Al-Radd ala Shubuhat al-Mustaineen bighayr Allah
- Author died
- 1327 AH
- Editions
- Maṭba‘at Dār Ṭaybah
Al-Radd ‘ala Shubuhat al-Musta‘inin bi-Ghayr Allah (The Refutation of the Doubts of Those Who Seek Aid from Other than Allah) is a theological treatise by the Najdi Hanbali scholar Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Isa (1253–1329 AH / 1837–1911 CE) . The work is a targeted polemical response refuting arguments advanced in favor of seeking aid and invoking the dead and absent .
Background and Context
The treatise was authored in response to the writings of the Iraqi scholar Dawud ibn Sulayman ibn Jirjis (1231–1299 AH), who had composed works defending petitionary prayer and seeking help (al-istighathah and al-isti‘anah) directed toward deceased righteous persons and prophets . Ibn Isa joined a group of contemporary scholars—including Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Rahman Aba Butayn, Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan Al al-Shaykh, Abd al-Latif ibn Abd al-Rahman, and Nu'man al-Alusi—who wrote dedicated refutations against Ibn Jirjis's positions . The text is also cited under the closely related title Al-Radd ‘ala Shubuhat al-Mustaghithin bi-Ghayr Allah .
Content and Arguments
In the treatise, Ibn Isa systematically addresses and dismantles the specific scriptural interpretations and arguments put forward by Ibn Jirjis . The primary theological focus centers on distinguishing between permissible forms of asking aid—such as asking a living, present person for assistance in matters within their created capacity—and impermissible invocation directed toward the dead, absent beings, or intermediaries in matters where only Allah has power, which the author categorizes as illicit associationism (shirk) .
Reception and Publication
The author's cousin, the chronicler and scholar Ibrahim ibn Salih ibn Isa, praised the treatise in verse for its defense of monotheistic doctrine and its reliance on scriptural evidence . The treatise was later published in Cairo by Dar Misr lil-Tiba'ah .
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