Ikhtisas al-Quran bi-Awdihi ila al-Rahim al-Rahman
- Author died
- 643 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Rushd
Ikhtisas al-Quran bi-Awdihi ila al-Rahim al-Rahman (The Quran's Distinction in Returning to the Merciful, the Compassionate) is a theological epistle by the Hanbali traditionist Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi (d. 643 AH / 1245 CE) devoted to defending and documenting traditional reports concerning the return of the Quran to God at the end of time .
Occasion of Composition
Al-Maqdisi composed the treatise in response to a letter sent to him from the city of Amid . The correspondents stated that an individual had arrived in their city and rejected the phrasing used regarding the Quran: "to God Almighty it shall return" (أنه إلى الله تعالى يعود) . In reply, al-Maqdisi compiled narrations to corroborate the doctrine and vindicate the expression .
Content
The work opens after the doxology with the text of the inquiry from Amid . It marshals prophetic traditions and statements from early authorities affirming the lifting of the Quran before the Day of Judgment . It concludes with an eschatological tradition traced to Ibn Mas'ud, related by al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, recounting that trust will be the first matter lost from the religion and that the Quran will be taken away overnight from men's hearts and leaves so that nothing of it remains on earth .
Manuscripts and Publication
The treatise survives in manuscript form across several repositories:
- A primary manuscript in the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus (MS 4506, fols. 1–5), copied by the author's nephew, Ahmad ibn Isa ibn al-Muwaffaq ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi, who read it directly before Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi in Sha'ban 632 AH . The manuscript bears an authorization (ijaza) from the author on the opening leaf, a subsequent audition note under Abd al-Rahman ibn Salman al-Baghdadi dating to 668 AH, and transmission records on the final folio including an audition by Yusuf al-Zaki under Sulayman ibn Hamza al-Maqdisi .
- A manuscript preserved in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin (MS 3524 / 5) .
The text was edited by Abdullah al-Judai' and published by Maktabat al-Rushd in Riyadh in 1409 AH (1989 CE) .
Answer updated