al-Ajwiba al-Kafiya an al-Asila al-Shamiya
- Author died
- 1380 AH
- Editions
- Maṭbaʿat al-Saʿādah
al-Ajwiba al-Kafiya an al-Asila al-Shamiya (The Sufficient Answers to the Levantine Questions) is a theological and polemical treatise by the Tunisian-born Maliki jurist Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Kafi (1278–1380 AH / 1861–1960 CE), written to defend traditional Sunni creed and cosmology against modernist interpretations.
Background and Purpose
The treatise was prompted by a set of inquiries submitted to al-Kafi by a student from the modern schools, who requested clarification on several religious matters that appeared obscure or seemingly in conflict with human reason. Upon answering the questions, al-Kafi noted that they were not original to the inquirer but were drawn from the reformist journal al-Manar and the ideas of contemporary Western-educated youth. Al-Kafi sought to counter these reformist discourses, which he accused of leading Muslim students away from sound Islamic dogma, criticizing the rationalist reinterpretation of scripture and what he regarded as a disregard for classical authorities.
Epistemological Framework and Method
Before addressing the specific questions, al-Kafi opens the work with an epistemological prologue dividing all objects of knowledge into three categories based on human cognitive capability:
- Things whose intrinsic reality cannot be grasped either by intellect or by transmitted report, represented by the divine essence of God.
- Things whose reality is discovered by reason and corroborated by transmission, which includes the rational sciences, technical crafts, and natural properties of things.
- Things whose reality can only be known through transmitted revelation where independent reason has no purview, encompassing unseen realities of the afterlife, celestial cosmology, unseen earths, and certain aspects of the revealed law.
On matters belonging to the third category, al-Kafi establishes that Muslims are obligated to accept authentic texts at their apparent meaning without subjecting them to purely rationalistic speculation.
Key Topics and Arguments
The work addresses various cosmological, theological, and legal issues contested by modernists:
- Cosmology and the Heavens: The author defines the heavens as solid, created celestial structures rather than empty space or mere atmospheric vapors, citing Quranic verses and hadith reports regarding the seven heavens, the seven earths, and the Night Journey and Ascension (al-Mi'raj). He also incorporates Sufi cosmological accounts, such as those related from Abd al-Aziz al-Dabbagh in Kitab al-Ibriz.
- The Nature of Angels and the Unseen: Al-Kafi refutes modernist allegorical readings—specifically associated with Rashid Rida and articles in al-Manar—that equate the angels and the Bearers of the Throne with non-physical natural forces such as electricity or magnetism, asserting instead that angels are autonomous, luminous bodies created by God.
- Critique of Modernist Exegesis: The book explicitly challenges positions advanced by Muhammad Abduh, such as his non-literal interpretation of demonic whisperings (waswasah) and his reading of Quranic passages regarding charity and begging.
- Eschatology and Signs of the Hour: Al-Kafi defends traditional eschatological reports, insisting that the Beast of the Earth (al-Dabba) mentioned in the Quran is a specific individual creature appearing before the Day of Judgment, rejecting the modernist interpretation that it refers broadly to biological species.
- Other Theological and Legal Questions: The work treats the efficacy of supplication (du'a) in the light of divine predetermination (qadar), the visibility of jinns and angels, and discussions around financial transactions and usury (riba).
Publication
The book was printed in Cairo at Matba'at al-Sa'ada in 1340 AH at the author's own expense. The edition includes supplementary notes and glosses contributed by one of al-Kafi's students, Abu al-Qasim ibn Muhammad Bari.
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