al-Intisarat al-Islamiyya fi Kashf Shubh al-Nasraniyya
- Author died
- 716 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-‘Ubaykān
al-Intisarat al-Islamiyya fi Kashf Shubh al-Nasraniyya (The Islamic Victories in Uncovering the Doubts of Christianity) is a two-volume polemical work by the Hanbali scholar Najm al-Din al-Tufi (d. 716 AH / 1316 CE) written to refute Christian theological criticisms of Islam and defend the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ .
Background and Purpose
Al-Tufi composed the book before 711 AH and prior to entering Cairo, in response to a polemical treatise composed by a Christian author who denied the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ entirely and attacked Islam . In another of his works, Ta'aliq 'ala al-Anajil, al-Tufi recorded that a Christian scholar had prefaced a book criticizing Islam and Muhammad's prophethood with the Gospel verse, "Beware of false prophets," and expressed his intention to refute it .
Al-Tufi did not name the opponent or provide the title of the Christian work in his text; however, a manuscript copy in the Sehit Ali Pasa collection at the Suleymaniye Library in Turkey records the refuted work's title as al-Sayf al-Murhaq fi al-Radd 'ala al-Mushaf . The opponent made frequent citations from the Quranic commentary of Ibn 'Atiyya al-Andalusi and the philosophical works of Musa ibn Maymun (Maimonides), which suggests he may have originated from the Islamic West or al-Andalus . Al-Tufi cross-references his related study, Ta'aliq 'ala al-Anajil al-Arba'a, in several passages of the book .
Structure and Method
Al-Tufi organized his rebuttal by first laying down three universal premises (muqaddimat kulliyya) upon which the core of his response rests:
- Ruling out the unqualified citation of earlier scriptures against Muslims due to the lack of textual reliability and deliberate alterations (tahrif) in them .
- Establishing that Muhammad ﷺ brought nothing that contradicts reason or is deemed rationally impossible, even if human reason cannot independently deduce every detail of revealed devotional obligations .
- Classifying religious teachings into fundamentals (usul) and branches (furu'), holding that fundamentals can only be established through definitive, conclusive proofs (qat'i) such as axioms, necessities, and recurrent transmissions (mutawatir), thereby excluding solitary reports (khabar al-wahid) from establishing doctrinal foundations .
Following these introductory principles, al-Tufi proceeds with a line-by-line engagement of the Christian author's text, starting with its opening citation of the Gospel of Matthew ("Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing") . He quotes excerpts of the opponent's writing and responds systematically while omitting extraneous digressions . Throughout the text, he tackles central Christian doctrines, including the Trinity, the hypostatic union, and the crucifixion and atonement, while establishing the proofs of Muhammad's prophethood .
Title Variants and Editions
The work appears under slight variants in manuscript copies and biographical entries:
- al-Intisarat al-Islamiyya fi Kashf Shubh al-Nasraniyya on a manuscript transcribed in 711 AH during the author's lifetime .
- al-Infisalat al-Islamiyya wa Kashf Shubh al-Nasraniyya on a manuscript copied in 749 AH .
- al-Intisarat al-Islamiyya wa Kashf Shubh al-Nasraniyya on the Sehit Ali manuscript .
- al-Intisarat al-Islamiyya fi Daf' Shubh al-Nasraniyya in bibliographical works such as Dhayl Tabaqat al-Hanabila, al-Uns al-Jalil, and Kashf al-Zunun .
The text was edited and published in two volumes by Salim ibn Muhammad al-Qarni through Maktabat al-Ubaykan in Riyadh (1419 AH), following an earlier printed version edited by Ahmad al-Saqqa .
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