al-Sawaiq al-Mursala al-Shihabiyya ala al-Shubah al-Dahida al-Shamiyya
- Author died
- 1349 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-‘Āṣimah
al-Sawaiq al-Mursala al-Shihabiyya ala al-Shubah al-Dahida al-Shamiyya ("The Shooting Meteoric Thunderbolts upon the Refuted Damascene Doubts") is a theological refutation by the Najdi Salafi scholar Sulayman bin Sahman (d. 1349 AH / 1930 CE), written to defend the Wahhabi reformist creed against the treatises of opposing scholars .
Purpose and Composition
The work was composed as a direct polemical rebuttal to a treatise authored by the Damascene Hanafi jurist Muhammad Ata Allah al-Kasm . In the opening sections of his response, Ibn Sahman notes that he originally titled his rebuttal al-Sawaiq al-Mursala al-Wahhabiyya ala al-Shubahat al-Dahida al-Shamiyya, though it became widely known under the title al-Sawaiq al-Mursala al-Shihabiyya upon publication .
Content and Method
The treatise addresses controversies surrounding Islamic monotheism (tawhid), intercession (tawassul), and supplication (istighathah) . Ibn Sahman critiques al-Kasm's defense of invoking prophets and righteous figures, arguing that the arguments relied on fabricated or weak hadiths and terms adapted from philosophy rather than established early Islamic sources . He also disputes al-Kasm's designation of those who practice supplication at graves as Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jama'ah, citing previous Najdi responses against similar arguments by Dawud ibn Jirjis . The book concludes with an exposition on the theological distinction between tawhid al-rububiyya (divine lordship) and tawhid al-uluhiyya (divine worship), alongside scholarly statements elucidating the testimony of faith (la ilaha illa Allah) .
Publication and Editions
The text was first issued as a lithograph edition in Bombay (Mumbai), India, in 1335 AH during the author's lifetime . It was later reprinted in Riyadh in 1376 AH by order of King Saud bin Abdulaziz as part of a collective volume of treatises . A critical edition prepared by Abd al-Salam ibn Barjis Al Abd al-Karim, based on both the Bombay lithograph and the Riyadh printing, was published by Dar al-Asima in Riyadh in 1409 AH .
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