al-Intisar lil-Sahaba al-Akhyar fi Radd Abatil Hasan al-Maliki
- Author died
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- Editions
- Dar Ibn al-Qayyim
al-Intisar lil-Sahaba al-Akhyar fi Radd Abatil Hasan al-Maliki (The Defense of the Chosen Companions in Refuting the Falsehoods of Hasan al-Maliki) is a theological treatise written by the Saudi scholar Abd al-Muhsin al-Abbad to defend the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and refute the doctrinal claims of Hasan ibn Farhan al-Maliki regarding their status, definition, and uprightness.
Background and Composition
The book was composed as a direct refutation of Hasan al-Maliki's treatise on the Companions, entitled al-Sahaba bayna al-Suhba al-Lughawiyya wal-Suhba al-Shar'iyya (The Companions Between Lexical and Legal Companionship), in which al-Maliki criticized traditional Sunni perspectives on the Prophet's companions. In his introduction, al-Abbad stated that he dedicated the work to addressing al-Maliki's statements concerning the Companions, while also responding to two specific passages from another treatise by al-Maliki, Qira'a fi Kutub al-Aqa'id (A Reading into the Books of Creed). Al-Abbad subsequently fulfilled a promise made in this work to write a dedicated, separate refutation against the rest of al-Maliki's Qira'a, which he titled al-Intisar li-Ahl al-Sunna wal-Hadith fi Radd Abatil Hasan al-Maliki.
Contents and Core Arguments
The treatise focuses on several core arguments raised by al-Maliki concerning early Islamic history and the Companions:
- Definition and Scope of Companionship: Al-Abbad addresses al-Maliki's restriction of legitimate legal companionship (al-suhba al-shar'iyya) solely to the Emigrants (al-Muhajirun) and Helpers (al-Ansar) who embraced Islam prior to the Treaty of al-Hudaybiya (Sulh al-Hudaybiya). Al-Abbad highlights that this definition excluded prominent figures who converted or emigrated after al-Hudaybiya—such as the Prophet's uncle al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, his cousin Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abu Hurayra, Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, Khalid ibn al-Walid, and al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba—and characterized their status as being like the companionship of hypocrites and disbelievers, labeling this restriction an unprecedented fifteenth-century AH innovation.
- The Probity of the Companions: The book defends the collective uprightness and probity of the Companions (adilat al-sahaba), rejecting al-Maliki's denial of their moral integrity.
- Interpretation of the Basin Narrations: Al-Abbad refutes al-Maliki's reliance on the hadiths of the Prophet's Basin (ahadith al-hawd), in which al-Maliki asserted that the vast majority of the Companions would be driven toward the Fire and that only a few would be saved.
- The Caliphate of Abu Bakr: The work includes a section presenting hadiths, historical reports, and scholars' consensus substantiating the legitimacy and priority of Abu Bakr's succession as the first caliph after the Prophet ﷺ.
- Scholarly Traditions on Reverence: Al-Abbad concludes the discussion by citing statements and transmitted reports from early Sunni scholars, including Malik ibn Anas, on venerating the Companions and warning against harboring resentment or speaking ill of them.
Publication
The work was printed and distributed in multiple editions, including a second edition published by Dar Ibn Affan in 1423 AH (2002 CE).
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