A Study of the Theological Dimensions of Qaw[<id al-Ta~awwuf 27 A Study of the Theological Dimensions of Qaw[<id al-Ta~awwuf *Ghulam Shams-ur-Rehman Abstract The mediaeval North African scholar A+mad Zarr]q (d. 899¦1493) expertly melded Sufism with theology and jurisprudence. His familiarity with the three systems of thought led him to devise Sufi adages on the model of legal and theological maxims. A conviction that right belief and correct practice were the basic conditions for becoming a Sufi further impelled Zarr]q to formulate a number of legal and theological rules applicable within the sphere of Sufism. As an Ash<ar\ theologian, Zarr]q stated certain theological precepts that he then interpreted in the Sufi context. My paper aims to evaluate the theological dimensions of Qaw[<id al-Ta~awwuf, with special attention to its author’s integrative discourse on theology and Sufism. Keywords: Zarr]q, Theology, Sufism, North African Islam, the Sh[dhil\yah. @]fism and theology are different disciplines and developed as independent disciplines. However there is much common ground between them. The writings of early @]f\s such as al-Mu+[sib\ (d. 243/857), Ibn al-Khaf\f al-Sh\r[z\ (d. 371/982) who was also student of Ab] al-|asan Ash<ar\ (d. 324/936), the Ash<ar\ @]f\ al-Qushayr\ (d. 465/1072), and the traditionalist @]f\ <Abd All[h al-An~[r\ (d. 481/1089) contained valuable material in this respect. Mu+ammad al-Ghaz[l\ (d. 505/1111) tried to integrate @]fism with other disciplines of Islamic studies. Being a theologian, he interpreted the @]f\ way in the light of Ahs<ar\ school of thought. Ayman Shihadeh writes: “Al-Ghaz[l\ (d. 505/1111) develops his pioneering and hugely influential synthesis contextualising and, to an extent, combining @]fism and theology at the stereological, epistemological and metaphysical levels. Within this synthesis, Ash<ar\ kal[m is accommodated as an intellectual system that is ultimately inferior to a higher mystical theology relating to the @]f\ path, which he discusses, for instance, in Mishk[t al-Anw[r and al-Kutub al-Ma#n]n bih[ <al[ Ghayr Ahlih[.” 1 ____________________________________________________________________ *Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan.