became a well-known hadith scholar and later served as a judge (qadi) in Azerbaijan. The Lebanese Hadith scholar and researcher, Gibril Fouad Haddad states the current al-Ibāna attributed to Imam al-Ash'ari is chainless, anonymous and forged by the Mujassimah (deviant anthropromorphists) with clear anti-Ash'ari and anti-Hanafi intentions. He also states the original and unaltered copy was in the hands of Ash'ari scholars such as Ibn Asakir, Abu Uthman al-Sabuni and others.

Ibn al-Subki reports the Karramiyya from Herat were threatened by the popularity and status of al-Sabuni in the region so they began to attribute his title falsely on Abu Isma'il 'Abdullah al-Harawi, the author of an anti-Ash'ari book '' against the Sunnis, with the same title Shaykh al-Islam. Tafsir al-Sabuni is a Quran commentary and is considered highly grounded in the sound transmission of orthodox exegetic hadith. Al-Wasiyyah ("The Testament"). A brief treatise consisting of eight pages. Ibn al-Subki quotes its text from a copy that the author left, perhaps even composed in Damascus while travelling to perform the Hajj. The treatise appears to have been transcribed from al-Sabuni's dictation rather than written in his own hand. Al-Arbaʿun fi al-Hadith ("Forty Hadith"). Al-Nawawi mentions this work in the introduction to his own Arba'un Hadith. It is also listed by Kâtip Çelebi and Baghdadi Ismaʿil Pasha. Kitab al-Miʾatayn ("The Book of the Two Hundreds"). Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani states that the work contained 200 hadiths, 200 anecdotes, and 200 poems. Although Carl Brockelmann indicated that a manuscript was preserved in a library in Medina under catalogue number 102, later research has been unable to verify the existence of such a manuscript. Kitab al-Intisar ("The Book of Victory") Kitab al-Daʿawat ("The Book of Supplications"). Al-Bayhaqi states that he read an autograph manuscript of this work and cites passages from it in Al-Asma' wa al-Sifat.