Masalat al-Iman Dirasah Tasiliyyah
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- Masalat al-Iman Dirasah Tasiliyyah
Masalat al-Iman: Dirasah Tasiliyyah (The Issue of Faith: A Foundational Study) is a treatise on Islamic theology authored by Ali bin Abd al-Aziz al-Shibl, focusing on the definition and core tenets of faith (iman) according to Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jama'ah and refuting opposing doctrines .
Background and Purpose
The treatise originated from a section of al-Shibl's higher academic dissertation on Ibn al-Hanbali and his work al-Risalah al-Wadihah fi al-Radd ala al-Asha'irah, to which the author added further research and expansions . Al-Shibl composed the work to delineate the creed of early Muslim scholarship regarding faith, noting that disputes surrounding faith and the designation of status and rulings (al-asma wa-l-ahkam) were among the earliest theological divergences to emerge in Islamic history .
The work articulates the position that faith comprises speech, action, and inner belief, directly countering sects such as the Murji'ah who exclude physical deeds from the definition of faith .
Structure and Contents
The book is arranged into twelve main thematic inquiries (matalib) alongside introductory discussions :
- Section 1: Introduction emphasizing the significance of the issue of faith .
- Section 2: The definition of faith and its nomenclature (ta'rif al-iman wa-musammah) .
- Section 3: The overarching root of dispute among sects regarding faith (al-asl al-jami' li-l-niza') .
- Section 4: General demonstration of the invalidity of opposing sectarian positions .
- Section 5: The linguistic definition of faith .
- Section 6: The relationship between Islam and faith (al-Islam wa-l-iman) .
- Section 7: The increase and decrease of faith, incorporating textual proofs from the Quran, the Sunnah, and reports from early scholars (athar), alongside the causes of its increase and decrease .
- Section 8: Groups that diverge on the question of the increase and decrease of faith .
- Section 9: Critical examination of narrations attributed to Malik ibn Anas and others concerning the decrease of faith .
- Section 10: The distinction between absolute faith (al-iman al-mutlaq) and baseline faith (mutlaq al-iman) .
- Section 11: The reality of the disagreement with the Jurists' Murji'ah (Murji'at al-Fuqaha') .
- Section 12: Disbelief (kufr) according to Ahl al-Sunnah and their opponents, detailing its conceptual importance, meaning, and fundamental principles for categorizing its types .
Scholarly Reception
Before its publication, al-Shibl presented the draft of the study to several Saudi scholars, including the Grand Mufti Abd al-Aziz bin Abd Allah Al al-Shaykh, Salih bin Fawzan al-Fawzan, Abd al-Rahman al-Nasir al-Barrak, Abdullah bin Sulayman bin Mani, and Abdullah bin Muhammad al-Ghunayman .
The book contains formal commendations (taqariz):
- Salih al-Fawzan endorsed the treatise on 22 Safar 1422 AH, praising its comprehensive treatment of the Sunni doctrine of faith as belief, speech, and action, and its refutation of contemporary promoters of Murji'ite views .
- Abdullah ibn Mani' commended the work on 13 Rabi' al-Awwal 1422 AH, highlighting its reliance on the Quran, the Sunnah, and classical syntheses by figures such as Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, and Ibn Rajab .
- Abdullah al-Ghunayman also contributed a written commendation to the work .
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