al-Tis'iniyya
- Author died
- 728 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Ma‘ārif lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘
al-Tis'iniyya (The Ninety-Point Treatise) is a theological work by Ibn Taymiyya (661–728 AH / 1263–1328 CE) dedicated to refuting the Ash'ari doctrine of divine speech as an internal meaning subsisting in the divine essence (kalam nafsi) across approximately ninety systematic arguments .
Composition and Context
Ibn Taymiyya composed the treatise in Egypt in 706 AH (1306 CE) during his first trial (mihna) there . It was written in response to debates held with Ash'ari scholars over theological questions concerning divine transcendence (al-'uluww) and the nature of God's speech . In the introduction, the author stated that he recorded his arguments regarding the proceedings of that trial to clarify deviations from the way of the early community and defend traditional Sunni tenets . The book is also cited in historical sources under the alternative title al-Ajwiba al-Misriyya (The Egyptian Responses) .
Title and Scope of Arguments
The title al-Tis'iniyya refers to the ninety distinct points (wujuh) or proofs formulated by the author to dismantle the notion that God's speech is a single, eternal internal meaning devoid of letters or sound . His student Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya highlighted these ninety proofs in his poem al-Kafiya al-shafiya (the Nuniyya), noting their comprehensive refutation of internal speech .
Other biographers and scholars—including Ibn 'Abd al-Hadi, Ibn Shakir al-Kutubi, al-Safadi, and Ibn Rajab—described the work as containing around eighty or eighty-odd arguments, a discrepancy likely stemming from whether sub-branches of certain arguments were counted individually . Within these arguments, Ibn Taymiyya directed approximately seventy-six points specifically against the formulations of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, while also addressing arguments by earlier figures such as al-Baqillani .
In addition to the central debate over divine speech, the treatise examines related theological disputes, such as spatial direction (jiha), spatial containment (tahayyuz), and the theological stance regarding whether common people should be exposed to texts concerning the divine attributes .
Transmission and Editions
al-Tis'iniyya was historically printed as the fifth volume within the collection al-Fatawa al-Kubra (also known as al-Fatawa al-Misriyya), edited by Muhammad Hasanayn Makhluf . It was subsequently edited independently as a doctoral dissertation by Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Ajlan at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in 1408 AH, and later published as a standalone critical edition by Maktabat al-Ma'arif in Riyadh in 1420 AH (1999 CE) .
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