al-Barahin al-Mutabara fi Hadm Qawaid al-Mubtadia
- Author died
- 1350 AH
- Editions
- The Editor
al-Barahin al-Mutabara fi Hadm Qawaid al-Mubtadia (The Weighty Proofs in Demolishing the Principles of the Innovators) is a theological treatise written by the Najdi Hanbali scholar Abd al-Aziz al-Mudayhish (c. 1270–1350 AH / c. 1853–1931 CE). It is a polemical work defending the doctrinal tenets of the Salafi reform movement in Najd against theological innovations and opposing views.
Historical Background and Composition
The book was composed within the context of intense religious and political tensions in Buraydah and the wider al-Qasim region during the rule of the Al Rashid dynasty over Najd. Scholars and students adhering to the Salafi tradition of the Al Sulaym and Al al-Shaykh families faced active opposition and official harassment from local adversaries. In this atmosphere, al-Mudayhish penned the work to refute an unlearned local antagonist who had embraced heterodox theological arguments influenced by outside critics of the Najdi movement.
The exact year of composition is unrecorded, but it was written between 1309 AH and 1314 AH (c. 1891–1897 CE). It is the only known written work attributed to al-Mudayhish, who was primarily engaged in teaching and judicial work across regional settlements rather than authoring books.
Content and Method
The work focuses on vindicating Sunnism and dismantling claims promoted by doctrinal innovators, relying on proofs from the Quran and the Prophetic tradition as understood by early Muslim authorities. In examining the text, its modern editor noted several stylistic characteristics, including occasional lengthy historical digressions—such as descriptions of early Islamic military conquests—minor weaknesses in sentence structure and syntax, and a few linguistic slips.
Manuscript and Publication
The author's autograph manuscript is not known to have survived. The work has reached the modern era through a single handwritten copy transcribed by the judge Abd Allah ibn Sulayman ibn Bulayhid on 28 Shawwal 1314 AH (31 March 1897 CE). The manuscript is written in medium naskh script with red ink rubrication on paper measuring 25.5 × 17.5 cm, preserved in Hail.
The text was edited and published for the first time by Ibrahim ibn Abd Allah al-Mudayhish, a faculty member at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, and issued in Rabi' al-Awwal 1434 AH (January 2013 CE).
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