Religious orientation of Al-Layth Fatwa No: 90281
- Fatwa Date:6-7-2005
I want know Faqih Abu Al-Layth Samarqandi he is Sufi or Salafi Sunni?
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
If the questioner meant, by Al-Layth, to ask about Nasr Ibn Mohammad As-Smarqandi, here is what Imaam Ath-Thahabi wrote about him in his book Alsiar (biographies). He described him as 'A renowned scholar in jurisprudence and Hadeeth and an ascetic person.' His full name is Abu Al-Layth Nasr Ibn Mohammad Ibn Ibraaheem As-Smarqandi. He was a follower of Hanafi School. He is the author of some famous books such as "Tanbeeh Alghaafileen" (Reminding the heedless) and he has a book compiling his Fataawa. He died in 375 A.H. Unfortunately, so little has been written about him that his name is not common in books of reference that deal with the biographies of famous people. Yet, no one described him as Sufi. The word Sufi was used in the early generations to describe someone who gave up worldly life and devoted his life to worship and preparing for the Hereafter. It is worth mentioning that based on this definition of Sufism, some authors who wrote about it considered a group of the Prophet's companions to be Sufis. Anyway, the answer in brief is that Al-Layth was one of the leading ascetic scholars of Hadeeth as Imaam Ath-Thahabi wrote in his book. In fact, this was the case with all the Imaams of our Salaf as all of them were ascetic devout worshippers.
Allaah Knows best.