al-Ikhnaiyya aw al-Radd ala al-Ikhnai
- Author died
- 728 AH
- Editions
- ta al-Anzi · t Zuhwi
al-Ikhnaiyya, also known as al-Radd ala al-Ikhnai ("The Refutation of al-Ikhnai"), is a polemical and legal treatise by the Hanbali scholar Ibn Taymiyya (661–728 AH / 1263–1328 CE) addressing the legal rulings on visiting the Prophet's grave and undertaking journeys to tombs.
Background and Composition
The work was composed in response to a treatise titled al-Maqala al-mardiyya fi al-radd ala man yunkir al-ziyara al-Muhammadiyya ("The Pleasing Treatise in Refuting Whoever Denies the Muhammadan Visitation") by Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al-Ikhnai (d. 750 AH), the Maliki chief judge of Egypt. In 726 AH, al-Ikhnai took issue with a fatwa Ibn Taymiyya had issued over a decade earlier concerning the impermissibility of setting out on journeys solely to visit graves (shadd al-rihal). Al-Ikhnai accused Ibn Taymiyya of diminishing the status of the Prophet and brought the matter before Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun. Following written condemnations by the four chief judges in Cairo, a royal order was issued imprisoning Ibn Taymiyya in the Citadel of Damascus from Sha'ban 726 AH until his death in Dhu al-Qi'da 728 AH.
Ibn Taymiyya authored al-Ikhnaiyya while confined in the Citadel of Damascus to refute al-Ikhnai's claims. In a note written in charcoal during his final imprisonment, Ibn Taymiyya recorded that his opponents had sought to prevent any writings from his circle from circulating and were deeply unsettled when al-Ikhnaiyya emerged and spread.
Content and Arguments
The central focus of the book is the clarification of the legal status of grave visitation, drawing a strict distinction between legislated visitation (al-ziyara al-shar'iyya) and innovated visitation (al-ziyara al-bid'iyya). Ibn Taymiyya responds to the accusation that he prohibited visiting the Prophet's grave altogether, maintaining that visiting the Prophet's grave in a legislated manner—such as offering salutations upon him when present at the mosque—is recommended by consensus.
His objection was directed specifically at undertaking travel (shadd al-rihal) where the destination and sole intent of the journey is the grave itself rather than the Prophet's Mosque. To support this position, Ibn Taymiyya cites the prophetic hadith: لا تشد الرحال إلا إلى ثلاثة مساجد ("Journeys are not to be undertaken except to three mosques"), as well as narrations from early authorities, including Imam Malik ibn Anas, who disapproved of designating a travel vow specifically for the grave. He systematically analyzes the hadiths marshaled by al-Ikhnai, evaluating their chains of transmission and demonstrating their weakness or fabrication.
Publication History
al-Ikhnaiyya has been published in multiple modern editions, including an early printing corrected by Abd al-Rahman al-Mu'allimi al-Yamani, and an edition edited by Ahmad ibn Mu'nis al-Inazi published by Dar al-Kharraz in Jeddah (1420 AH / 2000 CE).
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