al-Rasail al-Shakhsiyya (matbu within Muallafat al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, al-juz al-sadis)
- Author died
- 1206 AH
- Editions
- Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University
al-Rasail al-Shakhsiyya (The Personal Letters) is a collection of epistolary writings and correspondences by the Najdi scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1115–1206 AH / 1703–1792 CE), published as the sixth volume within his collected works (Muallafat al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab). The volume gathers his communications addressed to rulers, scholars, tribal leaders, and local communities to elucidate his theological doctrine, respond to queries, and refute accusations leveled against his reform movement.
Scope and Structure
The letters were composed in a direct, unadorned prose style, adhering predominantly to Classical Arabic while occasionally incorporating colloquial Najdi expressions to ensure accessibility among general audiences. The printed compilation contains over fifty letters arranged topically into five distinct sections:
- Clarification of Creed and Defense: Expounds the author's theological positions and answers allegations made by his detractors.
- Categories of Monotheism: Discusses the divisions of tawhid (divine unity).
- The Meaning of the Testimony of Faith: Clarifies the phrase la ilaha illa Allah and the idolatrous acts (shirk) in worship that contradict it.
- Excommunication and Warfare: Treats the boundaries of declaring an individual outside Islam (takfir), the circumstances justifying armed conflict, and the distinction between establishing religious proof (qiyam al-hujja) and comprehending it (fahm al-hujja).
- General Exhortations: Offers counsel to the Muslim public concerning faith, righteous conduct, and enjoining good and forbidding wrong.
Sources and Editorial History
The collection was edited by Salih al-Fawzan and Muhammad al-Ulayqi under the auspices of Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University as part of a comprehensive initiative to publish critical editions of the author's legacy. The primary source for the edition was the chronicle of the author's contemporary and disciple, Husayn ibn Ghannam al-Ahsa'i (Rawdat al-Afkar wa-al-Afham).
The editors collated Ibn Ghannam's text with several additional manuscript witnesses and printed anthologies:
- A manuscript transcribed by the father of Abd al-Aziz ibn Salih al-Murshid.
- A manuscript copy preserved in the Saudi Library in Riyadh (MS 592/86), originally belonging to Muhammad ibn Abd al-Latif Al al-Shaykh.
- Letters preserved in al-Durar al-Saniyya fi al-Ajwiba al-Najdiyya, compiled by Abd al-Rahman ibn Qasim.
- Supplementary letters sourced from Majmu'at al-Rasail wa-al-Masail al-Najdiyya (al-Manar edition) that were absent in Ibn Ghannam's chronicle.
In their apparatus, the editors documented the sources for each individual letter, maintained dual numbering schemes (an overall continuous sequence and a sectional sequence), and indexed Quranic citations.
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