al-Radd ala Man Yaqul Alif Lam Mim Harf li-Ibn Mandah
- Author died
- 470 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Asimah
al-Radd ʿalā Man Yaqūl Alif Lām Mīm Ḥarf (Refutation of Those Who Say Alif-Lām-Mīm is a Single Letter) is a theological hadith treatise composed by the Hanbali traditionist Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Mandah (383–470 AH / 993–1077 CE) . The work focuses on establishing the doctrine that the Quran is the uncreated speech of God in its recited letters as well as its meanings, specifically refuting theological views that deny distinct letters to divine speech .
Title and Attribution
The full title of the treatise is al-Radd ʿalā Man Yaqūl Alif Lām Mīm Ḥarf li-Yanfiya al-Alif wa-l-Lām wa-l-Mīm ʿan Kalām Allāh (Refutation of Whoever Says Alif-Lām-Mīm is a Letter in Order to Negate the Alif, the Lām, and the Mīm from the Speech of Allah) . Although early bibliographical sources occasionally note disagreement regarding whether it was written by Abu al-Qasim or his father Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Mandah, the text was transmitted by Abu al-Qasim's nephew Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Abd al-Wahhab ibn Mandah and subsequently by Abu Bakr Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Naqqur as Abu al-Qasim's composition .
Subject and Content
The core purpose of the work is to defend the traditionalist (Ahl al-Sunnah and Ashab al-Hadith) creed concerning the divine speech against speculative theologians (mutakallimūn), particularly the Ash'arites . The author argues that God spoke the Quran with literal Arabic letters and that the text recited by human tongues and inscribed in copies of the Quran (al-maṣāḥif) is the uncreated speech of God in its entirety .
The refutation revolves largely around the interpretation of the prophetic tradition transmitted from Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud: مَنْ قَرَأَ حَرْفًا مِنْ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ فَلَهُ بِهِ حَسَنَةٌ، وَالْحَسَنَةُ بِعَشْرِ أَمْثَالِهَا، لَا أَقُولُ الم حَرْفٌ، وَلَكِنْ أَلِفٌ حَرْفٌ، وَلَامٌ حَرْفٌ، وَمِيمٌ حَرْفٌ "Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah will have a good deed for it, and each good deed is rewarded tenfold; I do not say that Alif-Lām-Mīm is a letter, but Alif is a letter, Lām is a letter, and Mīm is a letter" .
Ibn Mandah demonstrates through isnads and linguistic argumentation that the Prophet negated treating Alif-Lām-Mīm as a single continuous unit or word so as to emphasize that every constituent letter earns an independent reward, contrary to the innovators who used that premise to claim that the multi-letter Arabic phrasing is merely a created expression (ʿibārah) of God's uncomposed speech .
Structure and Method
The treatise employs the traditional methodology of hadith compilation, grouping transmitted reports under specific theological chapter headings interspersed with critical commentary . Its chapters include:
- Bāb mā tuʿrafu bi-hi al-sunnah min al-bidʿah fī al-ḥurūf (Chapter on distinguishing Sunnah from innovation regarding letters)
- Bāb mā yuʿrafu bi-hi al-lisān wa-l-Qurʾān (Chapter on knowing the tongue and the Quran)
- Bāb maʿrifat mā yuktabu bi-hi al-ḥasanāt lil-insān (Chapter on knowing what deeds earn reward for man: the letter moved by the tongue)
- Bāb mā yuʿrafu bi-hi al-maqrūʾ wa-l-radd ʿalā man yumayyizu bayna al-ḥarf wa-l-sūrah wa-l-kitāb wa-l-Qurʾān (Chapter on defining what is recited and refuting whoever differentiates between the letter, the surah, the book, and the Quran)
- Bāb mā yuʿrafu bi-hi al-Qurʾān wa-l-radd ʿalā man yumayyizu bayna al-sūrah wa-l-maqrūʾ wa-bayna al-ḥarf wa-l-matluww fī al-taʿallum (Chapter on knowing the Quran and refuting whoever differentiates between the surah and the recited, and between the letter and the recited text in learning)
- Bāb mā yuʿrafu bi-hi al-kitāb wa-l-radd ʿalā man yanfī al-ḥarf min-hu (Chapter on defining the book and refuting whoever negates the letter from it)
Across these chapters, Ibn Mandah documents multiple chains of transmission for the Ibn Mas'ud hadith and parallel traditions from Companions such as Abd Allah ibn Umar and Auf ibn Malik, evaluating their elevated (marfūʿ) and stopped (mawqūf) transmission variants . The treatise closes with verses of poetry recited by Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Abi Bakr al-Tirazi condemning the doctrines of kalām and defending traditional affirmations of divine speech .
Transmission and Publication
A preserved manuscript transmission of the text was copied from the chain of Ibn Qudamah back through Abu Bakr ibn al-Naqqur to Yahya ibn Mandah and the author . The treatise was edited by Abd Allah ibn Yusuf al-Juday' and published by Dar al-Asimah in Riyadh in 1409 AH (1989 CE) .
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