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Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan Al al-Shaykh

Died
1285 AH
Born in
Diriyah

Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan Al al-Shaykh (1193–1285 AH / 1779–1869 CE) was a Najdi Hanbali scholar, judge, and theologian who served as the leading religious authority of the Second Saudi State .

Early life and education

Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan was born in Diriyah in 1193 AH (with another report recording 1196 AH) . After his father Hasan was killed in battle at Ghuraba, he was raised under the guardianship of his grandfather, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab . He memorized the Quran by the age of nine and studied directly under his grandfather, reading portions of Kitab al-Tawhid (The Book of Monotheism) and Adab al-Mashi ila al-Salat (Etiquette of Walking to Prayer), as well as attending his lessons in Quranic exegesis, hadith, and legal rulings until his grandfather died when Abd al-Rahman was thirteen .

Following his grandfather's death, he continued his studies with the scholars of Diriyah. He studied Hanbali jurisprudence under Hamad ibn Nasir ibn Mu'ammar and his uncle Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, inheritance law (fara'id) under Abd al-Rahman ibn Khamis, and Arabic grammar under the chronicler Husayn ibn Ghannam, along with receiving instruction from Abd Allah ibn Fadil and his uncles Ali and Husayn . He was appointed as a judge in Diriyah during the reigns of the Saudi rulers Saud ibn Abd al-Aziz and Abd Allah ibn Sa'ud, and he accompanied the latter in military campaigns, including the Battle of Wadi al-Safra against Tusun Pasha .

Exile to Egypt and return

When Ottoman-Egyptian forces commanded by Ibrahim Pasha captured and destroyed Diriyah in 1233 AH, Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan was exiled to Cairo alongside his family and his young son Abd al-Latif . During his eight-year stay in Egypt, he pursued advanced scholarship with prominent figures at Al-Azhar and throughout Cairo, including Hasan al-Quwaysini, Abd Allah Suwaydan, the historian Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti, Muhammad ibn Mahmud al-Jaza'iri, and Ibrahim al-Bajuri, obtaining formal teaching licenses (ijazat) from them .

In 1241 AH, Abd al-Rahman returned to Najd and arrived in Riyadh, where he was received by Imam Turki ibn Abd Allah .

Judicial leadership and teaching

Upon his return, Abd al-Rahman was appointed judge of Riyadh and emerged as the chief religious authority of the restored Saudi realm, a position he retained across the reigns of Imams Turki ibn Abd Allah, Faysal ibn Turki, and the beginning of the rule of Abd Allah ibn Faysal . He led public instruction and authored pastoral epistles to communities throughout Najd, emphasizing adherence to communal unity and monotheism .

A substantial circle of scholars studied under him, including his son Abd al-Latif ibn Abd al-Rahman, his relatives Abd al-Malik ibn Husayn, Abd al-Rahman ibn Husayn, and Hasan ibn Husayn, as well as students such as Hamad ibn Atiq, Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Mani', and Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Sulaym .

In theological writing, he is known for Fath al-Majid (The Triumph of the Glorious), an extensive and widely studied commentary on his grandfather's Kitab al-Tawhid, as well as Qurrat Uyun al-Muwahhidin (The Solace of the Monotheists' Eyes) and his polemical treatise Kashf ma Alqahu Iblis (Unveiling What Satan Cast) .

Standing and death

Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan was recognized by contemporary Najdi biographers, notably Ibn Bishr, as the leading legal scholar and mufti of his generation in central Arabia .

He died in Riyadh on the evening of Saturday, 11 Dhu al-Qi'da 1285 AH (1869 CE), and was buried in the al-Oud cemetery .

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List of Works

  • Bayan Kalimat al-Tawhid wa al-Radd ala al-Kashmiri Abd al-Mahmud (Matbu ضمن al-Rasail wa al-Masail al-Najdiyya, al-Juz al-Rabi, al-Qism al-Awwal)

    Bayan Kalimat al-Tawhid wa al-Radd ala al-Kashmiri Abd al-Mahmud is a theological treatise and polemical work devoted to defining the theological and linguistic meaning of the Islamic testimony of faith (There is no deity worthy of worship except God). It refutes the grammatical, logical, and theological propositions put forward by Abd al-Mahmud al-Kashmiri, addressing his linguistic derivations, logical structure, and parsing of the formula of monotheism.

  • Bayan al-Mahajja fi al-Radd ala al-Lajja (matbu ضمن al-Rasail wa al-Masail al-Najdiyya, al-Juz al-Rabi, al-Qism al-Awwal)

    Bayan al-Mahajja fi al-Radd ala al-Lajja is a theological refutation defending the Najdi theological critique of al-Busiri's renowned poem Qasidat al-Burda. The work focuses on core tenets of Islamic monotheism and the impermissibility of supplicating or seeking salvation from created beings, countering the objections of Muhammad ibn Humayd al-Najdi (designated by the epithet al-Lajja) and vindicating the theological assessment of Abdullah ibn Abd al-Rahman Aba Butayn.

  • Masa'il wa Fatawa Najdiyya (tubi'a dimn al-Rasa'il wa al-Masa'il al-Najdiyya, al-juz' al-rabi', al-qism al-awwal)

    Masa'il wa Fatawa Najdiyya is a collection of theological treatises, polemical writings, and legal responsa (fatawa). Forming the first section of the fourth volume of the anthology Majmu'at al-Rasa'il wa-l-Masa'il al-Najdiyya, the work contains critical theological discourses and polemical refutations against opposing contemporaries, alongside doctrinal clarifications and legal rulings concerning jurisprudence, ethics, and communal practice.

  • Kitab al-Tawhid wa Qurrat Uyun al-Muwahhidin fi Tahqiq Dawat al-Anbiya wa al-Mursalin

    Kitab al-Tawhid wa Qurrat Uyun al-Muwahhidin fi Tahqiq Dawat al-Anbiya wa al-Mursalin is a doctrinal treatise and commentary on Islamic monotheism composed as a series of concise explanatory glosses (hawashi) on Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's foundational theological text, Kitab al-Tawhid. The text focuses on the central mission of the prophets and messengers: establishing the exclusive worship of God alone and warning against polytheism and practices deemed idolatrous.

  • Fath al-Majid Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid

    Fath al-Majid Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid is a theological commentary on Kitab al-Tawhid by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. Originating as an abridgment, refinement, and completion of Sulayman ibn Abd Allah Al al-Shaykh's unfinished commentary Taysir al-Aziz al-Hamid, the work follows Kitab al-Tawhid chapter by chapter to elucidate the monotheism of worship through evidence from the Quran and the Sunnah, clarifying what invalidates it or impairs its obligatory perfection.