al-Insaf wal-Itidal inda al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi
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- Nādī al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah al-Adabī
al-Insaf wal-Itidal inda al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi (Fairness and Moderation According to al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi) is a thematic study by Hani Faqih that compiles and analyzes the principles and commentary of the historian and hadith critic al-Dhahabi (673–748 AH / 1274–1348 CE) concerning justice, intellectual balance, and moderation.
Scope and Purpose
The author composed the work as a contribution toward deconstructing extremist religious thought by presenting the moderate stances of leading classical Muslim scholars. Al-Dhahabi was chosen because he articulated significant principles of fairness and enjoyed broad recognition among jurists and hadith scholars for his critical acumen and piety. Because al-Dhahabi did not author an independent book or chapter on moderation, his critical observations, corrections, and evaluations remained scattered across his various historical and biographical works. Faqih sought to collect these dispersed remarks, arrange them by topic, and document them.
The author initially considered naming the book al-Wasatiyyah fi Fikr al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi (Moderation in the Thought of al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi), but adopted al-Insaf wal-Itidal after noting that al-Dhahabi himself used the phrase when commenting on partisan extremism regarding Ali ibn Abi Talib.
Method and Sources
Faqih surveyed al-Dhahabi's major works to extract statements related specifically to fairness and moderation. The principal sources examined include Tarikh al-Islam, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala, Mizan al-Itidal fi Naqd al-Rijal, Mu'jam al-Shuyukh al-Kabir, Al-Mu'jam al-Mukhtass bil-Muhaddithin, Al-Ibar fi Khabar man Ghabar, Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, and Bayan Zaghal al-Ilm.
In his methodology, the author classified the collected texts under topical headings and generally avoided extensive explanatory commentary or secondary citations, aiming to present al-Dhahabi's own words with concise documentation. Where al-Dhahabi repeated an idea in multiple places, the author cited select examples to prevent excessive length.
Structure and Contents
The work opens with introductory sections addressing the context of the study, the reasons for choosing al-Dhahabi, a biographical sketch of the scholar, and a discussion of methodology and previous writings. The core of the book is arranged into twenty thematic chapters:
- Fairness in his biographical entries.
- Warning against the shedding of blood.
- Severe censure of the Kharijites alongside fair assessment of them.
- Warning against haste in declaring takfir without definitive proof.
- Warning against takfir over disagreements in secondary doctrinal matters.
- Warning against labeling others as innovators or misguided on account of a slip or error.
- Defending leading scholars and seeking excuses for them.
- The obligation of preserving brotherhood despite disagreement.
- The principle that criticism between contemporaries is to be folded away and not transmitted.
- Calling for avoiding deep immersion in historical disputes and stirring enmities over them.
- Distinguishing between levels of innovation and separating extremists from non-extremists.
- Establishing that the primary criterion in hadith narrators is honesty and accuracy, even if they hold an innovation.
- Critique of excessive delving into intricate theological subtleties.
- Prohibition of adopting anomalous and eccentric rulings.
- A middle stance regarding independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) and legal conformity (taqlid).
- Critique of the ethical ailments and shortcomings of students of knowledge.
- Avoiding the public discussion of scholarly issues that could harm ordinary people.
- Warning against excess in devotional acts of worship.
- Reverence for the Prophet ﷺ between exaggeration and neglect.
- A middle position on the theological question of the Divine Names and Attributes.
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