al-Risala al-Akmaliya fi ma yajibu lillah min Sifat al-Kamal
- Author died
- 728 AH
- Editions
- Maṭba‘at al-Madanī, al-Mu’assasah al-Sa‘ūdiyyah
al-Risala al-Akmaliya fi ma yajibu lillah min Sifat al-Kamal (The Most Perfect Epistle on the Attributes of Perfection Due to God), also known as al-Akmaliya, is a theological treatise by Ibn Taymiyya (661–728 AH / 1263–1328 CE) addressing the rational and scriptural foundations for affirming God's attributes of perfection and negating all deficiencies .
Background and Context
The work was composed in response to a question posed to Ibn Taymiyya regarding a universal premise acknowledged across various religious traditions and theological schools: that whatever is an attribute of perfection must be affirmed of God, and whatever is an attribute of imperfection must be negated of Him . The questioner noted that despite broad consensus on this general premise, different sects sharply diverged on its application (tahqiq al-manat), disputing whether specific attributes—such as divine hearing, sight, speech, hands, face, anger, pleasure, laughter, and descent—represent perfection or deficiency . In one manuscript transmission, the work is titled Mas'ala tata'allaqu bi-l-kamal fi haqq Dhi al-Ikram wa-l-Jalal, and is also recorded as al-Akmaliya al-Jawziyya because the questioner was the imam of the Jawziyya madrasa . An audition certificate (sama') preserved by Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Wani records that Ibn Taymiyya dictated or taught the treatise at Dar al-Hadith al-Sukkariyya in Damascus in 716 AH, in the presence of prominent disciples and scholars including al-Mizzi, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Ibn Rushayyiq, and Taj al-Din al-Fariqi .
Themes and Arguments
Ibn Taymiyya structures his response around the principle that the highest possible perfection (aqsa ma yumkin min al-akmaliyya) is necessarily established for God by virtue of His divine self, such that no purely positive perfection exists except that God possesses it inherently . The treatise articulates several key doctrinal and philosophical arguments:
- Correlation of Scripture and Reason: Ibn Taymiyya maintains that divine perfection is established through both revelation (sam') and sound rational demonstration ('aql) . He emphasizes that Quranic proof consists of both truthful divine reports and rational proofs conveyed through parables and analogical reasoning (qiyas al-awla), uniting scriptural guidance and intellect .
- The Bestowal of Perfection: Drawing upon rational proofs regarding the Necessary Existent (wajib al-wujud), he argues that any existential perfection found in created beings originated from the Creator, and the Bestower of perfection is inherently more entitled to that perfection than the recipient .
- Mutual Necessity of Affirmation and Negation: Affirming an attribute of perfection inherently necessitates negating its opposite; thus, establishing God's life negates death, establishing knowledge negates ignorance, and establishing power negates incapacity .
- Critique of Later Theologians and Philosophers: Ibn Taymiyya critiques later dialectical theologians (mutakallimun), such as al-Juwayni, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, and Sayf al-Din al-Amidi, who claimed that the negation of defects and the affirmation of certain attributes could only be known through consensus or bare transmitted reports, pointing out that earlier affirming theologians, including Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, al-Baqillani, and Abu Ishaq al-Isfara'ini, affirmed these attributes through rational demonstration alongside revelation .
Transmission and Publication
The treatise has been referenced under variants such as Tafsil al-Ijmāl fī mā yajibu lillāh min Sifāt al-Kamāl and al-Ijmāl fī mā yajibu lillāh min Sifāt al-Kamāl . His biographer Ibn 'Abd al-Hadi noted the work under the title al-Akmaliya .
The work has been published in multiple collections and standalone editions:
- Included in Majmu'at al-Rasa'il wa-l-Masa'il, edited by Rashid Rida (vol. 5) .
- Published in Majmu' al-Fatawa, compiled by Abd al-Rahman ibn Qasim (vol. 6, pp. 68–144) .
- Published as an independent monograph edited by Ahmad Hamdi Imam, printed by Matba'at al-Madani in Cairo / Dar al-Madani in Jeddah (1403 AH / 1983 CE) .
Answer updated