al-Ilam bi-Qawati al-Islam
- Author died
- 974 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Taqwá
al-Iʿlām bi-Qawāṭiʿ al-Islām ("Notifying of the Severers of Islam") is a legal treatise on apostasy and nullifiers of faith by the Shafi'i jurist Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (909–974 AH / 1504–1567 CE; alternative birth years include 899 AH and 911 AH, and death in 973 AH) . The book systematically examines the doctrinal, verbal, and practical violations that constitute apostasy (riddah) under Islamic jurisprudence .
Scope and Legal Method
The treatise focuses on identifying words, beliefs, and deeds that sever a person's affiliation with Islam (qawāṭiʿ al-Islām) . Ibn Hajar details the legal standards for discerning apostasy, establishing the necessity of interpreting explicit texts upon their apparent meaning, and quoting earlier authorities such as Kitāb al-Anwār regarding the consensus on the disbelief of anyone who repels definitive scriptural texts .
The work evaluates complex and controversial cases of speech (alfāẓ al-kufr), analyzing both contemporary incidents and classical legal hypotheticals . In treating these cases, Ibn Hajar compares Shafi'i legal principles with the stricter formulations found in Hanafi and Maliki jurisprudence, examining whether specific utterances convey mock legislative innovation, derision of the Prophet, or contentment with disbelief .
Commentary and Publication History
The work received scholarly engagement from later jurists, including a formal commentary titled al-Ilmām bi-Masāʾil al-Iʿlām bi-Qawāṭiʿ al-Islām authored by the Shafi'i scholar Ahmad ibn Abd al-Razzaq al-Rashidi (d. 1096 AH / 1685 CE), preserved in manuscript form in the Azhar Library .
The text was printed in Egypt by al-Maṭbaʿah al-Wahbiyyah in 1292 AH (1875 CE) . It was also published in the margins and appendices of editions of Ibn Hajar's ethical-legal compendium al-Zawajir an Iqtiraf al-Kabair ("Deterrents from Committing Major Sins"), including an edition by al-Maṭbaʿah al-Azhariyyah al-Miṣriyyah in 1325 AH (1907 CE) and another by Maktabat Muṣṭafā al-Bābī al-Ḥalabī in Cairo in 1398 AH (1978 CE) . It was subsequently edited by Muhammad al-Khumayyis within the anthology al-Jāmiʿ fī Alfāẓ al-Kufr, published by Dār Īlāf in Kuwait in 1420 AH (1999 CE) .
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