Hazz al-Ghalasim fi Ifham al-Mukhasim inda Jarayan al-Nazar fi Ahkam al-Qadar
- Author died
- 598 AH
- Editions
- Muʾassasat al-Kutub al-Thaqāfiyyah
Hazz al-Ghalasim fi Ifham al-Mukhasim inda Jarayan al-Nazar fi Ahkam al-Qadar ("The Slitting of Throats in Silencing the Adversary when Investigating the Rulings of Divine Decree") is a theological treatise on divine predestination (qadar) and the creation of human actions by the Upper Egyptian Maliki jurist and grammarian Ibn al-Hajj al-Qinawi (d. 598 AH / 1202 CE; also reported as 599 AH, 595 AH, or ca. 600 AH) .
Composition and Purpose
The author wrote the treatise in response to a request during a scholarly gathering to extract Quranic verses establishing the validity of the Sunni belief (i'tiqad Ahl al-Sunnah) concerning the divine will and the creation of human actions . Ibn al-Hajj argues that all occurrences in existence depend entirely upon God's will (mashi'ah) and decree, while human beings possess only acquisition (kasb), effort, and attribution through God's facilitation and guidance .
The title derives in meaning from a previous polemical epistle by the author titled al-Dhabihah li-l-Kilab al-Nabihah ("The Slaughtering Treatise against Barking Dogs"), composed to refute opponents who identified divine will with command on the basis of the narrative of Abraham's sacrifice . Ibn al-Hajj also notes that a vast collection of similar Quranic proofs had previously been dictated to him by his teacher Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Husayn ibn al-Habbab in a two-volume work titled al-Imla' .
Content and Arguments
The treatise focuses on establishing that nothing occurs in creation—whether good or evil, benefit or harm, faith or disbelief—except by God's knowledge, will, and power . It directs its polemics against the Qadariyyah, the Mu'tazilah, the Imamiyyah, and the Hashwiyyah :
- Refutation of the Qadariyyah and Mu'tazilah: The author asserts that the Qadari position—that humans create their own deeds—contradicts the explicit words of God, the angels, the prophets, the inhabitants of Paradise, the denizens of Hell, and Satan . He critiques the Mu'tazili definition of divine guidance (hidayah) as being limited to sending messengers and revealing scriptures, arguing that Quranic passages regarding the damned contradict this limitation .
- Narratives and Debates: The text incorporates theological dialogues, including a discussion between Ja'far al-Sadiq and an interlocutor on divine will and injustice, as well as a debate between the jurist Abu al-Tahir Isma'il ibn Makki ibn 'Awf and an Imami scholar known as Ibn al-Saghir in the assembly of the Egyptian vizier Ridwan ibn Walakhshi .
- Critique of Anthropomorphism: Ibn al-Hajj refutes the Hashwiyyah regarding the attribute of Divine Speech (kalam), arguing that attributing physical sound and letters to God's eternal speech likens it to created speech .
Reception and Editions
The book was utilized by later exegetes and scholars. Al-Qurtubi cites the work directly by name in his Quranic commentary al-Jami' li-Ahkam al-Qur'an when discussing the interpretation of evil and sin under Surah al-Nisa' (4:79), referring to its author as Abu al-Hasan Shabib [Shith] ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Haydara . Additionally, the biographer Ibn al-Qifti mentions a title with identical wording (Hazz al-Ghalasim wa-Ifham al-Mukhasim) among the author's writings as a grammatical work answering objections raised against him by other grammarians .
Manuscript copies of the theological treatise are preserved in several collections, including the King Faisal Center in Riyadh, the 'Arif Hikmat Library in Medina, and the Uthmaniyyah Rida'iyyah Library in Aleppo . The text was edited by Abd Allah Umar al-Barudi and published by Mu'assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqafiyyah in Beirut (1405 AH / 1985 CE) .
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