Ijabat al-Ghawth bi-Bayan Hal al-Nuqaba wa-al-Nujaba wa-al-Abdal wa-al-Awtad wa-al-Ghawth
- Author died
- 1252 AH
- Editions
- T Istanbul
Ijabat al-Ghawth bi-Bayan Hal al-Nuqaba wa-al-Nujaba wa-al-Abdal wa-al-Awtad wa-al-Ghawth (Answering the Succor by Clarifying the State of the Leaders, Nobles, Substitutes, Pillars, and Succor) is a Sufi treatise by the Damascus-based Hanafi scholar Ibn Abidin (d. 1252 AH / 1836 CE) addressing the spiritual hierarchy and classifications of saints (awliya').
Composition and Purpose
Ibn Abidin authored the treatise in 1224 AH (1809 CE) in response to an inquiry from a notable regarding the spiritual pole (al-qutb) existing in every era, as well as the substitutes (al-abdal), leaders (al-nuqaba'), nobles (al-nujaba'), and their numbers. After sending the initial draft to the inquirer, the author supplemented it with further relevant discussions and transmitted reports, retaining its original structure and title.
Structure and Content
The author organized the work into four chapters (abwab) and a conclusion (khatimah):
- Chapter One: Defines the terms al-aqtab, al-abdal, al-awtad, al-nujaba', and al-nuqaba', detailing their spiritual attributes, numbers, and geographic residences. It examines the linguistic and mystical definitions of the qutb as the "inner caliph" (al-khalifah al-batin) and spiritual pivot of his age, the abdal (forty holy figures whose ranks are maintained whenever one passes away), the four awtad (pillars assigned to the four directions), the nujaba', the nuqaba', and the afrad (solitaries). A dedicated section reviews traditions regarding their distribution and assigned places, quoting reports attributed to Abu Bakr al-Kattani and Dhu al-Nun al-Misri locating the nuqaba' in the Maghreb, the nujaba' in Egypt, the abdal in the Levant, the awtad across the corners of the earth, and the ghawth in Mecca.
The work draws upon classical Sufi authorities and commentators, including Ibn Arabi, Abd al-Razzaq al-Qashani's commentary on Ibn al-Farid's al-Ta'iyyah, Ibn Hajar al-Haytami's al-Fatawa al-Hadithiyyah, Mulla Ali al-Qari's al-Ma'dan al-Adani, Shihab al-Din al-Manini's commentary on al-Khasa'is, and Abu Hamid al-Ghazali's Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din.
Transmission and Publication
Manuscript copies of the treatise are preserved in collections including the Egyptian National Library (Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya), the Al-Azhar Library in Cairo, and Princeton University Library. The treatise was published within Ibn Abidin's collected treatises (Majmu'at Rasa'il Ibn Abidin) printed in Istanbul (al-Astana) in 1325 AH (1907 CE).
Answer updated