An Overshadowed Akbarī Sufi in Fourteenth-Century Anatolia: Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Tustarī and His Intellectual Legacy

This study addresses a long-standing case of identity confusion in Islamic intellectual history between two contemporaneous 8th/14th-century scholars known as al-Tustarī: Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Tustarī and Badr al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Tustarī (d. 732/1332). While Badr al-Dīn al-Tustarī, a prominent theologian and philosopher, has been well documented, Shams al-Dīn’s life and intellectual legacy have remained largely in obscurity. Using a comparative methodology that examines paratextual elements of their works –such as introductions, conclusions, titles, dedications, and places of composition– this research clearly distinguishes the two figures. It then reconstructs Shams al-Dīn al-Tustarī’s intellectual profile through an analysis of his authenticated works. The findings indicate that Shams al-Dīn was a 14th-century Anatolian Sufi active in Konya, who was active within the political sphere of the Eşrefoğlu principality and enjoyed Mamlūk patronage. His intellectual outlook reflects an original synthesis of Avicennan philosophy and Akbarī Sufism. By resolving this confusion, the study restores Shams al-Dīn al-Tustarī’s rightful place in Islamic intellectual history and sheds light on the sophistication of Anatolian Sufi thought. Since the extant and identifiable works by Shams al-Dīn al-Tustarī are largely limited to texts attributed to Badr al-Dīn al-Tustarī, particular care has been taken to distinguish between the two figures. In addition, several works belonging to Shams al-Dīn al-Tustarī that were not attributed to Badr al-Dīn al-Tustarī have been identified and are examined separately in this article. In light of the available evidence, it appears that Shams al-Dīn al-Tustarī has not, to date, been the subject of an independent biography in either classical biographical literature or modern academic scholarship.