Introduction

Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Khuzaymah al-Naysaburi (223–311 AH / 838–924 CE) stands among the foremost hadith masters of the third and fourth Islamic centuries. Born in Nishapur, he studied under the most distinguished muhaddithin of his era, including Imam Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, Ahmad ibn Hanbal's students, and Ibn Qutayba. His own teacher Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Dhuhli called him an imam, and al-Daraqutni ranked him as a proof (hujja) in hadith. His legal school was Shafi'i, though his command of hadith often led him to independent positions closely aligned with the Athari methodology in matters of creed.

Kitab al-Tawhid wa-Ithbat Sifat al-Rabb (The Book of Divine Oneness and Affirming the Attributes of the Lord) was composed at a time when the Mu'tazilite and Jahmite movements had deeply unsettled the theology of the Muslim community. The Mu'tazila denied or reinterpreted the divine attributes through rationalist allegory, and the aftermath of the Mihna — the inquisition that had pressured scholars to affirm the createdness of the Quran — left a generation hungry for a rigorous textual defense of the traditional Sunni creed. Ibn Khuzaymah answered this need with a work built entirely on Quranic verses and authenticated hadiths, organized under chapter headings that directly affirm each attribute.

The book's methodology is strictly hadith-based. Ibn Khuzaymah presents texts proving Allah's hearing, sight, hand, face, descent, istiwa' above the Throne, speech, and other attributes affirmed in revelation, without subjecting them to speculative reinterpretation. His approach exemplifies what later scholars call the Athari or Salafi method in aqeedah: affirm what the text affirms, negate what the text negates, and refrain from asking how (bila kayf). He cites each narration with its full chain of transmission, evaluates grades where relevant, and responds to objections from the negating sects with counter-evidence drawn from the same revealed sources they claimed to respect.

In terms of structure, the work proceeds attribute by attribute, with each section opening on a Quranic verse and then marshaling supporting hadiths. This arrangement makes it both a reference work for theological disputes and a devotional text for deepening one's understanding of who Allah is as He has described Himself. Scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim drew heavily on Kitab al-Tawhid, citing it as a canonical source for the Sunni affirmation of divine attributes. Al-Dhahabi described the book as one of the finest works composed in the field of tawhid al-asma' wa-l-sifat.

Readers approaching this work should understand it as a defense of the transmitted understanding of tawhid against two forms of distortion: tashbih (likening Allah to creation) and ta'til (stripping away the attributes). Ibn Khuzaymah steers precisely between these, insisting that affirming the attributes does not entail resemblance, and that denying their apparent meanings in order to avoid resemblance constitutes a rejection of revelation. His citations are dense and his chains long, reflecting the methodological demands of the hadith sciences. Familiarity with basic hadith terminology and with the names of the major Companions and their students will enrich the reading significantly. This is a foundational text of Sunni theology, studied for over a thousand years in the libraries of scholars and madrasas wherever the transmitted creed has been taught.