al-Dalail fi Hukm Muwalat Ahl al-Ishrak
- Author died
- 1233 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat Dār al-Hidāyah
Al-Dalail fi Hukm Muwalat Ahl al-Ishrak (Proofs Regarding the Ruling on Allegiance to the People of Polytheism) is a theological treatise authored by the Najdi scholar Sulayman bin Abd Allah Al al-Shaykh (1200–1233 AH / 1785–1818 CE) addressing the doctrinal rulings on loyalty, alliance, and outward conformity with non-Muslims and opponents of the Salafi reform movement .
Background and Context
The treatise was composed during the closing years of the First Saudi State, as the Ottoman-Egyptian forces led by Ibrahim Pasha invaded Najd and advanced toward its capital, Dir'iyyah . Amid widespread alarm and military pressure, certain factions among the desert nomads and townspeople submitted to the advancing forces, aided their campaigns, or outwardly accommodated them . In response to these developments, Sulayman bin Abd Allah authored this work to articulate the legal and creedal consequences of assisting or allying with hostile forces .
Contents and Doctrine
The work is structured around twenty-one distinct textual proofs (dala'il), drawn primarily from the Quran alongside hadiths and classical reports . Sulayman bin Abd Allah argues that outward compliance (muwafaqah) with polytheists in their religion—whether motivated by fear, appeasement (mudarah), flattery (mudahanah), or material interest—constitutes an act of apostasy that places a person outside Islam, even if the individual inwardly detests their beliefs and loves Islam and the Muslims .
The author maintains that the only valid exception is direct physical compulsion (al-ikrah), where a person is seized and subjected to torture or facing unavoidable lethal force while the heart remains steadfast in faith . To define the strict boundaries of duress, he cites the position of Ahmad ibn Hanbal and the classical accounts regarding the companion Ammar ibn Yasir .
Title and Transmission
The title of the treatise varies across manuscripts and biographical references:
- In the manuscript cataloged under the letter mim, it appears descriptively as Ihda wa-'Ishrun Dalilan fi Anna man Sakana al-Mushrikin wa-Walahum fa-Huwa Mushrikun Mithluhum (Twenty-One Proofs That Whoever Resides Among Polytheists and Allies with Them Is a Polytheist Like Them) .
- Modern biographical sources, such as Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Qasim in al-Durar al-Saniyyah, record it as al-Dalail fi Hukm Muwalat Ahl al-Ishrak .
- Ibn Bassam in Ulama Najd and Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd al-Latif Al al-Shaykh in Mashahir Ulama Najd list it as al-Dalail fi 'Adam Muwalat Ahl al-Ishrak (or Ahl al-Shirk) .
- Other manuscript copies refer to the text under titles such as Raf' al-Ishkal and Sabab al-Hidayah .
The text was published without critical apparatus within the compendium al-Jami' al-Farid in 1387 AH (pp. 371–382) and was later edited and published with verification by al-Walid ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Faryan .
Scholarly Reception and Clarification
Later scholars within the Najdi tradition frequently referenced the work while addressing its scope and correct contextual application . Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Aziz al-'Anqari (d. 1373 AH) authored an epistle clarifying misunderstandings surrounding al-Dalail alongside Hamad ibn Atiq's Sabil al-Najat wa-al-Fikak, explaining that legitimate diplomatic interaction, reconciliation, or state negotiations conducted by a ruler in the public interest do not fall under the prohibited allegiance (muwalat) condemned in the text, which specifically pertains to validating disbelief, yielding obedience in religious matters, and aiding non-Muslims militarily against Muslims .
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