Hidayat al-Hayara fi Ajwibat al-Yahud wa al-Nasara
- Author died
- 751 AH
- Editions
- T Ataat al-Ilm · t Dar al-Qalam
Hidayat al-Hayara fi Ajwibat al-Yahud wa al-Nasara (Guidance for the Perplexed in Answering the Jews and Christians) is a polemical and comparative religion treatise by the Hanbali scholar Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 AH / 1350 CE), dedicated to defending Islam, answering theological objections, and examining the scriptures and doctrines of Judaism and Christianity.
Background and Motivation
In the introduction to the work, Ibn al-Qayyim explained that writing a scholarly defense was an obligation upon scholars when the religion, Scripture, and the Prophet are attacked. The immediate occasion for its composition arose when an irreligious disputant posed theological objections to a Muslim who could not provide a convincing answer and responded instead by striking the questioner. Ibn al-Qayyim observed that such physical reactions reinforced the accusation that Islam spread only by the sword rather than through proof and evidence; he consequently wrote the treatise to offer systematic refutations drawn from the Qur'an, prophetic traditions, historical accounts, and the scriptural texts of the disputants themselves.
Structure and Contents
The author divided the treatise into two primary sections:
- Answers to the objections: Addressing the specific doubts and questions raised by the disputants, which constitutes the majority of the book's chapters.
- Affirmation of the prophethood of Muhammad: Establishing the proofs of his message through various categories of evidence, including textual prophecies, physical descriptions, and foretellings extracted from earlier biblical scriptures.
Throughout these divisions, the work explores the history of religions, distinguishes between uncorrupted revelation and subsequent doctrinal distortions, critiques theological doctrines such as the Trinity and the Incarnation, and discusses Christian councils and internal sectarian divisions.
Method and Sources
Ibn al-Qayyim employed a comparative, inductive, and textual method, utilizing legal principles (usul) and linguistic analysis alongside historical comparison. His style is characterized by direct argumentative presentation and systematic reasoning, interspersed with thematic digressions.
The author drew on a broad range of Islamic and polemical sources, including:
- Quranic exegesis, such as the Tafsir of Ibn Jarir al-Tabari.
- Hadith and biography collections, including works by Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Hisham, al-Bayhaqi, Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani, and Ibn Sa'd.
- Specialized works on biblical foretellings, notably Ibn Qutayba's A'lam Rasul Allah fi al-Tawrat wa al-Injil.
- Earlier polemical literature, such as Samaw'al al-Maghribi's Badhl al-Majhud fi Ifham al-Yahud, Abu Ubayda al-Khazraji's Bayna al-Islam wa al-Masihiyya, and Ibn Taymiyyah's al-Jawab al-Sahih li-Man Baddala Din al-Masih.
- Historical accounts of Christian councils and patriarchs, including material traced to the chronicle of Eutychius of Alexandria (Ibn al-Bitriq), alongside direct citations from the Old and New Testaments.
Attribution and Title Variants
The attribution of the book to Ibn al-Qayyim is established through surviving manuscripts, references in his other writings—such as Ahkam Ahl al-Dhimma and Ighathat al-Lahfan—and entries in bibliographical works like Kashf al-Zunun by Katip Celebi and Hadiyyat al-Arifin by Ismail Pasha al-Baghdadi. In some manuscript copies, scribal variations occur; for instance, a manuscript in the Hagia Sophia collection bears the shortened title Kitab al-Hayara, while a copy in the Hacı Beşir Ağa collection records it as Hidayat al-Khiyara.
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