al-Intisar lil-Salaf al-Akhyar
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- al-Ruwād lil-I‘lām wal-Nashr
Al-Intisar lil-Salaf al-Akhyar (The Defense of the Noble Forebears) is a critical theological treatise authored by Muhammad Muhibb al-Din Abu Zayd, written as a refutation of Dr. Mahmud 'Abd al-Raziq al-Ridwani's work on the Divine Names, Asma' Allah al-Husna al-Thabitah fi al-Kitab wa-al-Sunnah (The Most Beautiful Names of Allah Established in the Book and the Sunnah) .
Background and Purpose
Abu Zayd completed the text in Cairo on Sunday, 8 Rajab 1428 AH / 22 June 2007 CE . In his introduction, he notes that he initially regarded al-Ridwani’s book as one of the best works compiled on the topic and recommended it to students of knowledge . However, observing what he deemed significant methodological flaws and misconceptions, he authored this critique to defend the creed and legacy of early Muslim scholars (al-Salaf al-Salih) and rectify these errors without intending to demean the author personally .
Core Critiques
The treatise focuses on several central points of contention regarding al-Ridwani’s methodology and conclusions in deriving and enumerating the Names of God :
- The Role of Technology and the Early Generations: Abu Zayd refutes al-Ridwani’s claim that past scholars—such as Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani—were unable to exhaustively enumerate the Divine Names because computer technology was unavailable in their era . Abu Zayd argues that Islamic legal and theological responsibilities do not depend on modern scientific inventions, and that the prophetic encouragement to enumerate the ninety-nine names applies across all generations .
- Stipulation of Textual Comprehensiveness: He disputes al-Ridwani’s condition that deriving the Names requires examining every single text of the Quran and the Sunnah, demonstrating that such total human exhaustiveness is unattainable and lacks precedent as a prerequisite .
- Hadith Methodology: He criticizes al-Ridwani for rejecting fair (hasan) hadiths and mawquf narrations that carry the ruling of being elevated (marfu') in the chapter of affirming Divine Names .
- Enumeration and the Name Allah: He rejects the assertion that the Divine Names established in revelation are strictly confined to ninety-nine, al-Ridwani's exclusion of the name Allah (الله) from the ninety-nine names, and his claim of absolute certainty that his specific list constitutes the precise names mentioned in the prophetic hadith إن لله تسعة وتسعين اسما ("Indeed, Allah has ninety-nine names") .
Publication
The book was published in its first edition in 1428 AH / 2007 CE jointly by al-Ruwwad lil-I'lam wa-al-Nashr and al-Maktaba al-Islamiyya lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi' in Cairo .
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