al-Taswif fi Nashr al-Risala al-Jamiiya, wa al-Tadqiq al-Mubalagh fihi fi al-Buhuth wa al-Taalif, wa al-Tarayyuth fi Ikhrajiha ma wujud al-Haja ilayh
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- Editions
- al-Taswif fi Nashr al-Risala al-Jamiiya, wa al-Tadqiq al-Mubalagh fihi fi al-Buhuth wa al-Taalif, wa al-Tarayyuth fi Ikhrajiha ma wujud al-Haja ilayh
al-Taswif fi Nashr al-Risala al-Jamiiya, wa al-Tadqiq al-Mubalagh fihi fi al-Buhuth wa al-Taalif, wa al-Tarayyuth fi Ikhrajiha ma wujud al-Haja ilayh (Procrastination in Publishing Academic Theses, Exaggerated Scrutiny in Research and Composition, and Hesitation in Disseminating Them Despite the Need for Them) is a contemporary treatise by Ibrahim bin Abdullah al-Mudayhish addressing the phenomenon of researchers delaying or withholding academic theses and scholarly writings from publication due to excessive perfectionism and prolonged editorial hesitation.
Background and Publication History
The treatise was first published in electronic format across ten pages on 19 Shawwal 1438 AH (2017 CE). It was later revised and expanded based on reader correspondence, and a third augmented edition was completed in Riyadh on 1 Rabi' al-Awwal 1440 AH (2018 CE), which was circulated digitally via the author's scientific channel on Telegram and integrated into al-Maktaba al-Shamila.
Content and Arguments
The author frames the problem as balancing between two blameworthy extremes: rushing to print works prematurely out of commercial motives, vanity, or neglect of necessary revision, and severely delaying the dissemination of rigorous academic theses and books due to exaggerated scrutiny, often leaving the material unpublished until it falls into the hands of heirs and hired editors after the author's death.
Al-Mudayhish challenges common justifications for withholding academic work, such as the claim that a master's or doctoral thesis requires extensive restructuring, stylistic re-editing, or the excision of introductory biographies before it can appear as a conventional book. He argues that waiting indefinitely for an ideal opportunity often results in years or decades passing, during which other researchers produce works on the same subject or independent critical editions appear, thereby diminishing the original value of the unreleased study. He emphasizes that his advice applies specifically to competent researchers who authored their works independently, excluding ghostwritten works, commercial research firms, and substandard theses submitted merely for formal titles.
To overcome these delays, the author advises releasing the thesis as a digital PDF or uploading it to electronic research platforms like al-Maktaba al-Shamila if print publishing is delayed or impractical, deferring further revisions and supplementary material to subsequent editions.
Scholarly Citations and Precedents
To illustrate the hazards of "scholarly obsessive doubt" (al-waswas al-ilmi) and excessive perfectionism, the treatise cites numerous modern scholars and literary figures:
- Muhammad Kurd Ali on Tahir al-Jazairi, who emphasized that perfection has no definitive limit and that errors can be corrected over time rather than halting publication.
- Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda, who observed that the desire for perfection has extinguished many major scholarly endeavors.
- Muhammad Yusuf al-Binnuri's maxim that "exhaustive pursuit is a misfortune" (al-istiqsa shu'm), meaning that aiming for absolute exhaustiveness causes research to be lost and indefinitely delayed.
- An encounter recounted by Izz al-Din al-Tanukhi involving Tahir al-Jazairi urging Ahmad Zaki Pasha at the Salafiyya Bookstore in Cairo to print his manuscript edition rather than waiting for distant copies from Istanbul, reminding him that life is uncertain.
- Examples of scholarly fatigue leading to unfinished projects, citing Sayf Marzuq al-Shamlan, Ahmad Muhammad Shakir, and Abu Ishaq al-Huwaini.
The author also highlights positive contemporary examples of scholars who promptly published or electronically disseminated their dissertations and research, including Ali bin Ibrahim al-Qusayir's edition of Mukhtasar Ibn Tamim, digital editions of portions of Ilal Ibn Abi Hatim by Ali al-Sayyah and Turki al-Ghumayz, Yasir al-Askar's thesis on the hadiths of illness, Salih al-Ghulayqa's Ahkam al-Sujud, and al-Mudayhish's own treatise on the terminology of hadith scholars.
Reader Contributions and Proposed Reforms
In the third edition, the text incorporates feedback from academic readers:
- Dr. Hassan al-Ruday'an noted the difficulty of the issue, citing major works that remained confined to manuscripts, such as Yusuf al-Ghafays's 1422 AH doctoral thesis on theological overlap among deviant sects at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University.
- Proposals for universities to establish formal timelines and mandate electronic open-access archiving of dissertations to protect academic work from plagiarism.
- An appeal to charitable foundations and Islamic endowments (awqaf)—citing institutions like the Sulaiman al-Rajhi Foundation and Dar Kunuz Ishbilya's charitable fund—to sponsor the printing and publication of academic theses and promotion research.
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