Kayfiyyat Dawat Ahl al-Kitab ila Allah Taala fi Daw al-Kitab wa al-Sunna
- Author died
- 1440 AH
- Editions
- Matba'at Safir
Kayfiyyat Da‘wat Ahl al-Kitab ila Allah Ta‘ala fi Daw’ al-Kitab wa-al-Sunnah (How to Call the People of the Book to God Almighty in Light of the Qur’an and Sunnah) is a treatise by the Saudi scholar Saeed bin Ali bin Wahf al-Qahtani (d. 1440 AH / 2018 CE) outlining the methods and arguments for inviting Jews and Christians to Islam based on scriptural and rational evidences .
Composition and Purpose
The treatise was completed on the morning of Thursday, 25 Safar 1425 AH (April 2004 CE), as part of al-Qahtani's published series of works . The author states in his introduction that the work was prepared as a concise guide detailing optimal approaches for calling the People of the Book through gentle, wise discourse and argumentation in the best manner, drawing upon the Prophet's ﷺ methodology in his letters and interactions with non-Muslims .
Structure and Contents
The book is arranged into an introduction and three primary sections (mabahith), each subdivided into distinct thematic tracts (masalik) :
- Wisdom of speech when calling Jews (Hikmat al-qawl ma‘a al-Yahud): Divided into four paths addressing rational and textual proofs that Islam abrogates previous legal codes, evidence of alteration and corruption (tahrif) in the Torah, testimonies from fair-minded Jewish scholars, and proofs verifying the prophetic missions of Jesus and Muhammad .
- Wisdom of speech when calling Christians (Hikmat al-qawl ma‘a al-Nasara): Divided into five paths focused on refuting the doctrine of the Trinity and demonstrating divine oneness, proving the humanity and servanthood of Jesus to God, refuting the crucifixion and killing of Jesus, presenting evidences of abrogation and textual distortion, and highlighting admissions by fair-minded Christian scholars .
- Proofs establishing the prophethood of Muhammad and its universality (al-Barahin ‘ala ithbat al-risalah al-Muhammadiyyah wa-‘umumiha): Divided into three paths covering the miracles of the Qur'an, the sensory miracles of the Prophet ﷺ, and arguments demonstrating the universal scope of his message to all humankind .
Methodology
Al-Qahtani combines textual proofs from the Qur’an and authentic Sunnah with rational argumentation and passages cited from the Torah and the Gospels . When quoting biblical texts, he notes that Muslims cite them not out of belief in their unaltered authenticity, but as a polemical method to bind interlocutors to what remains in their own scriptures . The book draws on classical Islamic theological and polemical scholarship, referencing works such as Ibn Taymiyyah's al-Jawab al-sahih li-man baddala din al-Masih and Rahmatullah al-Kairanawi's Izhar al-haqq .
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