Sahl al-Tustarī, Abū Muḥammad

views updated

Sahl al-Tustarī, Abū Muḥammad (818–96 (AH 203–83)). Sunnī theologian and mystic, of strict and ascetic standards. He wrote nothing, but his ‘thousand sayings’ were collected and edited by his pupil, Muḥammad ibn Sālim, and formed the basis for a theological school, the Sālimīya. An eclectic in his views, he agreed with al-Ashʿarī that a Muslim is anyone who prays facing the qibla (see IMĀN), but he accepted the Shīʿa claim of jafr. Faith must nevertheless be demonstrated in works (‘to love is to obey’), while the true lover of God is constantly detaching himself from the world.