Mufid al-Mustafid fi Kufr Tarik al-Tawhid (Matbu within Muallafat al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, al-Juz al-Awwal)
- Author died
- 1206 AH
- Editions
- Jāmi‘at al-Imām Muḥammad ibn Su‘ūd
Mufid al-Mustafid fi Kufr Tarik al-Tawhid (Arabic: مفيد المستفيد في كفر تارك التوحيد, lit. 'The Benefiter of the Seeker Regarding the Unbelief of the Abandoner of Monotheism') is a theological and jurisprudential treatise authored by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1115–1206 AH / 1703–1792 CE) addressing the rulings of apostasy (ahkam al-riddah) and the excommunication of specific individuals (takfir al-mu'ayyan) who abandon monotheism ().
Background and Occasion of Composition
The treatise was composed following events in Huraymila, where a group was judged to have apostatized due to their opposition and hostility to the adherents of monotheism (). When certain individuals claiming religious knowledge in al-Uyaynah expressed doubts regarding the legal judgment against them, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was requested to compose an exposition clarifying the matter (). The historian Husayn ibn Ghannam noted that the author sent the work to the people of al-Uyaynah to refute arguments presented by his brother, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Wahhab ().
Contents and Methodology
The work opens with the hadith of Amr ibn Abasah al-Sulami recorded in Sahih Muslim, detailing his initial encounter with the Prophet Muhammad in Mecca and his instruction in monotheism, the prohibition of idol worship, and prayer (). From this report, the author deduces that the essence of prophetic messages is the exclusive devotion of worship to God alone and the rejection of all idols ().
The treatise focuses primarily on establishing that verbal profession of the shahadah and nominal affiliation with Islam do not preclude a person from apostasy if they commit acts that invalidate monotheism (). Ibn Abd al-Wahhab supports his arguments with extensive citations from classical authorities, particularly Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim (). He cites Ibn Taymiyyah's works—including Iqtida al-Sirat al-Mustaqim, Naqd al-Mantiq, and al-Risalah al-Sunniyyah—to address the distinction between subtle doctrinal matters (al-maqalat al-khafiyyah), where an individual may be excused for ignorance before prophetic proof is conveyed, and manifest religious obligations (al-umur al-zahirah), such as the exclusive worship of God, concerning which the establishment of proof (qiyam al-hujjah) renders the perpetrator an apostate ().
Transmission and Commentaries
The treatise is preserved in private manuscript collections and has appeared in several printed compilations (). It is included in the first volume of the collected works Mu'allafat al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (), and is also published under the section on the rulings of apostasy (Hukm al-Murtadd) in al-Durar al-Saniyyah fi al-Ajwibah al-Najdiyyah ().
A separate introductory study was written by Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd al-Rahman Al al-Shaykh, titled Muqaddimat Mufid al-Mustafid fi Kufr Tarik al-Tawhid (). The text has also been commented upon in contemporary works, such as Fath al-Aliyy al-Hamid fi Sharh Kitab Mufid al-Mustafid by Midhat ibn al-Hasan Al Farraj ().
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