Iqaz Himam Uli al-Absar lil-Iqtida bi-Sayyid al-Muhajirin wal-Ansar
- Author died
- 1218 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Ma‘rifah
Iqaz Himam Uli al-Absar lil-Iqtida bi-Sayyid al-Muhajirin wal-Ansar (Awakening the Ambitions of the Insightful to Emulate the Master of the Emigrants and Helpers) is a treatise on legal methodology and adherence to prophetic tradition by the West African scholar Salih ibn Muhammad al-Fulani (d. 1218 AH / 1803 CE) . The work focuses on the obligation of following the Quran and the Sunnah, opposing blind legal conformism (taqlid), and demonstrating that the founders of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence prohibited the unquestioning imitation of their personal opinions when contrary textual evidence arises .
Background and Purpose
The full title given by the author is Iqaz Himam Uli al-Absar lil-Iqtida bi-Sayyid al-Muhajirin wal-Ansar wa-Tahdhirihim 'an al-Ibtida' al-Sha'i' fi al-Qura wal-Amsar min Taqlid al-Madhahib ma'a al-Hamiyyah wal-'Asabiyyah bayna Fuqaha' al-A'sar (Awakening the Ambitions of the Insightful to Emulate the Master of the Emigrants and Helpers, and Warning Them Against the Innovation Widespread in Towns and Cities of Imitating the Legal Schools with Partisanship and Fanaticism Among the Jurists of the Eras) . Al-Fulani stated in his preface that he wrote the book in response to an inquirer seeking scriptural proofs and early reports on adhering directly to revelation and the ways of the righteous early generations (al-salaf). He sought to establish that the imitation of legal schools accompanied by rigid partisanship was a harmful divergence, and that non-laymen are not permitted to follow opinions without proof .
Structure and Content
The treatise is organized into an introduction, four core chapters (maqasid), and a conclusion :
- Introduction (al-Muqaddimah): Discusses the obligation of obeying God and His Messenger, following the Quran and the Sunnah, censuring arbitrary opinion (ra'y) and unsound analogical reasoning (qiyas), warning against excess in speculative legal queries, defining the criteria of true jurists and scholars, and establishing the corruption of blind conformism in religion alongside the distinction between taqlid and following scriptural evidence .
- First Objective: Examines the statements and positions of Abu Hanifah and his companions regarding adherence to textual evidence and the prohibition of blind imitation .
- Second Objective: Covers the statements of Malik ibn Anas and prominent scholars of the Maliki school on adhering to the Sunnah .
- Third Objective: Details the declarations of al-Shafi'i and his companions, including his well-known principle that authentic hadith constitutes his school of thought .
- Fourth Objective: Cites the transmissions from Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Hanbali authorities urging strict reliance on the revealed text and the Sunnah .
- Conclusion (al-Khatimah): Dismantles the doubts and justifications raised by blind followers (al-muqallidun) and responds systematically to partisan polemics .
Sources, Reception, and Publication
In framing his critiques and legal arguments, al-Fulani drew extensively upon earlier classical sources, quoting substantial sections from Ibn al-Qayyim's I'lam al-Muwaqqi'in on topics such as the dispraise of ra'y, debates between followers of evidence and partisan imitators, and the conditions of legal rulings (fatwa) .
The work became a recognized reference in later literature addressing legal imitation and independent reasoning (ijtihad), influencing subsequent scholars such as al-Shawkani, Siddiq Hasan Khan, and Rashid Rida .
Iqaz Himam Uli al-Absar was first printed in India in 1298 AH (1881 CE) . Later editions include the Cairo printing by Dar al-Tiba'ah al-Muniriyyah in 1354 AH (1935 CE), a Beirut edition by Dar al-Ma'rifah in 1398 AH (1978 CE), and a critical edition edited by Abu 'Imad al-Sakhawi published by Dar al-Fath in Sharjah in 1418 AH (1997 CE) .
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