Abu Bakr al-Ajurri

Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Ajurri (c. 264-360 AH / c. 878-970 CE) was a prominent scholar of Islamic creed, ethics, and hadith. Born in Baghdad, he studied under numerous scholars and later settled in Mecca, where he spent the last thirty years of his life teaching at the Masjid al-Haram. His teachers included some of the major hadith masters of the 3rd century AH.

Al-Ajurri was a Shafi'i jurist who held a firmly Athari approach to theology, rejecting the speculative theological methods of the Mu'tazila and Ash'ariyya in favor of affirming the divine attributes as they appear in the Quran and Sunnah without interpretation. He is best known for his work ash-Shari'ah (The Sharia), a comprehensive collection of hadiths and statements of the early Muslims (Salaf) on the fundamentals of the Sunni creed, including the affirmation of Allah's attributes, the status of the Quran, the duties of faith, and the dangers of innovation. This work is one of the most important early texts in the genre of Athari aqeedah literature.

He also authored Akhlaq al-Ulama (The Ethics of Scholars), a widely read text on the conduct becoming of scholars and students of knowledge; Akhlaq Hamalat al-Quran (The Ethics of Those who Carry the Quran), on proper conduct toward the Quran; and numerous other works on worship, ethics, and creed. These works reflect his deep concern for combining sound creed with ethical behavior and proper conduct.

Al-Ajurri passed away in Mecca in 360 AH. His ash-Shari'ah remains a key early reference for the Athari theological tradition.