al-Qawl al-Musaddad fi Sharh Risalat al-Imam Ahmad
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al-Qawl al-Musaddad fi Sharh Risalat al-Imam Ahmad (The Well-Directed Discourse in Explaining the Epistle of Imam Ahmad) is a contemporary theological commentary by Muhammad ibn Khalifa al-Tamimi on the creedal epistle addressed by Ahmad ibn Hanbal (164–241 AH / 780–855 CE) to the hadith scholar Musaddad ibn Musarhad (d. 228 AH / 843 CE) .
Background and Context
The book forms part of a multi-volume curriculum of theological commentaries titled Silsilat Fiqh al-I'tiqad ("The Jurisprudence of Creed Series") . It was composed as the third installment in this series, following al-Tamimi's commentaries on Sharh al-Sunnah by al-Barbahari (titled Ithaf al-Qari) and Usul al-Sunnah by Ahmad ibn Hanbal (titled Tamam al-Minnah) .
Method and Structure
Al-Tamimi structured the work around an expansive method of exposition (al-bast wa-al-tawassu') rather than brief marginal glosses (al-ta'liq al-mukhtasar), noting that beginners studying creed require thorough clarification of doctrinal issues, their details, and their subsidiary branches .
Before the commentary itself, al-Tamimi provided an extensive introductory study titled al-Ra'y al-Musaddad fi Sihhat Nisbat Risalat al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal ila al-Imam Musaddad ibn Musarhad ("The Sound Opinion on the Authenticity of the Attribution of Imam Ahmad's Epistle to Imam Musaddad ibn Musarhad") . In this introduction, he documented:
- The historical transmitters who recorded the text of Ahmad's letter, including Ibn Battah in al-Ibanah al-Kubra, Ibn Abi Ya'la in Tabaqat al-Hanabilah, Nasr ibn Ibrahim al-Maqdisi in Mukhtasar al-Hujjah 'ala Tarik al-Mahajjah, Ibn al-Jawzi in Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad, Ibn Muflih in al-Maqsad al-Arshad, al-'Ulaymi in al-Manhaj al-Ahmad, Nu'man Khayr al-Din al-Alusi in Jala' al-'Aynayn, and Ibn Badran in al-Madkhal ila Madhhab al-Imam Ahmad .
- Scholars who cited passages from the letter or relied on it, such as al-Qadi Abu Ya'la in Ibtal al-Ta'wilat, Ibn al-Qayyim in I'lam al-Muwaqqi'in, and Ibn Taymiyyah in Minhaj al-Sunnah and Majmu' al-Fatawa .
- Manuscript records of the treatise listed in bibliographic sources under the Taymuriyyah library in Cairo and the Bohar collection in India, along with his investigation of their availability .
- A critical defense against challenges to the letter's chain of transmission (isnad) and text (matn), addressing early criticisms raised by Abu al-Qasim 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Mandah as well as contemporary researchers who adopted his stance .
The main body of the work presents the full text of Ahmad ibn Hanbal's letter, providing line-by-line theological analysis of its tenets concerning orthodoxy, the definition and increase of faith, divine attributes, predestination, the status of the Prophet's companions, and positions regarding sectarian factions .
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