Hanbalism

These are my notes on the Hanbali fiqh text Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat, which is one of the fundamental books studied by Hanbalis in the beginning of their studies. The notes are from the chapters related to worship. The notes are based on the explanation of Sh. Yusuf ibn Sadiq al-Hanbali from Egypt.

פרק בספר החדש "האסלאם- היסטוריה, דת, תרבות" בעריכת מאיר בר-אשר ומאיר חטינה
Livnat Holtzman, "Islamic Theology" In: Meir Bar-Asher and Meir Hatina (eds.), Islam: History, Religion, Culture (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2017), pp. 422-448 (in Hebrew).

This book is a translation of Marʿī b. Yūsuf al-Karmī’s (d. 1033/1623) classical Ḥanbalī law manual, Dalīl al-Ṭālib. In 1961 George M. Baroody translated the section of criminal law as part of a Masters’ thesis. The present work focuses on the sections of worship (ʿibādāt). It clearly presents the rules and regulations the Muslim community requires for purification, prayer, charity, fasting, pilgrimage, and warfare. A lengthy introduction to Islamic law and the Ḥanbalī school has been included to prepare the readers. The language employed in the translation has been kept simple, straightforward, and modern to make the work accessible to everyone who speaks English – law student or otherwise. This bilingual edition, with its parallel Arabic text, will allow readers to access the original Arabic and hopefully help with vocabulary building, oracy, and future translations. Muslims for many centuries have turned to Dalīl al-Ṭālib for study, and ultimately to be informed of their religious practices. It is hoped the translation, The Student’s Guide, will produce a similar response and convey the spirit and manner of the original owing to its style and simplicity.

Forewords by Professor Robert Gleave (University of Exeter) and Dr. Faris b. Falih al-Khazraji (Turkey).

Available here: https://daralarqam.bigcartel.com/product/the-students-guide

This book is a translation of Ibn ʿAqīl al-Ḥanbalī’s (d. 513/1119) essay on Islamic manners, Fuṣūl al-ādāb wa makārim al-akhlāq al-mashrūʿa. It presents a significant number of commendable etiquettes Muslims are required to observe for everyday living and dealings. Ibn ʿAqīl’s essay is considered to be the shortest, and the earliest extant work from the Ḥanbalī school on Islamic manners. The language employed in the translation has been kept simple, straightforward, and modern to make the work accessible to everyone. This bilingual edition, with its parallel Arabic text, will allow readers to access the original Arabic and hopefully help with vocabulary building, oracy, and future translations. In Islam, good manners (ādāb) are required and admired; and it’s developed through study and practice. It is hoped the translation, Ibn ʿAqīl al-Ḥanbalī’s essay on Islamic Manners becomes a means to refine manners better.

Available here: https://daralarqam.bigcartel.com/product/essay-on-islamic-manners

This book is a translation of Yūsuf b. ʿAbd al-Hādī’s (d. 909/1503) Ḥanbalī law manual, Kitāb furūʿ al-fiqh. The purpose of this rendition is to present the main aspects of Islamic law in a simple and modern manner. The manual at hand is considered to be the shortest law manual in the Ḥanbalī school. The translation covers the articles of law pertaining to the aspects of worship (ʿibādāt) and social dealings (muʿāmalāt). The appendix contains a translation of the chapters of fasting and devotional seclusion from Ibn Qudāma’s (d. 620/1223) Ḥanbalī law manual, al-Muqniʿ. A rendition of Ibn ʿAqīl’s (d. 513/1119) treatise on Islamic manners, Fuṣūl al-ādāb wa makārim al-akhlāq al-mashrūʿa, has been included to compliment the articles of law.

Foreword by Dr. Mustafa Baig (University of Exeter)

Available here: http://daralarqam.bigcartel.com/product/an-epitome-of-hanbali-substantive-law

Usool al-Fiqh is important to study because it gives the person the psychology of the school. How does the school derive its rulings? How is evidence weighed? What should be done in instances of conflict between different verses and hadiths? What sources are used to derive law? How do we know something is forbidden or obligatory as opposed to just disliked or recommended? All such types of questions and more are answered in Usool al-Fiqh.

This is a study of the Manda family of hadith scholars and theologians, which flourished in Isfahan from the beginning of the third/ninth century until the Mongol conquest ca. 632-3/1235-6. I collected the names of more than thirty men and women from the family, who were active as scholars during that period. I pay special attention to the oeuvre of Abu Abdallah Muhammad b. Ishaq b. Manda, Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad b. Ishaq b. Manda, and Abu Zakriyya Yahya b. Abd al-Wahhab b. Muhammad b. Manda.

The following paper is a translation of Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī's (d. 795 AH / 1392 CE) classical treatise on the rulings pertaining to singing and musical instruments titled, 'Nuzhat al-Asmā‘ fī Mas’alat al-Samā‘' (The Ears’ Delight in the Practice of Musical Audition).

In it, the author details the rulings pertaining to singing, musical instruments, and the various forms they can take, the types of gatherings in which they are used, and the rulings therein.

He brings forth a plethora of scholarly quotes on the issue, along with discussing in depth the narrations which pertain to the subject, their criticism(s), and how rulings were derived from them.

He also demonstrates his strength in tasawwuf, and Islamic spirituality, discussing the issue from that angle, comparing it to the Qur'an and ultimately arriving at his conclusion(s) on the topic.

Hadis edebiyatındaki müsned türünün en meşhur örneği olan Ahmed b. Hanbel’in el-Müsned’inin tarihî süreçteki önemi, alımlanma biçimleri ve öne çıkan nitelikleri nelerdir? Kitap, telifinin ardından ne tür katkılarla varlığını sürdürmüştür? Araştırmalar eserin hangi yönleri üzerinde odaklanmıştır? Kitabın otorite kazanma sürecinde ilgili literatürün etkisi nedir? el-Müsned çerçevesinde oluşan literatürü kronolojik ve coğrafi dağılım, çalışma türleri, müelliflerinin mezhebî aidiyetleri ve çalışma konularından hareketle inceleyen elinizdeki kitap bu gibi sorulara odaklanmaktadır. Eser, çağdaş hadis araştırmalarının ilgi ve istikametini görmek isteyenler için de bir rehber işlevine sahiptir.

Traduction intégrale, introduite et annotée, de la notice biographique consacrée par Ibn Rajab (m. 795/1392) à Ibn Taymiyya dans sa « Continuation des classes des Ḥanbalites » (al-Dhayl ‘alā ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābila), édition ‘A. R. b. S. AL-‘UTHAYMĪN, 5 t., Riyāḍ, Maktabat al-‘Ubaykān, 1425/2005, t. IV, p. 491-529.

The mihna of Ibn ʿAqīl (d. 513/1119) and the fitnat Ibn al-Qushayrī (d. 514/1120)—two major events that took place in 11th century Baghdad—mark the victory of traditionalist Islam over rationalist Islam, and as such are considered as part of “the Sunni Revival”. The article unfolds the political, social, and doctrinal factors that led to these events, while focusing on the role of the leader of the Baghdadian Hanbalīs, the sharīf Abū Jaʿfar al-Hāshimī (d. 470/1077-8) in orchestrating the events. The first section of the article summarizes Ibn ʿAqīl’s mihna based on George Makdisi’s scholarly work, and also provides a limited-scale reading in the primary sources. The second section offers new insights on the fitnat Ibn al-Qushayrī based on a close reading of the primary sources, and a survey of recently published researches.

This article examines how Muslim religious scholars find space within political and legal discourses to deal with thorny issues such as rebellion. It takes as its case study a treatise by Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597/1201) regarding the permissibility to curse the second Umayyad caliph Yazīd b. Muʿāwiya. Although written to address the cursing of Yazīd, the treatise also speaks to questions regarding rulership and rebellion. Overall, the article argues that Ibn al-Jawzī adopted a juristically prudent approach to rebellion against an unjust and sinful ruler which synthesizes various elements of the Sunni caliphate discourse and the Islamic legal discourse on the treatment of rebels. This allowed him to shift the debate from one on the permissibility of rebellion to one on the question of legitimacy, thus enabling him to justify actions against Yazīd without overtly condoning the act of rebellion.

في اكتشاف جديد لمخطوطة تسمية كتب يوسف بن حسن بن عبد الهادي، يُقدِّم سعيد الجوماني وكونراد هيرشلر أضبط قائمة ببليوغرافية بمؤلفاته الشخصيَّة وبخط يده؛ فنبَّهت هذه القائمة إلى جزءٍ من إنتاجه الفكري كان مجهولاً تماماً، وصححت الكثير من أخطاء القراءة في القوائم السابقة. ونشرها سيدعم الأبحاث العاملة بحقل حركة التأليف بدمشق والحياة الفكريّة فيها نهاية القرن التاسع الهجريّ، خاصّةً ما يتعلق بالتراث الحنبليّ وعلم الحديث. وسيفتح الربط بين المؤلفات المذكورة في تسمية الكتب من جهة ووقف كتب ابن عبد الهادي من جهة ثانية والمخطوطات الموجودة في مكتبات العالم من جهة ثالثة باباً جديداً إلى دراسة التراث الفكري في مدينة دمشق أواخر العهد المملوكي. وتقترح هذه الدراسة إطاراً جديداً لدراسة التاريخ الاجتماعي اعتماداً على الوثائق الشخصيَّة والهيئات الماديّة للمخطوطات الشخصيّة.

The issue of istigaatha is an ever-debated one – its proponents and its critics are often found to be zealous in their stances. This paper sets out to present a balanced position towards the act of istigaatha by presenting the Hanbali school’s position on this – more specifically Ibn Taymiyya’s. It is a balanced position that tends to be misunderstood by detractors.

Abū Ismāʿīl ʿAbdallāh al-Harawī al-Anṣārī (d. 481/1089) places the refinement of human character traits, what we would call “the virtues,” toward the middle of one’s journey, following in this placement models of the Sufi states and stations that preceded him. By considering the structure and logic of Anṣārī’s waystations, readers of Sufi texts can appreciate the place of the refinement of character traits as transitional. The wayfarer proceeds from a perfection of the bodily heart to a more receptive and sublime perfection of the spirit, from action to reception. That receptive state ultimately becomes union (al-jamʿ), which Anṣārī calls “the terminus of the stations of the wayfarers and the outermost, coastal portion of the ocean of tawḥīd,” that is, it is the periphery of knowing God’s oneness (tawḥīd), that side or edge of God’s oneness accessible to humans.  In this, Anṣārī frames the Sufi stations as a pathway to union and direct knowledge. While this structure, one leading to union, proved inspiriting to many commentators, it also aroused the condemnation of two Ḥanbalī thinkers who opposed what some have called “monist” (or, from their perspective, al-Ittiḥādiyya, the “People of Unification”) resonances in Islamic ethics, namely, Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) and Shams al-Dīn ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751/1350).  There are weighty epistemological differences that come out in the commentaries despite the brevity of Anṣārī’s ethical treatise. The key concern here will be to consider commentators’ responses to the structure of Anṣārī’s treatise vis-à-vis its most disputed proclamation—namely, that the waystations end with union with God.

“Transcending Character as a Quest for Union: The Place of al-Jamʿ in Sufi Ethical Commentaries on Khwāja ʿAbdallāh Anṣārī’s Waystations,” Mysticism and Ethics in Islam, edited by Bilal Orfali, Atif Khalil, and Mohammed Rustom. Beirut: American University of Beirut Press, 2022. Pp. 163-186.

Like other jurists, the Hanbali jurists believe that a fetus goes through three stages of development: nuṭfah (mixed drops of male and female sexual discharge), ῾alaqah  (a piece of thick coagulated blood) and muḍghah (little lump), each lasts for forty days before ensoulment occurs when it becomes a person. An abortion may take place in the stage of nuṭfah, since it is valueless. However, it is prohibited during the other two stages. Such prohibition is stricter after ensoulment. This general rule is equally applied to all natural and exceptional cases. Some contemporary fatwas permit abortion in case the mother's life is in danger even after the ensoulment. As to malformation and similar emergencies, they are not legal excuses for abortion.
According to the Hanbali School of jurisprudence, there are three views on abortion based on three different fetal descriptions:
1. Genesis: The nuṭfah is formed into ῾alaqah  constituting the first stage of pregnancy.
2. Formation: The appearance of the first form of a human being, partly or completely.
3. Ensoulment.
The rulings of the fetus, many indeed, differ according to the presence and absence of these descriptions. For the Hanbalis, the fetus is generally, not absolutely, independent; the fetal life is not entirely perfect, since it depends on the mother.
The Hanbali legal reasoning, by and large, draws on the text-based approach in isolation from the mere human opinions in an attempt to apply all texts as possible as could be. However, the late Hanbali jurists delicately explored the reasons underlying the legal issues to unveil the compatibility of legal decisions within a framework including all rulings in agreement with the basic rules and principles of their school. Studying the underlying reasons they highlighted, we find two views: one is ethical and the other is religious, which can be epitomized in the centrality of the human soul, considering the subjective life (al-Ḥayâh al-I῾tibâriyyah) preceding ensoulment, and in acknowledging the human character of the fetus and its right to respect. Finally, that discussion of the rules of the fetus is generally connected to the question of Divine Creation and the Wisdom intended by it.

The formative years of Islamic scholarship throughout the ninth and tenth centuries displayed an overlap between the main Sunni schools of law, strictly adhering to the Quran and Sunnah, and notions of Islamic spirituality or mysticism. Misunderstandings of the Islamic tradition have inaccurately implied Sunni orthodoxy is antithetical to Islamic spirituality. However, Sunni orthodoxy and spiritualty often overlap in the early writings of the Hanbali school of law founded by Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal (d. 241 A.H./855 C.E.). Although some Hanbalis saw certain aspects of Tassawuf, or Sufism, as a heretical innovation foreign to the original ritual practices of Sunni Islam, others from among the earliest Hanbali scholars suggested otherwise. The writings of Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal and other early Hanbali jurists and theologians who emerged afterwards tend to display inclinations towards some modality of Islamic spirituality and mysticism. Imam Ahmed's writings, along with other early Hanbali scholars characterize and frame Tassawuf in such a way that strongly suggests its integration into Sunni orthodoxy was paralleled with the formal schools of law. We see a coherent merging of law and spirituality masterfully woven which manifests in the embodiment of the original Hanbali school to an extent. The biographical writings that we find such as ibn Abi Ya'la's Tabaqat al-Hanabilah, for instance, provide an indication towards some variation of Islamic spirituality in the descriptions of some of the earliest Hanbali jurists. Even Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal's book, Kitab al-Zuhd, was very much indicative of Islamic spirituality. While some opposition existed towards Sufism, it is also significant to the field to explore when and in what ways did early Hanbali scholarship and different modalities of Tasawwuf merge. Defining Tasawwuf.

This article provides yet another testament to the reality that some form of Sufism existed amidst the circle of students and followers of Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328). Based on a unique manuscript from Damascus, presented here for the first time is an Arabic edition and English translation of Risālat al-sulūk (Epistle on the Spiritual Way) by al-Baʿlabakkī (d. 734/1333), a Ḥanbalite student of Ibn Taymiyya who was also trained in the Sufi way. This is preceded by a study that sheds light on al-Baʿlabakkī’s intellectual context, which is primarily concerned with the place of Sufism in Ibn Taymiyya’s circle. The article then proceeds with a biography of al-Baʿlabakkī, followed by some relevant notes on the manuscript of Risālat al-sulūk and its edition and translation.

It is known that sects that emerged as human structures in the history of Islamic thought interact with other schools of thought. In this respect, sects have intensively used the mechanism of criticism against other structures. Hanbalism gained a sectarian identity with after the Mihna Ahmed Ibn Hanbal’s (d. 241/855) charisma increased significantly, his students wrote his ideas and Hallal (d. 311/923) brought together this material. Hanbalism’s interventionist and harsh attitude has been reflected in the criticisms of other sects. For this reason, many works of refutation have been prepared for many sects in the Hanbali tradition.
One of the sects that Hanbalism contacts with and criticizes has been Asharism. Hanbalism, which harshly criticize the Kullabi names, who are the pioneers of Asharism, for the same reason included Ash’ari thought among the groups they opposed. Although it is known that Hanbali names wrote refutation-style works on Kullabism and Asharism in earlier times, Abu al-Ferec al-Shirazi’s (d. 486/1094) son Ibn al-Hanbali’s (d. 536/1141) work named al-Risale al-Vadıha fi al-Red ala al-Ashaira takes place among the first works that have survived to the present day. Resail fi al-Kurʾan and İsbat al-Harf ve al-Savt Redden ala al-Asharism written by Ibn Akil (d. 513/1119) and Abu al-Kasım Ibn al-Hanbali’s work are the first two examples that were written and survived to the present day in this field. It is noteworthy that it is one of the first works written in the style of rejection in the context of the Hanbalism-Asharism relationship and that no study has been done on this subject in Turkey yet. This study aims to reveal the criticisms of Ibn al-Hanbali against Asharism in the mentioned work and the nature of these criticisms.

This chapter provides a history of Hanbali theology from the formation of the Hanbalis as a school of law in the late ninth and early tenth centuries through to the Wahhabis of Arabia in the eighteenth century. The Hanbalis had a disproportionate impact on the development of Islamic theology because they opposed Kalam theology more consistently than did the other Sunni law schools. Among the major figures discussed herein are Abu Ya‘la, Ibn ‘Aqil and Ibn Jawzi in the eleventh through thirteenth centuries and Ibn Taymiyya, Najm al-Din al-Tufi, and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya in the early fourteenth century.

This concise historical overview of the unfolding of Muslim Traditionalism over more than a millennium summarizes its doctrinal preoccupations and motives, and provides a deeper understanding of its legacy which continues to burden Muslims. The creedal basis of radical Traditionalism embraced a flat textuality with predestinarian and anthropomorphic beliefs. Research into the Ḥashwīyah’s doctrinal intolerance, mob tactics, and active hostility to intellectual and spiritual pursuits details the historical persistence of this deformation. Contemporary neo-Ḥanbalite thought exhibits clear characteristics rooted in the ancient Ḥashwī worldview. Despite its small numerical and geographical footprint today, the amplification of this Ḥashwī-like mentality in the twenty first century has enjoyed a widespread impact across Muslim societies by virtue of its transnational ubiquity and the generous support of a well-entrenched religious establishment in symbiosis with state power.

Open Edition: http://books.openedition.org/ifpo/9179
This book was awarded the Great prize of the "Rendez-vous de l'histoire du monde arabe" (Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris) in 2016.
Metropolis of the Arab-Muslim medieval world and capital of the Abbasid caliphate, Baghdad was in the middle of the Vth/XIth c. part of the empire of Seljuk Turks. The Seljuk Sultans restored sunnism; they didn’t settle in Baghdad but founded in it new institutions: the madrasas, and took part in urban development.
This study in social history is based on biographical dictionaries and Arabic chronicles, with prosopographical methods. It focalizes on the multiple functional categories of elites, then describes distinction practices, reverence and manifestations of hierarchical tensions inside those groups, and the emergence and consolidation of important families. Then comes the study of urban context: repartition of elites in different areas, urban control, constructions and foundations, mécénat of the elites. Baghdad appears through this study as a changing city, influenced by the action of strongly urbanely inscribed elites, products of the urban context as much as its producer.

Cet ouvrage a reçu le Grand prix des Rendez-vous de l'histoire du monde arabe (Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris) en 2016.
Bagdad, grande métropole du monde arabo-musulman médiéval et siège du califat abbasside, fut au milieu du Ve/XIe siècle englobée dans l’empire des Turcs seldjoukides. Restaurateurs du sunnisme, les sultans seldjoukides résidèrent peu à Bagdad, mais ils y fondèrent des institutions nouvelles : les madrasas, et participèrent au développement urbain.
Cette étude d’histoire sociale se fonde sur les dictionnaires biographiques et les chroniques arabes et la constitution d’un grand fichier prosopographique. La thèse décrit les différentes catégories fonctionnelles d’élites, les pratiques de distinction et les manifestations des clivages hiérarchiques au sein de ces groupes, et l’apparition et la consolidation de grands lignages. Puis vient l’étude du cadre urbain : répartition des élites dans la ville, contrôle urbain, évergétisme élitaire. Bagdad y apparaît comme une ville en évolution, marquée par l’action d’élites profondément inscrites dans le contexte urbain dont elles sont le produit.

Hanbalis (the plural form in Arabic is Hanabila) are the adherents of the fourth Sunni school of law that bases its legal and theological thought on the teachings of Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. AH 241/855 CE), a devout traditionist who lived in ʿAbbasid Baghdad, and clashed with the authorities who espoused the rationalistic dogma. Ibn Hanbal and his followers emerged as the proponents of strict traditionalism and scripturalism, and they spread their messages in broad-based classes dedicated to Hadith transmission. Their classes attracted many laymen, and gradually Hanbali adherents established a power base in Baghdad. A few decades after the clash between Ibn Hanbal and the state authorities (in the event called the mihna), the Hanbalis emerged as a powerful political group with close ties with the ʿAbbasid state. Their connection with the state authorities allowed the Hanbali activists to rule the Baghdadian street, and they succeeded in inciting the mob to attack targets such as taverns and brothels according to the Hanbali agenda. Theology also played a prominent role in Hanbali activism: The clashes between the rationalistic Ashʿaris and the traditionalistic Hanbalis were part of the political climate in 11th-century Baghdad. Political activities aside, Hanbali scholars, who did not necessarily participate in these clashes, produced refined theological writings. Hanbalis were often depicted in the historical sources of the 9th to the 14th centuries as hostile to rationalistic or speculative theology (kalam)—mainly represented by the Muʿtazilis—and to forms of extreme Sufism. However, Hanbali authors wrote sophisticated works on speculative theology and Sufism, thus creating a new form of traditionalistic-rationalistic theology. The trend of higher Hanbali thought continued in the second most important center of Hanbalism, Mamluk Damascus (see the Oxford Bibliographies article “*Ibn Taymiyya[obo-9780195390155-0150]*” by Jon Hoover). Hanbali activism and Hanbali theology took modern form with the appearance of Wahhabism. This modern form is not discussed here. For this, see the Oxford Bibliographies Online articles “*Salafism[obo-9780195390155-0070]*” by Jonathan A. C. Brown and “*Arab-Salafism[obo-9780195390155-0139]*” by David Commins. As a school of law, Hanbalism in its later phase (the 13th century onward) was a mixture of strict adherence to the textual sources of the law (namely, the Qur’an and the Sunna) and flexibility in applying independent juristic reasoning (ijtihad) in areas that the scriptures did not cover. This trend, and in particular the emphasis laid on the rejection of taqlid (imitating the opinions of prominent scholars), ripened in the writings of Ibn Taymiyya (d. AH 728/1328 CE). This entry covers the Hanbali school of law and theology only between the 9th and 14th centuries. In this entry, “traditionist” and its plural form denote Hadith transmitters (muhaddith pl. muhaddithun), while “traditionalist” and its plural form are reserved for scholars whose main body of theological teachings relied on Hadith, but who were not necessarily Hadith transmitters. The adjective “traditionalistic” denotes teachings, argumentations, trends, and works that voice the worldview of the traditionalists.

This article is a summary based on Shaykh Sa'eed Foudah's al-Sharh al-Kabeer and his Youtube videos. A lot of people mistakenly believe that Fitrah equals Islam. They infer this based on the ḥadith in which the Prophet Muhammad says: ''Every child is born on the Fitrah. Then his parents turn him into a Jew, Christian or Magian. Just as an animal produces a perfect young animal: do you see any part of its body amputated?''

Interpretations of how Ḥanbalī school formed have for the most part written it off as one with little utility when compared to the other three canonical schools. This claim is usually bolstered by assumptions that, while popular, have little substantive backing. This paper seeks to challenge three of those assumptions. First, the idea that Aḥmad and his followers rejected of qiyās (analogy), and as such represent an intellectual history that is less robust than the other schools will be examined and shown to be overstated. Second, the claim that the Ḥanbalī school was somehow less worthy of being a legal school due to how it formed is challenged. A comparison to the other three canonical Sunni schools will be show no marked difference between these schools in their formation. Last, I will challenge the claim there were no substantive differences in legal opinion and knowledge creation between the Ḥanbalī school and others. Through its historic presence in political and intellectual circles and its knowledge output through singular opinions known as Mufradāt, this claim will be shown to be inflated.

This paper offers a new reading to Ibn Qayīm al-Jawzīyah’s (d. 750/1350) 6000-verse poem al-Kāfiyah al-Shāfiyah fī al-Intiṣār lil-Firqah al-Nājiyah (The Sufficient and Healing [Poem] on the Vindication of the Saved Sect, henceforth al-Kāfiyah al-Shāfiyah). Al-Kāfiyah al-Shāfiyah was considered for years a versified creed reflecting Ibn Taymīyah’s (d. 728/1328) theological doctrines, especially on the issue of the divine attributes and anthropomorphism. However, by contextualizing previously neglected parts of al-Kāfiyah al-Shāfiyah, I proved in a recent article, that this work is actually a political treatise, directly responding to the accusations raised against Ibn Taymīyah by the Ashʿari ulama of his times, particularly on Ibn Taymīyah’s readings of the anthropomorphic texts in the Quran and Hadith.
In this paper, I focus on the vehicle which Ibn al-Qayīm used in order to convey his position regarding the dispute between Ibn Taymīyah and the Ashʿaris. Why did Ibn al-Qayīm choose the sophisticated vehicle of poetic expression in order to discuss the complex issue of anthropomorphism and the divine attributes, whereas he could have easily done so in prose? The answer lies in the role poetry played in Ibn al-Qayīm’s times, and also in the text of al-Kāfiyah al-Shāfiyah. Therefore, this paper first considers Ibn al-Qayīm’s choice of poetry as the appropriate means to convey his view about the dispute between Ibn Taymīyah and the Ashʿaris. Then, by presenting the structure and content of al-Kāfiyah al-Shāfiyah and by analyzing two selected parts of the poem, this article tries to assess the need this poem satisfied in its composer and recipients, to identify the emotional components of the poem, and finally to define the message al-Kāfiyah al-Shāfiyah sends to the Taymīyan circle.