Awwal Wajib ala al-Mukallaf Ibadat Allah Taala Wuduh Dhalik min Kitab Allah wa Dawat al-Rusul

Awwal Wajib ala al-Mukallaf Ibadat Allah Taala: Wuduh Dhalik min Kitab Allah wa Dawat al-Rusul ("The First Obligation upon the Accountable Person is the Worship of God Almighty: The Clarity of This from the Book of God and the Calls of the Messengers") is a theological treatise by the contemporary Saudi scholar Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Ghunayman Awwal Wajib ala al-Mukall…+1. The work examines the creedal issue of the primary religious duty incumbent upon a legally accountable individual (al-mukallaf), arguing from the Quran, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the early generations (al-salaf) that it is the direct worship of God and the affirmation of monotheism (tawhid), in refutation of scholastic theological positions Awwal Wajib ala al-Mukall…+1.

Composition and Publication

Al-Ghunayman authored the treatise while serving as the head of the Department of Graduate Studies at the Islamic University of Madinah Awwal Wajib ala al-Mukall…+1. It was initially published as an academic study in successive installments in the university's journal (Majallat al-Jami'ah al-Islamiyyah), appearing in issue 62 and issues 63–64 Awwal Wajib ala al-Mukall…+1. It subsequently saw standalone printings, including a first edition published in 1410 AH (1989/1990 CE) by Maktabat Laynah in Damanhur, Egypt al-Tawhid wa Atharuhu fi …+1.

Subject and Content

The treatise addresses the classical dispute over the initial obligation imposed by Islamic law on human beings Awwal Wajib ala al-Mukall…+1. Al-Ghunayman critiques the stances of dialectical theologians (ahl al-kalam), who variously maintained that the first duty is speculative rational inquiry (al-nazar), the intention to engage in rational inquiry (al-qasd ila al-nazar), or methodological doubt (al-shakk) aimed at discovering the existence of the Creator Awwal Wajib ala al-Mukall…+1. He identifies figures such as Abu al-Ma'ali al-Juwayni, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, and Adud al-Din al-Iji as proponents of these scholastic frameworks and argues that their premise contradicts the explicit texts of divine revelation Awwal Wajib ala al-Mukall…+1.

Drawing on the theological discourse of Ibn Taymiyyah, al-Ghunayman contends that philosophical and kalam methodologies derive knowledge from physical and sensory premises to infer the temporal origination of the world (huduth al-alam) via accidental properties (a'rad), a path he characterizes as fraught with intellectual pitfalls that ultimately led many mutakallimun to negate divine attributes Awwal Wajib ala al-Mukall…+1. In contrast, he asserts that human beings are created with an innate disposition directed toward worship, and that requiring someone who already believes before puberty to begin with doubt or speculative reasoning upon reaching adulthood entails an impossible and prohibited demand to lapse into ignorance or disbelief before achieving faith Awwal Wajib ala al-Mukall…+1.

Method and Evidence

Al-Ghunayman organizes his evidentiary framework around three central foundations:

• Quranic Evidence: He demonstrates that the calls of all prophets began directly with the summons to worship God alone and shun false deities (al-taghut), citing passages such as وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَسُولًا أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُوا الطَّاغُوتَ ("And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], 'Worship God and avoid false deities'") and وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالإِنْسَ إِلاَّ لِيَعْبُدُونِ ("And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me") Awwal Wajib ala al-Mukall…+1.
• Prophetic Traditions: He highlights the hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal, where the Prophet instructed him upon sending him to Yemen: فليكن أول ما تدعوهم إليه شهادة أن لا إله إلا الله، وأن محمدًا رسول الله ("Let the first thing to which you call them be the testimony that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God"), along with traditions commanding that people be engaged until they profess the two testimonies of faith Awwal Wajib ala al-Mukall…+1.
• Scholarly Consensus: He cites the consensus recorded by scholars such as Ibn al-Mundhir and the Salaf that an unbeliever enters Islam immediately upon uttering the two testimonies without being required to demonstrate previous philosophical inquiry, and that a youth who professes faith prior to puberty is never commanded to renew faith through dialectical deduction upon reaching maturity Awwal Wajib ala al-Mukall…+1.