Internalizing the Testimony of Faith: al-Sanūsī’s Commentary on al-ʿAqīda al-ṣughrā and Its Connection to al-Sāḥilī’s Bughyat al-sālik

This article examines the relation between the disciplines of theology (kalām) and Sufism (taṣawwuf) in the works of the North African Ashʿarī theologian Muḥammad b. Yūsuf al-Sanūsī (d. 895/1490) with a focus on the section on the testimony of faith in his commentary on his own creed al-ʿAqīda al-ṣughrā (The Short Creed). The section is analyzed in light of al-Sanūsī’s other works and related to Muḥammad al-Sāḥilī’s (d. 754/1353) Bughyat al-sālik fī ashraf al-masālik (The Aim of the Seeker Concerning the Noblest of Paths), which provides an important background, as al-Sanūsī draws on it when explaining how to repeat the testimony of faith and internalize its meanings. The article shows how al-Sanūsī conceived of ethical and spiritual virtues commonly discussed in the discipline of Sufism, such as reliance on God and non-attachment to other than Him, as the immediate outcomes of a proper internalization of the knowledge provided in the discipline of theology. It also highlights the importance of al-Sāḥilī’s work for understanding al-Sanūsī’s notion of internalizing the testimony of faith so that its meanings “mix with one’s flesh and blood” and, more generally, his view of the relation between theology and Sufism.