Ghayat al-Murid Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid
- Author died
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- Editions
- Markaz al-Nukhab al-Ilmiyyah - Matba'at Ma'alim al-Huda lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
Ghayat al-Murid Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid (The Aspiration of the Aspirant: Commentary on the Book of Monotheism) is a contemporary theological commentary written by Abd al-Rahman bin Abd al-Aziz al-Aql on Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's treatise on monotheism and the eradication of polytheistic practices, Kitab al-Tawhid.
Composition and Purpose
The author developed the commentary after repeatedly teaching Kitab al-Tawhid, publishing its first edition in 1429 AH. Over subsequent years, he revised and expanded the text through a comprehensive examination of all published commentaries on Kitab al-Tawhid to create a concise synthesis of previous scholarship and clarify the core theological objectives of the base text for students.
Structure and Methodology
The work adheres to the structural arrangement of Kitab al-Tawhid, which comprises sixty-six thematic chapters covering issues of worship (tawhid al-uluhiyya), major and minor polytheism (shirk), and related matters such as amulets, incantations, sorcery, and soothsaying.
The author's analytical approach is characterized by several core methodological elements:
- Stating the central objectives (maqasid) of each individual chapter.
- Clarifying how each chapter title aligns with the overall title and theme of the book, as well as detailing the thematic transitions and connections linking consecutive chapters.
- Offering critical evaluations of disputed doctrinal and legal questions.
- Providing hadith authentication, grading, and attribution by tracing narrations through their pivot narrators (al-madar).
- Commenting on the author's chapter arrangement, observing instances where topically related chapters were kept adjacent and examining cases where related themes—such as the Prophet's safeguards over monotheism—were placed further apart in the original text.
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