On Imam al-Laqqani's The Precious Pearl of Divine Unity

The late period of Sunni theology is largely characterized by creedal texts and their commentaries. One such text of considerable and lasting influence is the Jawharat al-tawhid (The precious pearl of divine unity), a didactic poem on Ash’ari theology authored by Imam Ibrahim al-Laqqani (d. 1041/1631). The subject of well over a dozen commentaries, Jawharat al-tawhid encapsulates the basic creed of Islam and the distinctive doctrines of Sunni orthodoxy. Moreover, due to its brevity and uncomplicated poetic meter, it greatly facilitates the theological training of students; consequently, it has been rigorously studied in traditional seminaries until the present day. This lecture by Shaykh Faraz Khan will examine the basic structure and content of the text and provide a brief overview of the theological heritage that Imam al-Laqqani’s text represents.