Aalam Rasul Allah al-Munzala ala Rusulihi
- Author died
- 276 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Ṣumay‘ī lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘
A‘lām Rasūl Allāh al-Munzala ‘alā Rusulihī (Arabic: أعلام رسول الله المنزلة على رسله, "The Proofs of the Messenger of God Revealed to His Messengers") is a treatise on the proofs of prophethood (dalā’il al-nubuwwah) and biblical and rational evidences by the ninth-century scholar Ibn Qutaybah (213–276 AH / 828–889 CE) .
Title and Transmission
The full title given on surviving manuscripts is A‘lām Rasūl Allāh al-Munzala ‘alā Rusulihī fī al-Tawrāt wa-l-Inǧīl wa-l-Zabūr wa-l-Qur’ān wa-Ghayr Dhālik wa-Dalā’il Nubuwwatihī min al-Barāhīn al-Nayyirah wa-l-Dalā’il al-Wāḍiḥah . In classical bibliographic literature, it is often cited under alternative titles, including Dalā’il al-Nubuwwah, A‘lām al-Nabī, A‘lām al-Nubuwwah, Dalā’il al-Nubuwwah min al-Kutub al-Munzala ‘alā al-Anbiyā’, and Mu‘jizāt al-Nabī . Qadi Iyad noted that the work comprised twenty-one parts (kutub) .
The primary transmission chain (riwāyah) documented at the beginning of the text traces through Ibn al-Mu‘addal al-Hariri, from Abu Hafs Umar ibn Ahmad ibn Harun al-Muqri' al-Ajurri (recited at the Sacred Mosque in 379 AH), from Abu al-Qasim Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Bukayr al-Tamimi, from Ibn Qutaybah . Another transmission chain runs through Abu al-Husayn al-Mubarak ibn Abd al-Jabbar al-Sayrafi .
Background and Purpose
Ibn Qutaybah composed the work in response to a correspondent who wrote complaining about the widespread influence of skepticism and the efforts of freethinkers and heretics (mulḥidūn) who attacked the authenticity of the Qur'an and the mission of the Prophet Muhammad . The correspondent requested a dedicated work establishing the clear signs of the Prophet drawn strictly from earlier scriptures in the hands of the People of the Book and from the Qur'an, avoiding certain popular hadith narrations of physical miracles (such as animals speaking or trees moving) that skeptics and heretics claimed were uncorroborated or fabricated . Although Ibn Qutaybah noted that his correspondent had unnecessarily restricted the scope of valid evidence, he undertook the request to establish proofs that would confute skeptics and increase the certainty of believers .
Structure and Content
The treatise is structured into several thematic areas covering scriptural, linguistic, historical, and rational arguments:
- Evidences from Previous Scriptures: Ibn Qutaybah begins by citing descriptions and prophecies of the Prophet from the Torah, the Psalms (Zabūr), and the Gospel (Inǧīl), as well as books attributed to biblical prophets such as Habakkuk and Isaiah . He discusses prophecies concerning the descendants of Ishmael, the mountains of Paran, the description of a servant coming from the wilderness, the Paraclete (al-Bāriqlīṭ) mentioned in the Gospel of John, and mentions of Mecca, the Ka'bah, and the Black Stone .
- Historical Portents and the Fall of Empires: The text details portents accompanying the Prophet's advent, including the shaking of the Arch of Ctesiphon (Īwān Kisrā), the extinguishing of the sacred fires of Persia, the drying of Lake Sawa, and the interpretations given by the diviner Satih to Abd al-Masih . He also discusses reports from the chronicles of the kings of Yemen and Tubba‘, the Danielic interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and the collapse of the Persian, Himyarite, Ghassanid, and Lakhmīd dynasties upon the rise of Islam .
- Proofs After the Prophet's Death: Ibn Qutaybah cites post-prophetic signs as evidence of his truthfulness, such as Umar’s prayer for rain through the Prophet’s uncle al-Abbas, the uncorrupted state of the bodies of the martyrs of Uhud when exhumed fifty years later during the reign of Mu‘awiyah, and the exhumation of Talhah ibn Ubayd Allah .
- The Inimitability of the Qur'an and Linguistic Defense: The author addresses the miraculous nature (i‘jāz) of the Qur'an and the failure of contemporaries and rivals such as Musaylimah to match its eloquence . He outlines the stylistic and rhetorical conventions of the Arabic language—such as ellipsis, metaphorical usage, inversion, and hyperbole—and directly refutes ten specific grammatical and semantic criticisms leveled by skeptics against Qur'anic verses, cross-referencing his own works Ta’wīl Mushkil al-Qur’ān and Kitāb al-Masā’il .
- Fulfilled Qur'anic and Hadith Prophecies: The work analyzes historical prophecies announced prior to their fulfillment, including the outcome of the Battle of Badr, the defeat of the Persians by the Byzantines (Sūrat al-Rūm), the territorial expansion of Islam to the far east and west, the duration of the early caliphate, and future civil strife (fitan) .
- Theological and Polemical Refutations: In the concluding sections, Ibn Qutaybah answers polemical objections regarding warfare, the physical descriptions of paradise and hell, the Prophet’s personal asceticism, his moral qualities, and the unique reliance of the Muslim community on unbroken chains of transmission (isnād) .
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