The doctrinal creed of the largest denomination of Muslims that came to be known as 'The Adherents to the Sunna and the Congregation' found staunch defenders in the school of the 'Arch-master of guidance' (
Imam al-huda
) and 'Standard-bearer of guidance' (
Alam al-huda
) of Samarqand, Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (d.333/945), who codified the theology of 'the Greatest Leader' (
al-Imam al-A'zam
) Abu Hanifa.
This work is a survey of the most important Maturidi authorities and their doctrinal textbooks with a condensed overview of the bio-bibliography of Maturidi scholarship in descending order of antiquity.
It highlights their resolutions (
taqrirat
) as the defining parameters of Sunnism and can serve both as an introductory synopsis of the great themes of Maturidism and as a tool for the study of the school's theology from its early founders to our time.