Ihsan Suluk al-Abd al-Mamluk ila Malik al-Muluk
- Author died
- 1445 AH
- Editions
- بدون ناشر (فهرسة مكتبة الملك فهد الوطنية - الرياض)
Ihsan Suluk al-Abd al-Mamluk ila Malik al-Muluk (Arabic: إحسان سلوك العبد المملوك إلى ملك الملوك, lit. 'Perfecting the Conduct of the Enslaved Servant toward the King of Kings') is a treatise on Islamic spiritual conduct (suluk), servitude, and self-purification by the Saudi scholar Abd al-Karim bin Salih al-Humayd (d. 1445 AH / 2024 CE) .
Background and Purpose
Al-Humayd compiled the work to address what he viewed as widespread modern neglect regarding the spiritual realities of servitude (ubudiyyah) and the inner life . He identifies suluk not as speculative mysticism, but as actualizing monotheism (tawhid), fulfilling true servanthood to God, and treading the straight path (al-sirat al-mustaqim) .
The book is structured around two fundamental branches of knowledge necessary for proper servitude:
- Knowledge of oneself (ma'rifat al-nafs) .
- Knowledge of one's Lord (ma'rifat al-Rabb) .
Sources and Method
The work draws heavily on the classical Sunni scholarly heritage (salaf), relying particularly on the treatises of Ibn Taymiyyah and his student Ibn al-Qayyim on ethics, theology, and spiritual pathfinding . Al-Humayd extracts and condenses key concepts from their works while adding his own reflections and commentary .
In dealing with spiritual and psychological matters, the author argues that true understanding of the soul is derived solely from divine revelation rather than modern psychology or materialist philosophies, which he criticizes for denying spiritual realities such as the soul (al-ruh) and the unseen world (al-ghayb) .
Structure and Major Themes
Published as a single volume , the book covers several major theological and spiritual topics:
- The Soul and the Unseen: The reality and independence of the soul (al-ruh), the distinction between nafs and ruh, and rebuttals of rationalist skepticism regarding the realm of the grave (barzakh), drawing on Ibn al-Qayyim's Kitab al-Ruh .
- Divine Rights and Servitude: The nature of total surrender (taslim) to God, the contrast between the Creator's reward and human compensation, the obligation of recognizing God's rights over creation, and acknowledging that human deeds can never match divine blessings .
- Inner Purification: Self-examination (muhasabat al-nafs), the reality and inner secrets of repentance (tawbah), and cultivating the servant's profound indigence and poverty before God (al-faqr ila Allah) .
- The Heart and Spiritual Awakening: Typologies of hearts (aqsam al-qulub), orienting the heart's intention toward God (qiblat al-qalb), and spiritual wakefulness (al-yaqazah) as the foundational catalyst for rectitude .
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