Ihya al-Athar Dirasa Aqdiyya
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Ihya al-Athar: Dirasa Aqdiyya (Reviving Relics: A Theological Study) is an Islamic theological study by Munira bint Abd al-Aziz al-Maqushi, presented as a master's thesis at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University. The work examines the legal and creedal rulings surrounding the preservation, restoration, and veneration of historical relics, archaeological sites, and monuments from the perspective of Sunni theology.
Background and Purpose
The book was prepared in the Department of Creed and Contemporary Sects within the College of Usul al-Din at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, under the academic supervision of Muhammad ibn Nasir al-Suhaibani. The topic was originally suggested in 1435 AH by Hissa al-Harithi.
Al-Maqushi composed the work in response to modern calls advocating the revival of ancient monuments and heritage sites for historical, social, and economic purposes. Her stated aim was to address the confusion surrounding the Islamic legal status of these practices, to safeguard Islamic monotheism (tawhid), and to close off potential avenues leading to polytheism (shirk) and religious innovation (bid'ah) through an analysis grounded in the Quran, the Sunnah, and the positions of early Muslim scholars (al-salaf).
Structure and Contents
The work is organized into an introduction, a conceptual preamble, three main chapters, a conclusion, and several technical indexes:
- Preamble: Defines the linguistic and technical meanings of the term ihya (revival) and athar (relics or antiquities).
- Chapter 1 (Types of Relics): Divided into five sections covering:
- Prophetic relics, including narrated reports, physical items detached from the Prophet's body, and geographical sites where he stopped or prayed.
- Religious relics, such as historical temporal seasons, ancient mosques, and places of worship.
- Relics of destroyed ancient nations mentioned in the Quran, including Noah's Ark on Mount Judi, the dwellings of Ad in al-Ahqaf, Thamud in al-Hijr, the people of Lot in Sodom, and Madyan in al-Bada', along with the ruling on their revival.
- Pagan and pre-Islamic relics, detailing Pharaonic, Phoenician, Babylonian, and pre-Islamic Arabian antiquities and the rulings on their revival.
- Relics associated with graves and shrines (qubur and mashahid) and the rulings regarding their maintenance and revival.
- Chapter 2 (Stances of Sects and Orientalists and Refutation of Their Doubts): Surveys the views of theological sects diverging from Ahl al-Sunnah as well as Western orientalists regarding relics, and refutes arguments concerning narrated hadiths, temporal seasons, and tangible physical monuments.
- Chapter 3 (Creedal Violations Arising from Reviving Relics): Analyzes theological deviations associated with relic revival across five sections, including violations of the declaration of monotheism (kalimat al-tawhid); illicit seeking of blessings (tabarruk) and illicit intermediation (tawassul); specific devotional violations at prophetic, religious, pagan, and tomb sites; and the causes and corrupting outcomes (mafasid) of these practices.
- Conclusion and Indexes: Summarizes findings, noting that authentic narrated hadiths are the true enduring relics of the Prophet ﷺ, that claims of surviving physical bodily relics of the Prophet ﷺ today lack proof and are counterfeit, and that legitimate tabarruk with his physical effects was specific to his contemporaries and their immediate successors. The volume concludes with indexes for Quranic verses, prophetic traditions, companion reports, physical monuments, and bibliography.
Methodology
Al-Maqushi employed a historical, analytical, and critical methodology. She gathered data from historical sources and analyzed it from a legal and creedal perspective. Hadith citations were extracted directly from the canonical collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim, or sourced from other Sunnah compilations with determinations of their authenticity, while quotes and obscure terminology were verified against primary references and classical lexicons.
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