al-Bayan wal-Ishhar li-Kashf Zaygh al-Mulhid al-Hajj Mukhtar
- Author died
- 1373 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī
al-Bayan wal-Ishhar li-Kashf Zaygh al-Mulhid al-Hajj Mukhtar (The Manifest Declaration to Unveil the Deviation of the Heretic al-Hajj Mukhtar) is a single-volume theological polemic written by the Najdi Hanbali scholar and diplomat Fawzan al-Sabiq (d. 1373 AH / 1954 CE) to defend the Hanbalis of Najd and the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab against criticisms published by Mukhtar ibn Ahmad al-Mu'ayyad al-'Azmi .
Background and Composition
The origin of the work dates back to 1329 AH, when al-Sabiq was residing in Damascus and attended gatherings where critics attacked the people of Najd, labeled them "Wahhabis," and alleged that they formed an illegitimate fifth legal school . The primary target of the refutation was a book titled Jala' al-Awkham 'an Madhahib al-A'immah al-'Izam (Clearing Misconceptions Regarding the Schools of the Great Imams), published in Damascus in 1330 AH by Mukhtar al-'Azmi . In his introduction, al-Sabiq remarked that al-'Azmi's treatise would have been more aptly named Halik al-Zalam bil-Iftira' 'ala A'immat al-Islam (Pitch Darkness in Slandering the Imams of Islam) .
Al-Sabiq commenced writing the book during his stay in Damascus . Later in life, after serving as Saudi minister plenipotentiary in Cairo, he resigned from his diplomatic post to devote himself to worship and to completing the book .
Content and Arguments
The book directly refutes the polemical claims advanced by al-'Azmi, which al-Sabiq argued were repetitions of arguments made by earlier anti-Wahhabi authors such as Ahmad Zayni Dahlan and Yusuf al-Nabhani .
Among the primary issues addressed is the accusation of anthropomorphism (tajsim) . Al-Sabiq argues that his opponent employed the term tajsim to conceal a Jahmi negation of the divine attributes, and asserts that affirming God's attributes as revealed in the Quran and the Sunnah—without distortion (tahrif), negation (ta'til), explaining the exact modality (takyif), or likening God to creation (tamthil)—constitutes the creed of the early Muslim community (salaf) rather than anthropomorphism . The text also defends the doctrine of divine oneness (tawhid), refutes accusations of unjustified takfir leveled against the Najdi scholars, and cites earlier scholarly authorities alongside historical epistles, such as the correspondence of the scholars of al-Majma'ah .
Publication History
The first edition was completed at the press of Ansar al-Sunnah al-Muhammadiyyah in Cairo on 25 Dhu al-Qi'dah 1372 AH, shortly before the author's death in 1373 AH . A second edition was published in Rabi' al-Awwal 1410 AH (1989 CE) by Maktabat al-Taw'iyah al-Islamiyyah and Maktabat Ibn al-Jawzi . A subsequent reset edition was published by Dar al-Gharb al-Islami in Beirut in 1422 AH .
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