Hadm al-Manara liman Sahhah Ahadith al-Tawassul wa al-Ziyara
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Dar al-Diya'
Hadm al-Manara liman Sahhah Ahadith al-Tawassul wa al-Ziyara (Demolishing the Lighthouse for Whoever Authenticated the Hadiths of Intercession and Grave Visitation) is a critical hadith treatise written by the Egyptian scholar Abu Abd al-Rahman Amr Abd al-Munim Salim . The book examines the narrations concerning supplication through the status of the Prophet (tawassul) and traveling to visit graves, defending the theological and legal rulings articulated by Ibn Taymiyyah .
Background and Purpose
Salim composed the treatise primarily as a rebuttal to Mahmud Sa'id Mamduh's book Raf' al-Manara li-Takhrij Ahadith al-Tawassul wa al-Ziyara . According to Salim, Mamduh claimed that Ibn Taymiyyah held anomalous and solitary opinions in prohibiting tawassul through the person of the Prophet and journeying specifically to visit graves (shadd al-rihal), while also leveling harsh criticisms against contemporary scholars such as Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz, Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, Hammad al-Ansari, Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymin, Salih al-Fawzan, and Abu Bakr al-Jaza'iri . Salim authored the work to demonstrate that Ibn Taymiyyah's conclusions were supported by authentic evidence and preceded by earlier classical authorities, as well as to challenge Mamduh's hadith grading methodology, including his reliance on lenient biographical critics and the strengthening of severely defective chains .
Structure and Method
The work is organized into three main chapters (abwab):
- Chapter One: Addresses the definitions and categories of tawassul and grave visitation, clarifying Ibn Taymiyyah's position and demonstrating that he did not forbid visiting graves (including the Prophet's ﷺ grave) in principle, but rather the act of undertaking travel specifically for them. It details earlier scholars who held this view and reviews weak reports transmitted from some early figures .
- Chapter Two: Comprising roughly two-thirds of the book, this section evaluates the textual evidences used by opponents of Ibn Taymiyyah to permit tawassul and traveling for grave visitation, providing detailed critical analysis of the narrations and demonstrating their weakness or lack of probity .
- Chapter Three: Documents and refutes the opponent's attacks and disparaging remarks directed at classical and contemporary Sunnī scholars, defending their standing in hadith scholarship .
Salim's method throughout the critical discussions consists of citing his opponent's arguments verbatim inside brackets, introduced by the phrase "The author said" («قال المؤلف: ....»), followed by a point-by-point hadith and legal analysis .
Publication
The book was published in its first edition in 1422 AH (2001 CE) by Dar al-Diya' in Tanta, Egypt .
Answer updated